Fire Protection - Sprinkler System for shop

[Sonny Edmonds]

I have fire extinguishers and good insurance.
Does that count?

[Robert Maloney]

I am a journeyman sprinklerfitter for 15 yrs. One thing you need to remember is that sprinkler systems are designed to give you a way out, not save your equipment. The water damage from a sprinkler system is just as damaging as the water from fire hose, but 98% of the time systems do put out the fire. Check with your local jurisdiction as there are many different local codes. Plastic pipe is great, but cant be exposed, gas systems like intergen and FM2000 are good but the rooms have to be air tight. In my opinion the best and safest system for a shop is a Preaction System. A head can be knocked out and it wont flood your shop. I,ve actually installed them in the NY Stock Exchange to protect the computers. As for water requirements you need to have an engineer design your system and do a hydraulic calculations to see if your psi and gpms are sufficient, also if you are installing more than 10 heads the supply Cannot be tied in with your domestic water without installing a backflow detector. It is a very good idea to install one in your shop for life safety reasons and it will also lower your insurance premiums. Hope this helps, any questions just ask

[Sonny Edmonds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah....
Look, if I'm to dumb or feeble to get my dumb butt out of my 20' X 20' shop (which has a 5# halon extinguisher at two exits), maybe it's time for me to go???
I live in a house, not some over engineered and over stuffed commercial building.
And if you want to argue, Just how much real good did the systems do for the poor souls in the World Trade Center?
I understand the scare tactics. But there is no way you will justify sprinkler systems to me in my little shop.

[Kurt Strandberg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah....
Look, if I'm to dumb or feeble to get my dumb butt out of my 20' X 20' shop (which has a 5# halon extinguisher at two exits), maybe it's time for me to go???
I live in a house, not some over engineered and over stuffed commercial building.
And if you want to argue, Just how much real good did the systems do for the poor souls in the World Trade Center?
I understand the scare tactics. But there is no way you will justify sprinkler systems to me in my little shop.

A sprinkler system is designed for a certain amount of heads to contain the fire, not have the main supply line ripped by a jet going through the pipes or jet fuel dumped in the building when the jet crashed

There has never been a multiple fatality in a fully sprinkled building

You are right you don't need a sprinkler system in a 20X20 shop where you work alone, but I think all public buildings should.

Yes, I am a journeyman sprinklerfitter for 12 years and 20 years on a fire department, I have seen sprinklers save many buildings

That night club fire in Rhode Island, if I remember correct killed a 100 or so people, a week or 2 later there was the same type of fire in Minneapolis, from the wall covering started by the bands pyrotechnics, and fire sprinklers put out the fire and other than here in Minnesota nobody heard about it on the news.

[Tom Hargrove]

Fire extinguishers work great if: 1) they are the right kind (Halon is only partially effective on some types of combustibles, like sawdust and piles of wood); 2) if they are big enough, (they are generally effective only when the fire is small); and 3) someone is present when the fire starts. If no one is present to use an extinguisher, they don't work well. At the same time, I think its a good idea to have fire extinguishers around. I have several in my home and garage, even though I'm not home all of the time

You don't have to have a sprinkler system, just like you don't have to have insurance on your home (unless the mortgage company demands that you do). But I think it is a good idea to insure my home and shop whether or not someone else required me to do it. In the same vein, you don't have to use blade guards, push sticks or dust collection systems. Most of us reading this live in countries where such decisions are up to the individual.

If I ever have a freestanding shop, it will have a sprinkler system in it. It is true that a sprinkler system usually doesn't fully extinguish the fire, but sprinklers usually keep it from spreading beyond the point of origin. When the fire department arrives, they put out the fire. I was an insurance adjuster for almost 15 years, and during that time I walked through hundreds of burned buildings.

If you put the terms "meridian plaza" and "fire" in a search engine, it will return information on a spectacular fire that I worked on as an adjuster. Many experts say the fire was caused by rags soaked with finishing oil that ignited after everyone went home for the day. The fire burned through areas that were not protected by sprinklers. The fire was extinguished when it spread to an area that had working sprinklers in it.

I would rather have damage from a small fire and sprinkler discharge than damage from a large fire. I would rather replace some of my tools and some drywall that all of my tools and the entire building.

[Tom Adger]

I have a workshop, detached from the house. I have had ADT security for the house for a number of years, and it has fire protection as well as burglery. I have similar concerns for my workshop about both. This thread will probably prompt me to extend the ADT to the workshop.

I get chills about a sprinkler system going off in the shop. It would ruin a lot of stuff, and I think the security system would be be better way to go.

[Kerry Medeiros]

I appreciate all the comments.

Let me put my situation into perspective in light of some of the comments.

My shop is 32x36 with a second floor over a portion of it. It is a wood structure. Installing a dry system or a preaction system is a little overkill for my needs. I woodwork as a hobby and to make a few bucks on the side - it is not my career (although somedays I wish it was). My intent behind the sprinkler system is simply to delay fire extension until such time that the FD arrives. I live about 7 km's from the fire hall and response to my home would be about 8 minutes. Damage to equipment by water is not something I'm worried about in an actual fire situation. They're insured. It's the structure I'd like to protect.

I have seen first hand the value of sprinklers in residential situations. I am deputy chief of our local FD and one of my first working fires as a FF was a two storey house with a woodstove in the basement. Fire started in the area of the woodstove. The owner had 1 or 2 sprinklers installed in the area of the woodstove. They were something the homeowner installed by plumbing in a 1/2" copper line and adding the heads. This home is near the border of our response area and is about a 12-15 minute drive from the fire hall. Tack on a couple of minutes for members to first arrive at the hall and it was close to 20 minutes before we made entry. We all expected that house to be out of control by the time we arrived. We were able to make entry and extinguish the fire. There was damage to the floor structure (gotta love solid lumber joists) and minimal fire extension. The owner was able to restore the home to pre fire condition, IMHO because of the sprinkler by the woodstove. It was able to reduce the fire spread and do so for 20 minutes until we got there.

Matt hit the nail on the head. A check valve off the main and antifreeze on the system side of the checkvalve. If I may pick your brain a little Matt, should I over pressurize the system side to maybe 5 or 10lbs more pressure than the supply side?