Residential Fire Sprinklers: What You Need to Know in 5 or 6 Steps | House Flipping in Los Angeles

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It’s time for Sam’s favorite topic, residential fire sprinklers. In this video we discuss when you need fire sprinklers and the 6(5) steps we are taking to having fire sprinklers installed. We also give you an estimate of how much we are spending to getting fire sprinklers. We won’t have the absolute final cost until the city gets back to us, so stick around to hear about that.

Infinity Fire Protection Inc
[phone]

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[sammydingdong]

This system saved my two young daughters lives yes there was water damage but the insurance paid for that and my daughters lived not sure why this guy feels they are a waste of time.

[plumberson]

if you have children, they are priceless. i would be very happy and not even complain if my house was flooded during a fire but my kids were safe because of the sprinkler system.

[dozer]

I've been a sprinkler fitter for 22 years and I have many years in the fire service as a volunteer firefighter. I have replaced the sprinkler head after a fire and I am always impressed with how little damage there is. The residents are often complaining about the water damage, but I know that is because they don't understand how much fire and smoke damage there would have been without them. Plus the fire department would have to use far more water to put out the fire if there are not sprinklers so you have the water damage either way. The tenants are usually back in the other units by the time I get there. I have witnessed the lives and property saved many times. I have also witnessed the water damage from accidental discharge due to human error (people like to hang clothes hangers on them in hotels). With everything I know about them, I retrofitted them into my 100 year old house. However, I do not agree with codes that force you to install them into a single family residence. I think there should be information given to the owner about fire sprinklers and how fast a fire can spread without sprinklers and let them decide. Do I want to cut 6K from the landscaping or flooring budget for now and install fire sprinklers. Or roll the dice that a fire won't happen to me. I get that it is different since you are flipping the house and may not have a buyer who can make this choice. My opinion is always less government. I feel your pain being forced to do this. P.S. I did a water tank and pump for my house because it was cheaper than bringing in a bigger water service. The downside is they take up space and you have more that could fail.

[wdwtx.]

One flooded room will cost you thousands. A pain.
One destroyed house could cost you everything. Life changing.

[rainierfireprotection]

So, you don't want a flood if there is a fire? Then you CERTAINLY want sprinklers. You generally only have 1 sprinkler head deploy to contain the fire, maybe 2. Each head puts out 13 GPM worth of water (typically) compared to the 300+ GPM a fire hose would use from a truck/hydrant. In a 13D (one or two family dwelling unit) sprinkler application like this, the job of the sprinklers is to give the occupants a chance to get out. Average fire department response time with a water truck (not aid car) is about 4-6 minutes. With new, lightweight construction materials and furnishings the time for a residential home to reach flashover (the absolute point where survivability is zero) is under 2 minutes. With sprinklers, 85% of the time a residential system will contain and EXTINGUISH the fire. Thus keeping that pesky fire hose from REALLY flooding your home. You are also more likely to be able to stay in your home or return to it within 48 hours if sprinklers are used to contain or extinguish the fire as it contains it to that single room source. You also get an insurance discount which over the life of a 30 year mortgage will easily pay off your $6k cost on the system in this instance. I could go on and on, but it would be worth your while to reconsider your viewpoint/attitude to this "useless" system. I hope they never ever have to be used, but if they do it is the best shot most folks have for getting out of their homes in time.

[marcberm]

I get it... Sprinklers are NOT cheap, and therefore not for everyone or every budget, BUT... For anyone to say they are "useless" or even that they "don't understand them" is baffling to me. The water that puts out a fire can come in the form of thousands of gallons from a fireman's hose, or it can come in a more controlled manner from within the house. You can settle for more fire damage becasue of the time it takes for personnel and aparatus to arrive (and the more invasive nature of those firefighting techniques), or you can minimize that damage with nearly instant response from within the building. Water is damage, but fire is destruction. Sprinklers are absolutely useful, save property, and by extension save money. Where up-front cost/expenditure is not a consideration, they should be a no-brainer, and where cost is a consideration, they should not simply be dismissed out of hand as useless. Everything is a calculated risk assessment. TL;DR: I hear your valid desire to not have to include sprinklers, but the reasoning not to is flawed.

