Fire Retardant Roller Door Seals

Fire retardant brush seals for single and double roller garage doors. Flame-retardant PA6 filament in aluminium carriers closes the 5–50 mm gaps beside the guide tracks and above the curtain, where wind-driven embers and smoke get into a garage during a bushfire.

Top only, sides only, top and sides, or the full perimeter with the rubber bottom seal. Free shipping Australia-wide and a 10-year warranty on every kit.

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Fire Retardant Roller Door Seals

The straight answers

Roller doors have bigger gaps than sectional doors, so the brush is longer. Here’s what the fire retardant roller kit does, which one to order, and how to fit it.

  • 5–50 mmgap closed, sides and top
  • BAL-FZrated brush, AS 1530.2
  • 10 yearswarranty on every kit
  • 1–2 hrsto fit it yourself

What is a fire retardant roller door seal?

A long brush seal for the gaps around a roll-a-door.

A roller door (B&D’s Roll-A-Door is the name most people know) is one corrugated steel curtain that rolls up into a drum above the opening. It runs inside two guide tracks and needs clearance to do that, so there’s a gap down each side between the curtain and the wall, and a bigger one across the top where the curtain leaves the drum. Those gaps are commonly 20 to 50 mm, far more than on a sectional door, which is why roller kits use a 50 mm brush. In a bushfire they’re an open path for embers into the garage.

Our fire retardant roller seal is a brush seal (an ember seal, in bushfire-assessment language): a dense row of flame-retardant PA6 (nylon 6) filament, tested to AS 1530.2 with a flammability index of 1, which meets the BAL-FZ requirement for garage door seals, in a 40 mm aluminium carrier. The side seals fix to the wall beside the tracks and brush the face of the curtain; the top seal fixes to the lintel above the door or, on some doors, to the curtain itself, and we’ll tell you which from a photo. The filament flexes every time the door moves and springs back when it’s down. For the gap under the door, add the 80 mm EPDM rubber bottom seal.

What the seal keeps out

Embers first, and everything else that blows through a roller door gap.

  • Embers and smoke in bushfire season

    Embers are how most houses catch fire: CSIRO’s survey of the houses lost in the 2003 Canberra fires found embers involved in more than 80% of ignitions, and flame from the bush itself in about 2%. The gap above a roller door is about as inviting as it gets. Flame-retardant filament closes it, and the aluminium carrier won’t burn.

  • Dust, sand and hot wind through the top gap

    Wind blows straight through the gap above a roller curtain, and the dust, sand and leaves come with it. A brush across the top and down both sides stops it before it’s on your car.

  • Spiders, mice and snakes

    A mouse fits through a 6 mm gap; a roller door offers it 30. Sealing the sides, top and bottom takes away the easy way in for mice, spiders, cockroaches and the occasional snake.

  • Wind-driven rain

    Brush on the sides and top stops rain and spray being blown in around the curtain. A brush isn’t a waterproof barrier, though: water under the door is the rubber bottom seal’s job.

Which fire retardant kit do I need?

Measure the opening, then pick the edges you want sealed.

  • Single door kit

    Openings up to 3 m wide and 3 m high.

    from $269

    View single kit

  • Double door kit

    Openings up to 6 m wide and 3 m high.

    from $349

    View double kit

Then choose the edges

  • Top only: brush seal along the lintel above the door.
  • Sides only: brush seal down both sides of the opening.
  • Top & sides: the full brush perimeter.
  • Top, sides & bottom: adds the 80 mm EPDM rubber bottom seal in its aluminium track.

Gap over 50 mm somewhere? Don’t guess and don’t give up: email a photo with the measurement at its widest and we’ll quote the right fix. Not in a bushfire-prone area? The weatherproof roller kit is the same carrier and brush length with standard UV-stabilised filament, for less.

What’s in the box

Everything except the tools.

Brush
50 mm flame-retardant PA6 (nylon 6) filament, UV-stabilised, flammability index 1 to AS 1530.2 (AWTA test report 19-006227), densely packed, in 1.5 m strips that slide into the carrier
Carriers
40 mm wide aluminium, 1.5 m lengths, 55-degree profile (90-degree and 180-degree carriers on request)
Adhesive
Selleys construction adhesive, in the box
Bottom seal
80 mm EPDM rubber in a heavy-duty aluminium track, with fixings (top, sides & bottom kits)
Fits
roller doors from B&D (Roll-A-Door), Steel-Line, Gliderol, Taurean, Centurion and most others; not tilt doors
Made
imported to our own specification and held to a strict quality standard; they’re the seals on our own garage
Warranty
10 years against manufacturing defects

Measuring and fitting

Measure from outside with the door down.

