Fire Retardant Treated Wood Paneling

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Author Message Kenny Mitchell (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - 01:48 pm:    We are working on a Smithsonian project that requires a Class A rating w/ a wood veneer product. I understand the FR MDF as the core, but what veneer carries an A rating? What about the clear finish? Ronald L. Geren, FCSI, AIA, CCS, CCCA, SCIP Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 1246 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - 02:35 pm:    Panels should be tested together with the core and veneer. Almost all woods (if not all) cannot meet the Class A requirements on their own (http://www.awc.org/Publications/dca/dca1/DCA1.pdf). However, if the finish used on the panels provides the Class A rating, then the underlying panel itself does not need to comply. As I stated in my post above, there are several wood finishing products that will provide a Class A rating for an otherwise noncompliant substrate. Ron Geren, FCSI, AIA, CCS, CCCA, SCIP www.specsandcodes.com J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 745 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - 04:55 pm:    With regard to the original question, I believe this has been more of a problem with NAUF (no added urea formaldehyde) FR MDF. Cover all your bases: talk to a panel manufacturer, but talk to some fabricators. A conversation with a local fabricator may or may not useful. Some of the larger fabricators work very far from their home base; one of our Harris county courts (in Houston, Texas) was recently done by a fabricator from Canada. A local fabricator here routinely does project located more than 1000 miles away. Steve Taylor (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - 07:46 pm:    Woodwork Institute has seen this problem on a couple of projects. It has involved wood veneer on NAUF core. Both MDF and particle board core have been involved. To date none of suppliers involved has made any real effort to determine the cause: The panel manufacturers and glue manufacturers agree that it is probably something to do with the other guy. My theory is that the NAUF core has a chemical in it that is related to ammonia (ammonium something or other). Ammonia reacts with high tannin woods, such as oak, changing the color of the wood. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_fuming. The discoloration observed by WI inspectors has been splotchy, which probably reflects variation in the thickness of the veneer and/or the glue. I believe that a cross band between the core and the face veneer will generally prevent the problem. A phenolic cross band would probably be less permeable, therefore more effective. I'm not going to indemnify anybody if I'm wrong. I no longer work for Woodwork Institute, all opinions are mine alone. Statements of fact are based on my personal observations or review of photos.