I am currently trying to fire proof my reptile room which consists of racks that are ran with heat cable. I'm worried that a rodent may chew through the heat cable and cause a fire.
I'm looking to add 2-layers of 5/8" Type-X fire-rated drywall and in addition use Scotch 3M 3326 Aluminum Foil Tape which has a temperature range of -20 to ~ 250°F.
Is there anything I'm missing that might make it a terribly bad idea to run Aluminum Foil tape up and down the walls all around?
Thanks!
Best Answer
The type-X drywall is a great idea as it is a great barrier to reduce heat transmission to combustible materials beneath, thereby increasing the amount of time it would take for the underlying materials to ignite when exposed to fire conditions. Use drywall tape and mud to finish the joints and call it good. As @Tester101 suggests, aluminum foil will do very little at structure fire temperatures, in fact I would bet the tape adhesive would catch fire and the tape would melt.