Roller doors are measured from the outside with the door fully closed. Take the largest gap on each side and across the top, measuring at the deep point of the rib (the valley of the corrugation), because that’s where the gap is biggest. Email us a photo of each of the three and we’ll confirm the kit before you order.

Fitting takes one to two hours with a tape measure, pencil, hacksaw or drop saw, drill, caulking gun and a step ladder; the adhesive is in the box. Leave the door open for an hour or two afterwards so nothing presses on the carriers while the glue sets. Rather not? In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane we fit it for you from $249.

Fire retardant seal questions

The ones we’re asked most. More on the FAQ page.

Are these seals BAL rated?

Yes, to BAL-FZ, the highest level. AS 3959 (clause 9.5.6) requires the weather strips, draught seals or brushes that protect the edge gaps of a garage door at BAL-FZ to be made from material with a flammability index not exceeding 5. The flame-retardant PA6 brush we use is Schlegel’s Bristle Brush FR, tested by AWTA Product Testing (NATA-accredited) to AS 1530.2 with a flammability index of 1: spread factor 0, heat factor 1 (report 19-006227). The same brush meets the seal-material requirement at every level below FZ, and the carriers are non-combustible aluminium. We’ll email the test report to you or your certifier on request.

Two honest caveats. In the test the filament melted and smoked rather than carrying flame, so it can be damaged in an extreme thermal event, and that damage isn’t covered by the warranty. And bushfire compliance is assessed for the whole building by your certifier: at BAL-FZ the door itself must be non-combustible, for instance. A seal meets the seal clause; it doesn’t make a building compliant on its own. Check your BAL rating and requirements with your certifier.

I’m BAL 12.5, 19, 29 or 40. Is this the right kit?

Yes. AS 3959 asks for the gaps around a garage door to be sealed at every BAL level, and our brush passes the strictest material test the standard sets for those seals, the BAL-FZ one, so the one fire retardant kit is the kit for BAL 12.5, BAL 19, BAL 29, BAL 40 and BAL-FZ sites alike. On BAL 12.5 and 19 sites some customers fit the weatherproof kit instead, which closes the same gaps with standard filament; what your certifier will accept for your rating is their call, so ask them before you order. We can send the test report and a $3 sample for them to look at.

How do I ember-proof a roller door?

Close the four gaps embers use. The big one is across the top, where the curtain leaves the drum: that gets a 50 mm flame-retardant brush fixed to the lintel (or to the curtain, on doors with nothing to fix to above). The two side gaps between the curtain and the wall get a brush each. The gap under the door gets the rubber bottom seal. Fit all four and the ember path through the garage door is closed; the top, sides & bottom kit is exactly that set.

What’s the difference between fire retardant and weatherproof?

The brush filament, nothing else. Both kits use the same aluminium carriers, the same 50 mm brush length and the same adhesive, and both seal out dust, draughts, rain and pests equally well. Fire retardant uses flame-retardant PA6 filament; weatherproof uses standard UV-stabilised filament and costs less.

Will it fit my Roll-A-Door, Gliderol or other roller door?

Almost certainly. The seals mount on the wall and lintel around the door, so the brand doesn’t matter; the gap does. We seal 5–50 mm at the sides and top and up to 35 mm under the door, on doors up to 3 m high, and we’ve fitted them to B&D, Steel-Line, Gliderol, Taurean and Centurion roller doors among others. The same kit suits a shed roller door of the same size. Send a photo if yours is unusual. We don’t recommend our kits for tilt doors.

My gap is bigger than 50 mm. Is that the end of it?

No. We have more than one way to seal an oversized gap, and which one suits depends on your door and what’s around it. Email a photo of the gap with the measurement at its widest and we’ll quote the right fix rather than sell you a standard kit that won’t reach.

Do the kits suit shed, farm and commercial roller doors?

Yes. We’ve fitted them to roller doors on farm and rural sheds, workshops and commercial buildings as well as garages; the door is the same type, so the kit is the same. The limits are size: single kits suit openings up to 3 m wide and double kits up to 6 m, both on doors up to 3 m high. A bigger door, or one with a gap over 50 mm, is a custom job: email a photo with the measurements and we’ll quote it.

Do I need the bottom seal as well?

If embers, water or mice are the worry, yes. Everything that blows in around the sides and top also comes in under the door, and the rubber bottom seal is the only part of the kit that stops water. Order the top, sides & bottom kit, or add a bottom seal kit later.