Fire Retardant Sectional Garage Door Seals

Fire retardant brush seals for single and double sectional (panel lift) garage doors. Flame-retardant PA6 filament in aluminium carriers closes the 5–25 mm gaps across the top and down both sides of the door, so wind-driven embers, smoke and dust have no way in.

Choose top only, sides only, top and sides, or add the rubber bottom seal for the full perimeter. Every kit ships free Australia-wide with a 10-year warranty, and most customers fit theirs in one to two hours with our step-by-step video.

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Fire Retardant Sectional Garage Door Seals

The straight answers

Fitting these seals since 2017. Here’s what the fire retardant sectional kit does, which one to order, and how to fit it.

  • 5–25 mmgap closed, top and sides
  • BAL-FZrated brush, AS 1530.2
  • 10 yearswarranty on every kit
  • 1–2 hrsto fit it yourself

What is a fire retardant sectional garage door seal?

A brush seal with flame-retardant filament, for the gaps a bushfire uses.

A sectional door (B&D call theirs a Panelift; most people say panel lift) is a set of hinged panels that run up tracks and lie flat under the ceiling. To move, the panels have to clear the opening, so there’s a gap down each side and across the lintel at the top: usually 5 to 25 mm, and often bigger at the top than the sides. In bushfire season those gaps are exactly where wind-driven embers get in, and a garage full of fuel, paint and timber is a bad place for them to land.

Our fire retardant seal is a brush seal (also called a bristle seal or brush strip, or 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, held in a 40 mm aluminium carrier that fixes to the lintel and the jambs around the door. The filament brushes the face of the panels, bends as the door moves and springs back when it closes, so the perimeter is sealed without the door catching on anything. For the gap under the door, add the 80 mm EPDM rubber bottom seal and the whole perimeter is closed.

What the seal keeps out

Embers first, and everything else that blows in around a garage door.

  • 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 gaps around a garage door are an easy way in. Flame-retardant filament closes them, and the aluminium carrier won’t burn.

  • Dust, leaves and hot wind

    The same dense filament that stops embers stops the fine dust and dry leaves that blow in around a sectional door all year, and takes the sting out of draughts.

  • Spiders, mice and snakes

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

  • Wind-driven rain

    Brush on the top and sides stops rain and spray being blown in around the door. 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 $259

    View single kit

  • Double door kit

    Openings up to 6 m wide and 3 m high.

    from $329

    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.

Gaps bigger at the top than down the sides are normal: email your measurements and we’ll make up a kit with the right brush length on each edge. Not in a bushfire-prone area? The weatherproof sectional 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
25 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
sectional and panel lift doors from B&D, Steel-Line, Gliderol, Centurion, Taurean and Danmar 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

Two minutes to measure, an afternoon to fit.

Measure first: our sectional measuring video (1:53) shows exactly where to put the tape across the top and down both sides. Then order, or email us a photo of the door with the three measurements and we’ll confirm the kit.

Most customers fit a top-and-sides kit in 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. When you’re done, leave the door open for an hour or two so nothing presses on the carriers while the glue sets. Rather not? In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane we fit it for you from $249.

7:00

Sectional door seal install: top and sides · 7:00 · Watch on YouTube · Printable guide (PDF)

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.

What’s the difference between fire retardant and weatherproof?

The brush filament, nothing else. Both kits use the same aluminium carriers, the same 25 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 B&D Panelift or other brand of sectional door?

Almost certainly. The seals mount on the lintel and jambs around the door, not on the door, so the brand doesn’t matter. What matters is the gap: 5–25 mm at the top and sides, up to 35 mm under the door, and a door no more than 3 m high. We’ve fitted them to B&D, Steel-Line, Gliderol, Centurion, Taurean and Danmar doors. The one exception is a tilt door, which we don’t recommend our kits for.

Do I need the bottom seal as well?

If embers, water or mice are the worry, yes. Everything that blows in around the top and sides 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. For gaps under the door bigger than 35 mm, see our door dam advice.

Can I fit it myself?

Yes; most of our customers do, in one to two hours, with the video and printable guide. If you get stuck partway through, email us a photo and we’ll sort it out. In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane we can also fit it for you.