How to Fire proof a wood BGE table

Twozeroone

Hello, I recently built a wooden BGE table for my Large BGE.  I used weather treated pine for the top counter and bottom counter (Not pressure treated, it is a different process).  I built the table to use the full nest, not just the small table nest.  I personally think the full nest, with wheels removed, is a safer setup seeing there is more room between the bottom of the egg and the bottom wood.  I would like to treat the wood with some type of fire proofing spray or treatment to ensure I have covered all my bases for fire safety.  I plan to lay down some type of tile or mat on the bottom shelf just in case.  I get worried with how close the side of the BGE is to the top counter and how hot that wood may get.  I did also stain the table with an oil based stain.

Does anyone have any advice on what to treat the wood with that would help make it fire proof or at least resistant?  I don't want to use an entirely different counter top, I'd like to keep it wood.  There seem to be some products out there, they aren't cheap, but I'm not sure how they would work.  Anyone have any experience in this?

Thanks!

henapple

There are several products. Check out Sherwin-Williams commercial website or call a store. 

Twozeroone

Thanks!  I still don't see anything specific to fire proofing wood.  I've called many places and stopped at pretty much every home supply store I can find.  The only think they have is the high heat car exhause/grill type paint.  Nothing for wood specifically.  Even the sherwin williams stuff, i don't really see any paint that is fire proof or retardant.

Chubbs

Call you fire department. They should know  

Spaightlabs

Metal...

check flamestop dot com.  Disclaimer - i I have no idea if this will prevent, or decrease the likelihood or severity of fire and in no way does this post constitute an endorsement.

NPHuskerFL

Wood fireproof? Maybe resistant but, not proof. Agree with @Spaightlabs Metal.

Carolina Q

Not sold in the store, online only. 5 gallons!! Bring your wallet!!! 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/ForceField-FireGuard-E-84-5-gal-Intumescent-Primer-FFGD-E84-g05/203582028

Disclaimer - I have no idea if this will prevent, or decrease the likelihood or severity of fire and in no way does this post constitute an endorsement.

laserdoc85

I built mine out of cedar a few years back and coated it with four coats of polyurethane. Never have a problem with the table catching on fire. Never have seen it happen or heard of it except maybe one time I heard of it. Not really an issue for anyone

Spaightlabs

laserdoc85 said:

I built mine out of cedar a few years back and coated it with four coats of polyurethane. Never have a problem with the table catching on fire. Never have seen it happen or heard of it except maybe one time I heard of it. Not really an issue for anyone

My table started on fire one year ago next month.  Burned my house and all of my stuff.  Got out with a pair of gym shorts, my wife, her bathrobe and our 2 dogs...

It's not an issue until it is an issue.  Then it is a pretty big issue.

I think @little steven may have had a similar issue.

Carolina Q

laserdoc85 said:

I built mine out of cedar a few years back and coated it with four coats of polyurethane. Never have a problem with the table catching on fire. Never have seen it happen or heard of it except maybe one time I heard of it. Not really an issue for anyone

You honestly think that poly makes wood fireproof? If you haven't seen or heard of it, you need to pay closer attention. 

Backyard Mike

If I had my BBQ in a wood table I'd treat it with one of these.

Cookinbob

I have my XL in a wood table, resting on a table nest.  I put a layer of ceramic tile under the egg nest (nobody suggested it, just seemed like a good idea to me).  I think one of the keys is to have plenty clearance between the egg and the counter top (cut a big enough hole).  I also like the idea of the nest rather than resting on pavers.  Air is a good insulator.  Looking at the burned table above in this thread, the egg rests on pavers, and top clearance looks tight - these could have been contributing factors.  

I think that if you are doing a high temp cook or a clean burn, you should stay with the egg! 

bill37

Redwood chars but is not supposed to flame

Spaightlabs

bill37 said:

Redwood chars but is not supposed to flame

You have to be kidding?

redwood is light weight and burns fast.  Not a very dense wood, doesn't give off a ton of heat, but it burns plenty good.

Jeremiah

Build a metal table. Wood has a tendency to catch fire. Or so I've heard. 

Twozeroone

@Spaightlabs .....  I sent a message to the flame stop company. Waiting to hear back. The table will be on a small patio about 5 feet away from my deck (not on the deck) and house. Where was your table when it caught fire?  Where you doing a long slow cook?  Also do you know if it started on the top part of the table or was it the bottom shelf?  P.s.  I'm really sorry to hear about what happened... That is terrible. I'm glad you got out ok. 

