Why Do Floor Plenums Fail Air Testing?


There are many reasons why 70-75% of floor plenums fail their first air tightness test at the first attempt. One of the most common reasons is due to a lack of understanding within the construction industry as to how airtight a plenum needs to be. One common problem is that many plenums are built and tested under laboratory conditions; unfortunately there is a big gap between what happens in a lab to the reality of plenums construction on a building site. With multiple contractors needing to put pipes, cables etc. through the plenum, this is just one of many things that can affect the air tightness of a floor plenum. 



Many contractors often worry about the air tightness of the raised access floor (which is important) but fail to realise the importance of the rest of the plenum envelope, i.e. the walls and floors. Unfortunately, in our experience its leaky walls and floors that usually contribute to floor plenum failures. 

Floor plenum testing procedure BG65 / 2016, offers helpful advice on what areas to seal in new and existing floor plenums. 

APT Sound Testing undertakes all types of Floor Plenum Testing to BG65 / 2016. Using the latest equipment we can test the largest floor plenums with floor areas in excess of 1000m2 and have undertaken hundreds of floor plenum tests throughout the London and the South East.   

If you would like more information on our floor plenum testing please contact us at: info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk or visit our Floor Plenum Testing page on our website. Alternatively for more information on our oother services, please visit our website at www.aptsoundtesting.co.uk 


Location: London, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Constructing Floor Plenums to Pass Air Tightness Testing

Image
Constructing Floor Plenums to Pass Air Tightness Testing  There are many considerations when designing and constructing floor plenums to pass the air tightness testing .  In offices, carpet tiles are usually laid over the raised access floor, if joints between carpet tiles are not lined up with the joints between the raised access panel’s floor tiles or panels, the air leakage will be reduced, particularly if the carpet tiles are glued in place. That said, the laying of carpet tiles should not be relied on to achieve the target for the raised access floor itself as these can debond over time resulting in multiple air leakage paths throughout the raised access floor. Many raised access floors include electrical and date boxes. The air leakage of these boxes should be ascertained, to ensure that they will not significantly contribute to the raised access floor leakage, and reduce the air flow to the grills or diffusers. Where there are decorative or functional connect...
Read more

The Most Common Air Leakage Paths in Floor Plenums

Image
The most common air leakage paths in floor plenums In order to create an effective airtight floor plenum and achieve a successful floor plenum air test, all mechanical and electrical penetrations and perimeter joints must be properly sealed. An evaluation of the following areas/components that can typically create Inefficiencies should be undertaken during the early design phases: 1. All service penetrations through the access floor, walls and sub-floor including:    a. Cable bundles and cable trays    b. Pipes    c. Fire/plenum barriers 2. Cable trunking – must be internally sealed within the void 3. Masonry work - incomplete or poorly jointed masonry walls will result in greater air leakage. All masonry joints must be filled and masonry paint applied as a finish. 4. Risers need to be properly sealed throughout all plenums/ducting need to be sealed. 5. Plasterboard on studs at board edges and the ends below the raised floor...
Read more

The main terms used in the construction of floor plenums

Image
The main terms used in the construction of floor plenums We often get asked many questions regarding the construction of floor plenums.   To try and help our customers we have offered an explanation of the main terms used in floor plenums. Floor Panel – the load bearing, horizontal component of a Raised Access Floor system Floor Pedestal – the vertical, adjustable supporting component of a Raised Access Floor system Subfloor – the existing floor upon which a raised Access Floor System is installed. Plenum wall – the new and/or existing walls to the plenum, that compartments the plenum from the surrounding the other plenum zones. Finished Floor Height – the finished floor height from the subfloor, void height and panel thickness combined. Plenum Void – the space between the underside of a raised floor and the existing sub floor, sometimes referred to as a cavity or plenum. Service penetrations – these are usually ducts or cable trays that penetrate the plenum envel...
Read more