Residential Fire Sprinkler News

[MountainDon]

Following Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, the State of California has adopted building code changes that will require all new one- and two-family homes and townhouses built in the state starting January 1, 2011, to be equipped with life-saving fire sprinkler systems.

http://www.residentialfiresprinklers.com/blog/california-adopting-2009-irc-with-the-residential-fire-sprinkler-requirement/

[pagan]

Why is it when politicians pass something that will cost us more money they tell us it's "life-saving?"

[MikeT]

I know my decision to try and install a residential fire sprinkler system is not one that is shared or cheered much here, but I am hoping that it will reduce my insurance costs.  I am looking at the Rehau sprinkler system.  What I am intrigued with is that it is PEX based and runs off the domestic water supply system.  There are not many options out there for DIYers (yet),  but this appears to be one.  Coincidentally, I will be meeting an old college friend tonight for dinner and drinks and he designs these systems for housing developments.  I will be picking his brain. 

Based on my reading of the literature, this can be done relatively cheaply and easily.  The hard part is determining the best location and system for a given housing configuration.

More when I know more.....

mt

[MountainDon]

No Mike it's one thing to decide to install something voluntarily and another to be told by government, that you must. In this case it is also painfully obvious that the program is being driven by a special interest group, the manufacturers and installers of such systems.

[Beavers]

In the states that adopted the code, are you allowed to install the system yourself, or is it just another way to pick your pockets and require a "certified installer"?
What kind of maintenance do you have to do on these systems?  15 years down the road will they actually work?  I bet they already thought of that though...every five years you have to pay an inspector to certify your system, and then pay for a "Sprinkler Permit".  

I think the code is good thing for the most part, even if building in a non-enforced area it gives you a good guide to build a structurally sound house.  
The more crap like this they add to it, the more I'm starting to think it's just one more way for companies to ensure that you have to buy there product.  Simpson comes to mind as one company that has done a great job of using the IRC to force people to buy their products.  Now we have the fire sprinkler companies.

What kind of product can they force us to buy next?  All in the name of "Safety" of course!

Sorry for the rant...this crap just pisses me off.

[MikeT]

I don't disagree, Don.  I am simply stating that I chose to (try) because of the cost savings.   The great thing about PEX is the ease with  which it is installed.  Based on my reading  of the material thus far, it is not much more expensive to add the sprinklers to the system, and I would save more in the insurance costs and then potentially save my work.  It is not hard to run the numbers and see that the odds of someone dying in a house fire are pretty small.  But then again, if the install cost is small and it saves on the insurance.

I suppose I could give another related but tangential response as to government and interest groups, lobbying, and impacts on taxpayers: do we really need all this military machinery and equipment?  They say it is for our protection.....really?

I guess these things are important to someone or they wouldn't appear as mandates.

[pagan]

In Montpelier, VT they have the sprinkler code as well. It must be installed by a licensed "professional" and the city dictates the size of the system, generally based on the size of the house. They also have a nifty little overpaid petty bureaucrat to "oversee" the permitting.

[Don_P]

Mike, will your system be charged, have water in the sprinkler lines full time, or is it dry until called upon? How much water will it call for when it goes off? For many of our weekenders the best system I can think of would be dry and not subject to freeze damage until an alarm trips.

My pump power and control is in the house, might be something for others to contemplate if they are installing a system.

[MikeT]

As envisioned right now, my system will be charged full time.  I am on the Oregon Coast, and my place will have at least minimal heat year round.    I will update all y'all when I learn more and I get more specifics.  Right now I imagine a system that Ts from my main water supply and runs in a grid so water is supplied to the heads from both sides.  But that might change after talking with my friend tonight.

mt

[MikeT]

So here's an update:

With any luck, I will soon post the plans for my sprinkler system that will run off the domestic supply.  It turns out that with a small project like mine, the real trick is sourcing the parts.  The main manufacturers cater to professional companies that a geared to do design-build projects for commercial properties.  Every time I mention that I am a DIYer who has a plan and wants 20 sprinkler heads and supporting connections to be supply by the domestic supply, I get "we can't help you."  Some try and tell me that it is complicated and requires a professional, I just gently push back.  The system is easy to install.  The challenge is being an "early adopter" in this area. 

My friend who designs these systems professionally (but in MA not in OR) assures me that it is not complicated.

Sigh.

[glenn kangiser]

Uponor (Wirsbo) has some parts and info on this too as I recall.

[Rover]

I don't have all the statistics but I thought its the smoke that is the big killer. A small fire can generate alot of smoke before its heat sets off the sprinkler.  I'll just keep my smoke detectors working properly.

[MikeT]

While not diminishing the importance of the role sprinklers can play in saving a life, the real benefit IMHO is their ability to reduce the damage that smoke and fire can cause.  For me, the issue is response time for the fire department.  The sprinklers will be an added measure of protection and will be working to diminish a fire until the fire department arrives. 

If my calculations are correct and I am able to acquire the materials and install this myself, it will cost me well less than $1000.  Given that I am into this project for 40 times that, I think it is worth the potential protection.  Plus the payback period on my homeowners insurance will be less than 10 years.

That is all true IF I can get the materials and IF I can successfully install it.  I am confident I can do the latter....

mt

[Rover]

Don't forget the wire protection cages you can also buy.  You want those in a workshop or kids play area where the heads might get hit.  On commercial jobs we also install the concealed head type where the architect wants it to look pretty.
I wonder if on residential installations, you can install a easy to access shut off valve incase a head is accidently activated.  On commercial jobs there are shut off valves but they are not easy to access and they also have alarms on them.