ChillyWillis

Hmmmm @Twozeroone that table build sounds suspiciously like one I was checking out this Memorial Day weekend while eating brisket, baby backs, smoked chicken, burgers, bacon and deconstructed s'mores. 

Welcome to the forum!

Spaightlabs

Fire started on the lower shelf.  Fired up the egg early, 7:00 am or so, just did some chicken, burgers, steak and salmon for the week.  Had some lump left and hadn't done a clean burn for a while.  Cranked it up and let it run for a bit, thenshut it down at 10:30 am or so.  Went about our day, went to a Rockies game, got rained out.  Rained most of the afternoon.  At 1:30 am I woke up when the glass in our frenchdoors off of the living room exploded.

engineers determined that the brick paver the egg was sitting above had cracked at some point and allowed enough heat through that the framing members began to smolder.  May have smoldered many times and just not been able to keep going.  Egg was not cracked on the bottom at all and there was a 1 inch air gap between the egg and paver.

table was on the deck about 8 feet from the structure.  When the table burned it eventually gave way and tipped towards the house.  That allowed some burning material to ignite a large resin storage chest  that was several feet from the egg to ignite.  Inside the chest - you guessed it, a bag of lump and a bunch of smoking chunks.  That got going pretty good, got the side of th house going and got up under the eaves. Then into the attic all without any smoke inside the house.

we got out with a couple minutes to spare.  Scary stuff.  

Twozeroone

@ChillyWillis yup, your suspicion is correct!   Finished off the brisket tonight. Good stuff. Can't wait to try the wicked good bag of charcoal gold. 

@Spaightlabs that is an awful story. Again glad you got out ok!  You just convinced me to try to Do everything I can to keep the table as safe as possible. I'll post a followup once I figure out my plan.   

blasting

@Spaightlabs I'm glad you tell your unfortunate story.  Fwiw, because of your story no grill will be a fire risk for my family, so you have my thanks.  

For those with already constructed wood decks, it is a dilemma for sure.   Be safe.

makis

Try waterglass or liquid glass. The chem name is sodium silicate ! it will be heat and fire resistant NOT totally fire proof.

FearlessTheEggNoob

It might be more interesting to construct it with Hardiboard and tile anyway. Maybe with wood accents.

Zmokin

Spaightlabs said:

bill37 said:

Redwood chars but is not supposed to flame

You have to be kidding?

redwood is light weight and burns fast.  Not a very dense wood, doesn't give off a ton of heat, but it burns plenty good.

He was confused, redwood bark burns poorly which helps prevent raging wildfires in redwood forests, the core wood burns just fine.

Twozeroone

I found this stuff that I am going to try (see link below, lumber guard XT), they have some good videos and seem to have good ratings/reviews. I am also going to tile certain portions of the table I am thinking.  I will likely tile the bottom shelf (or put down a fire proof mat).  I am going to cut the hole in the top even larger for more clearance and possibly might make it square.

http://www.frctexas.com/fx-lumber-guard-xt.html

neumsky1

What caused these fires?...obviously this doesn't happen often...I wood...like the people this happened to to give us an idea as to why this happened to them and not happening to everyone else also! maybe clearance was an issue?

pgprescott

You need and air gap to buffer the heat between the egg and the wood and or paver. A paver directly under the egg is a false sense of security. You must have an air gap. Table nest or other means. The heat will transfer through the paver to the wood over time. 

wrathoftheegg

So I'm getting ready to build a nest and this wasn't even a concern of mine. Im thankful for reading this, as I will be more mindful of a potential fire. So thank you for bringing this topic up.

jllbms

My table caught fire in the middle of the night, but fortunately the flames awakened me. The refurbished table is now a potting bench, and the Egg is in a nest by a stainless side table.

dougcrann

Think the big thing is to have open air under the Egg. Our Egg is sitting on concrete blocks...with the open side facing front to rear. Was at 650* for 4 hours a few weeks back...bottom of bricks did not even break 100*

Smokeysmokerson

Are fires due to negligence from the owner?  I am not trying to be a prick...  Just curious since I have a wood table with a nest underneath.  It seems like people are still getting fires that way, which I find odd

Spaightlabs

I had an air gap between the egg and paver.

paver cracked at some point, allowed heat to transfer to framing underneath.