Thread: Fire blocking or Draft stopping

Looking for the correct term to use here. From my days as a track rat we called it fire block. Just want to clear this up and get my terms correct in my head.
Image as example.
From IRC 09
Fireblocking. In combustible construction, fireblocking shall be provided to cut off all
concealed draft openings (both vertical and horizontal) and to form an effective fire barrier between stories, and between a top story and the roof space.

DRAFT STOP. A material, device or construction installed to restrict the movement of air within open spaces of concealed areas of building components such as crawl spaces,
floor-ceiling assemblies, roof-ceiling assemblies and attics.




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Your photo requires fire-blocking.

Picture a house framed with open web trusses with a floor area of 1,200 sf. Draft-stopping is then required to close off the open truss somewhere near the center to divide the 'open' space between the floor and the ceiling into 2 (two) 600 sf areas.

Needed that visual, thanks so much.
-marc

The most common area I see missing fire-blocking is when a basement is finished with wood studs. The 'concealed' space between the back of the wood studs and the foundation wall AND at the top 'between concealed vertical and horizontal spaces'.
The fire-stopping vertically must be at the ends and every 10 feet, Remember, this would NOT apply if metal studs were used.

This wall is missing fire-blocking.

The materials used can be different. Fireblocking is normally 2x material or some combination of 1x wood. It can also be fiberglass or mineral batts used between studs.

Draft stop is really just cutting draft or air movement. Usually from drywall or plywood materials -(not always to resist fire, just subdivide areas). Like an attic or floor space to reduce a large area into smaller areas. While you can also use fiberglass, it's really not used much hear, just because attachment would be too difficult.

Fireblocking is really for small areas between studs, framing etc. Draft stop is for large areas attics, trusses, floor systems etc... hope that helps.

Cool, thanks. Just using the wrong terminology.

Look what I found on my computer!