[fishing_guy]

Don't forget the wire protection cages you can also buy.  You want those in a workshop or kids play area where the heads might get hit.  On commercial jobs we also install the concealed head type where the architect wants it to look pretty.
I wonder if on residential installations, you can install a easy to access shut off valve incase a head is accidently activated.  On commercial jobs there are shut off valves but they are not easy to access and they also have alarms on them.

You'll want to know where those shutoff valves are...

I've seen 2 go out on commercial buildings.  First one was a 3" main in a skyway.  Didn't take but about 10 minutes for 4 inches of water to come cascading down the stairs.  It froze because the city decided to shut off the heat while it was unoccupied in a cost savings measure.

The second was another main, but it was on the outside.  It gave way because of corrosion.  Caused a 10 ft sinkhole AND dropped the corner of the foundation down 3 inches.  Not a pretty sight.  It was especially not pretty when they "fixed" it and then poured concrete before it was tested.  The second time, the hole went unfilled for a month before they dicided the fix was good.

[waggin]

IIRC, where I am in unincorporated King County, WA it has to be designed by a certified (and on the county's approved list) designer, but anyone can install it.  It's been a while since I looked into it though, and by now someone with the public's best interest at heart may have got the requirement changed to allow only certain, favored installers. 

Regardless, it's required on my property due to distance from the road.

[MikeT]

For what it's worth, I just got off the phone with the Oregon State Fire Marshall's office and an official at the building codes division.  Since I am the homeowner,  and am installing my sprinklers as a multipurpose system off my domestic water supply, the state's position is simple: a homeowner can do his/her own plumbing on his/her own house.  Just have to have the work inspected by the plumbing inspector and the structural inspector.

Relief.....

Now I still have to find a place to purchase my materials.  There is still a huge bias against a DIYer in this market.,,

mt

[ScottA]

Check your codes. In some cases you can use CPVC pipe for fire sprinklers if the pipe is concealed inside a sheetrocked wall or cieling. CPVC is cheap.

[MikeT]

I was planning on running PEX, but do you think CPVC is better for this purpose?  One thing for sure, if I were to go with CPVC, I could look at the Blazemaster piping and fittings which appear to be more readily available...The PEX is still somewhat of a novelty.

Still plodding ahead.

[MountainDon]

If you can buy the fire sprinkler parts needed for CPVC readily then I'd probably go that direction for the fire suppression and go PEX with the usual plumbing.  

[MikeT]

Well, I can tell you that just by changing my mental game plan to go away from PEX and to CPVC (Blazemaster) for this project, I am able to get the materials from a supplier here in town.  And since it is not so specialized, the price seems to go down a lot.

mt

[ScottA]

There you go. Problem solved.

I would use something you can tell apart from the regular plumbing pipes so someone doesn't accidently do a cross conection at some point in the future.

[MountainDon]

Sounds like a perfect solution to me.

[MikeT]

Just to give you an update on my efforts to install a multipurpose sprinkler system into my Victoria's Cottage on the Oregon coast:

I started to create a parts list for Tyco sprinkler heads with Blazemaster CPVC pipe.  Both are available from a supply place here in town (Ferguson Fire).  But as soon as I started asking some questions about one type vs another, they started to get kind of unhelpful and started to give me the "you really need to have this professionally designed" line.  So I did some more calling and found a guy who will help me with my questions (to modify my design and get the proper parts) if I buy from him.  See you later, Ferguson....

Anyway, here's a new wrinkle:  I called my insurance agent to get a quote on a policy for this house, both with and without sprinklers.  I was under the impression that I would be getting a reduced rate because of the sprinkler.  No such luck.  The answer am getting is that they are not giving discounts for sprinklers because there is a tradeoff between property saved from fire suppression and the claims that have to be paid because of water leaks.

I am still inclined to want to do this, but I am very disappointed that the economic rationale is apparently greatly diminished.

That's it for now....

[MikeT]

So here is an update in my efforts to put in a voluntary fire suppression sprinkler system:

To assist me in getting both the materials I needed I found a local resource who does design, build, consulting, and supply work on sprinkler systems and is willing to look over my plans thus far, comment, and do some calcs IF I promise to use him as my supplier.  I agreed.

In the process of looking over my proposed layout, he asked me a bunch of refining questions, some of which involved me having to go back and gather more data (water pressure at the meter, pressure at the house, distance from one to the other, meter size, etc).  As it turns out, the meter is 5/8" coming from the water company and then 3/4" after the meter--5/8"x3/4".  The sprinkler engineer/resource said that this will be a problem if the system is required because a basic requirement is that you need to show calculations for sufficient flow with two heads running at once.  And with the smaller meter, I will not have sufficient flow using a two head calc.

Here's the good news for me:

Since I am doing a voluntary system, I can get by with a single head calculation.  Further,  I do not need to provide sprinkler coverage for every room in the house.  So I am going with a scaled down, life safety approach, and only placing sprinkler heads such that it allows for safe evacuation of the house.

But the take away for folks who later might fall under a scenario where a system is required, is that some municipal water supplies might be providing undersized meters for the job, and the only way to meet the new standard is to increased the size of the meter to 3/4" or 1" or put in reserve tanks and pumps-- even more money and hassle.

I will post all the details of my system: costs, design, etc since this is for a Victoria's Cottage once it is installed--likely within the month.

Best,
mt