[alaskamark]

If you have a flame that is about 5-6 feet high in your home, you've got about 15 seconds to get out before the oxygen combusts in the whole home. Find out the next time your local fire department is doing a side by side fire demonstration of a room with and without fire sprinklers, then decide if it is useless or not.

[zackdreamcast]

Got a quote in VT for my new construction and it was $26k for 1800sqft

[richardmoye]

for the Meter situation... was a pump and tank not an option? cheaper than a new tap from the city... unless your local fire marshal wont allow it...
for aesthetics, there's flat plate concealers.

Also as for "flooding". Most fires are controlled with 1 or 2 sprinklers. If a head goes off, depending on the pressure at your house it will be discharging between 20-40 gallons per minute. Typical fire department response times in a suburban area is around 10 minutes once the call is received, so lets say 15 total (if you have a water flow alarm on your system then your alarm monitoring company will make the call). At the most, 40gpm x 15 minutes = 600 gallons.... When they do get there, the fire will most likely be extinguished. The system will be shut down, head changed and now you have a mess to clean up in one room.
Without sprinklers.... a fire in a room grows exponentially without anything stopping it so that a situation called "flashover" can occur in as little as 1 1/2 minutes. This is when the fire erupts out of that room and spreads rapidly throughout the structure. So in the 15 minute response time for the fire department the fire has now spread to 1/4 to 1/2 of the house (15 minutes is generous too because unless you're there to call, no one else will call untill someone sees smoke or flames from the outside). When they arrive, theres another 2-5 minutes of setting up the hoses, hooking up to hydrants, and getting into position for the attack... if they think the roof is involved, they get up there and tear holes in the roof for venting and then they start spraying water from the hoses, at 250 gallons a minute per hose, for however long it takes to put it out. in the end they could end up using 20-30 THOUSAND gallons of water... vs under 1000 for a sprinklered home. Plus your house is burned down vs. having to fix a room.
Sure, if you're there and awake with a fire extinguisher handy you could catch a fire and put it out.... what about when you're asleep, or not home or in another part of the house and something starts?
If they accidentally go off, as with everything with your house, know how it works... know where the control valve is and shut it, then open the drain. This will stop the head from discharging almost immediately.

One big tip for everyone is have the installing contractor include a spare head cabinet AND wrench. This should have spare sprinklers of the ones installed on your system. Its required by code on commercial installations but not on single family homes... they'll charge you for it but its worth the $200 or so. Each sprinkler has a specific wrench that goes with it that you have to use (or else you'll damage the head) and if you have one break you can change it out quickly.

[Cristoforo]

I’ve been plumbing for over. 20 years and I’ve never heard of 5/8” copper pipe. Just 1/2” and 3/4”. And I’m puzzled by the potential problems and damage from insulated electrical wires touching the orange CPVC pipes. What special coating is this?

[rdytrvl]

Great overview on fire sprinklers. Although CPVC is common, PEX pipe is also allowed, correct? Pex seems easier and quicker to install. Why use CPVC?

[raymcclellan]

They make sprinklers / systems that only deploy unique to the room that has the fire

[ambieomystico]

Line size does not matter with pressure only volume increases

[pharohramseythegreat]

May I move a sprinkle 1 feet or so ? is that difficult or expensive?

[rockys]

I wish I could pay 2 $/sq ft! I just got a quote for double that in Texas.

[anthonydiaz]

I’m 19. I want to apply, I know a little about this job but I feel I’m too young to apply.

[wthomas]

How did you pressurize the lines? I just saw a video by a company that makes sprinklers that said never to pressurize cpvc with air or gas. I'm wondering what's going on in that regard. Thanks.

[Cosas-del-pasado]

If you break that red capsule on accident will it go off? Even there’s no fire?

[Cristoforo]

Typically, only one sprinkler will go off in the event of a small fire. Not all sprinklers go off at once, like in the movies. That’s Hollywood. The only time this happens in reality is if there’s a massive uncontrollable fire from some explosion or Molotov cocktail. The other scenario is in an airplane hangar, a special type of system, where all sprinkler heads are controlled by one valve.

[phredbookley]

Wait wait. Did this cost $300, 000+? Sorry I'm just trying to make sure about the number that was on screen