Screen Products That Help Reduce Fire Risk At Your Doors And Windows
During a wildfire or exterior fire event, doors and windows can be vulnerable points in a home. Standard screen materials are often flammable, and many window frame materials can warp, melt, or burn under sustained heat, and typical window glass can crack and break under high heat stress, opening a path for flames and embers.
Advanced Screen Systems products are built differently, and that difference matters when fire is nearby.
How Fires Spread Through Doors and Windows
Two primary risks exist at doors and windows during a fire event: ember intrusion and convective/radiant heat. Embers that pass through a screen can land on curtains, carpeting, or furniture and ignite a fire inside the home. Intensive heat can cause conventional frame materials and glass to fail, removing the barrier entirely.
Advanced Screen Systems products are designed to address both ember resistance and heat attenuation.
Our screens are built with Meshtec high-tensile woven stainless steel mesh retained in an aluminum frame. Aluminum doesn't melt or deform at the temperatures generated by most wild fires. That means the screen system is more likely to stay structurally intact under heat exposure and provide protection over window and door openings.
The tight weave of Meshtec limits the passage of burning embers through the screen. No screen product can eliminate fire risk entirely, but the combination of non-flammable mesh and tight weave offers a level of ember resistance that standard screens don't.
Meshtec mesh has also been tested and proven to attenuate radiant heat passing through the screen. This may help reduce the temperature of interior surfaces nearby, which could lower the likelihood that those materials melt or reach ignition temperature from an exterior fire source.
Laboratory Testing
In independent testing, our screens were evaluated using the ember-intrusion test method described in ASTM E2886 and shown to help block burning embers. Testing also indicated it can reduce radiant heat by approximately 50% and helps diffuse flames, which lowers convective heat at the face of doors and windows.
California Chapter 7A
Our screens are built to meet the requirements of California’s Chapter 7A, the state’s building standard for construction in wildfire-prone Wildland-Urban Interface areas.
National Research Council Canada
Our aluminum-frame screens utilize a noncombustible, corrosion-resistant metal mesh with a tight aperture, that helps keep wind-driven embers from entering through doors and windows. It is designed to meet the screen material requirements in the National Research Council Canada’s National Guide for Wildland-Urban Interface Fires.
Australian Fire Standards
In Australia, Meshtec mesh has undergone testing per AS 1530.4 and 1530.8 to meet some of the most stringent building requirements defined in AS 3959. Laboratory testing there has shown Meshtec deflects, disperses, and reduces radiant heat, and helps prevent flaming embers and debris from entering through compromised doors and windows.
The Pre-Hung Add-On Entry Door System includes three products: the Security Screen Door, the Pet Resistant Screen Door, and the Storm Door.
All three are sized for OEM pre-hung entry door systems, attach into the entry door jamb at the door shop, and follow standard installation procedures at the job site. All are built on the 1Build System.
The Sliding Patio Security Screen Door and Pet Resistant Sliding Patio Screen Door mount and slide in the existing patio screen door track. One delivers security, and the other pet resistance – both provide the fire protection, ventilation, insect barrier, and other benefits that come with Meshtec construction.
Both can be installed at the factory or the job site, and both are built on the 1 Build System.
The Egress Window Screen is a security and fall protection screen for residential windows. It's designed to comply with ASTM F2090 for fall protection and meets the AAMA 1901-25 standard for security screen performance.
And like every 1Build product, it carries fire protection benefits as well.
A Relevant Benefit In A Growing Market
Wildfire risk is a significant and growing concern for homeowners across much of the United States, particularly in the West and Southeast. For OEM manufacturers serving these markets, a screen system designed to limit ember intrusion and attenuate heat is a useful product differentiator.
This benefit is available across our entry door, sliding patio door, and window screen products, all built with Meshtec mesh.
Want To Learn More?
Talk to an expert about adding fire-protection screen solutions to your product line.