Drop Down Seals

What is a drop down seal?

Drop down seals are very useful pieces of equipment. They can be used on a wide range of doors to provide an acoustic seal on the bottom of doors. Some drop seals have been fire and smoke tested on fire doors, including the ones we have listed on our website.

Drop down seals come in two forms, either a surface-mounted version, which is screwed onto the exterior of a door, or rebated drop down seals, which are installed into a rebate in the bottom of a door.

Surface-mounted drop down seals are more convenient for refurbishment projects, where seals need to be installed on many doors. This is because they do not require the installer to remove the door from its hinges.

Rebated seals need to be installed into a rebate in the bottom of a door. Some customers prefer these seals, as they are more discreet.

How does a drop down seal work?

Automatic drop down seals have plungers on one side. When this plunger is pressed, the seal drops down automatically to close off the gap at the bottom of the door. If installed correctly, the plunger is positioned so that it is activated when the door has closed.

How do you install a drop down seal?

First of all, it is important to select the correct size drop down seal. Measure the width of your door with a tape measure. Most drop down seals can be cut down to some degree. For example, our Applique surface-mounted seals can be cut down by up to 150mm on the opposite side to the plunger. Doors are commonly around 800mm wide, so for these our customers would usually purchase an 830mm drop down seal, then trim it down to 800mm.

Surface mounted seals need screwing into place, whereas rebated seals need to be installed into a rebate in the bottom of a door. We recommend hiring a carpenter to install these ones.

Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

To view our range of drop down seals, click here.

For technical advice, please call us on 01752 690997, or send us an email: sales@fireproofpaint.co.uk.