Moralt AG, which is based in the Bavarian Alps of southern Germany, is a specialist manufacturer of performance timber laminated door core or door kit solutions, whose ranges cover both internal and external door requirements.

The company’s internal door core offer includes fire certification to EN1634-1 (EI30) and to BS 476 Part 22 FD30, FD60, FD90 and FD120 and a lot more besides.

Moralt’s view to product testing is that it is a constant dynamic under its R&D manager, Christian Daschner and his team of two technical support staff in Hausham. Input as to what is required in Moralt’s principle four geographic regions; the UK and Ireland; Continental Europe specifically “DACHI” (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy); the Middle East; and the Far East is fed back to the technical team by Christian Stöhr, head of sales, who is directly responsible for sales in the Continental DACHI markets, and Steven Dennard who is responsible for all other international sales, including the UK and Ireland.

The three internal door core ranges are FireSmoke, FireSound and Xtreme. FireSmoke is fire rated FD30 / EI30 and FD60; climatic-operational-, cyclical-, mechanical- certified, acoustic performing laminated core doors, 44mm and 54mm thick with 6mm thick MDF faces.

As recently as May this year, FireSmoke 54mm reached climate class 4 – the highest class in the category for a door element as per EN1530 (2000-06). Furthermore, in the UK, this same door core has been successfully tested to PAS24, BS EN 6375 Parts 1,2 and 3 which makes it an excellent option for apartment entrance doors: security, acoustic and fire performance all in a laminated timber door core.

FireSound is fire rated FD30, FD60, FD90 high acoustic performing door cores, 44mm, 54mm and 59mm thick. The high acoustic performances are this range’s speciality: up to dB43 as a single leaf flush door, dB44 as a pair of flush doors; also with acoustic clad-on panels (19mm or 25mm thick) or as “interconnecting doors” or “back to back” doors such as those between hotel bedrooms or in between conference rooms, an acoustic performance of up to dB68 can be attained.

Within the db50-60 range, Moralt has additionally tested multiple door core combinations to ensure that not only the various fire ratings are maintained but also commercially, the most competitively priced products can be used to reach the required acoustic performance.

High performance doesn’t come cheap, but Moralt is mindful that every project has its budget, so these multiple combination test programmes should be useful for any specifier or architect looking to take cost out. Additionally, FireSound 59mm has successfully been tested to 500,000 cycles to EN1191.

Despite the fact that acoustic doors are obviously only effective when they are closed, Moralt felt that any scepticism about the slightly heavier weight of the 59mm thick acoustic door core would be overcome if it could be proven that a large 2440 x 1220mm (3m2) door leaf successfully endured the six month long cyclic test in its frame.

The Xtreme range is essentially two 58mm thick door cores – the most recent addition to Moralt’s offer, “FireSmoke Xtreme” to FD90, and “FireSound Xtreme” to FD120 with both products stocked nationally in the UK at both James Latham and Falcon Panel Products.

Both “Xtreme” blanks have also been acoustically tested with FireSound Xtreme attaining dB39 as an operational single leaf door.

Moralt’s external range of door cores and door kits – like the internal range – covers a comprehensive array of performances: fire-, security-, acoustic-, mechanical-, operational-, cyclic-, climatic- and thermal certification. This external range is known as FERRO and is made up of decorative door cores and kits from 68mm to 98mm thickness.

All of the FERRO door products have successfully undergone the rigours of CE marking, EN14351-1, attaining the highest classification in each mandatory category. The FERRO range’s most significant USP is its patented two-part flat steel-stabiliser running lock side only of these door blanks.

These two pieces of flat steel within each FERRO blank ensure such a high degree of stability, as borne out in the 36-day climate test they undergo, that Moralt is able to comfortably offer a 10-year non-bow guarantee – something practically unheard of in this industry.

The FERRO range also comes with a number of door face options, veneered ply faces: knotty oak to larch, mahogany to pine, paint-grade okoumé to ext MDF for unicolour lacquering and painting; and each FERRO blank has décor matching stiles and rails.

The DACHI markets, more familiar to the 68mm, 78mm, 88mm and 98mm FERRO door thicknesses, tend to prefer buying and processing the FERRO door blank, which is a common timber distributor stock item in all four countries, whereas by contrast, the FERRO door kit is proving especially more popular in the UK where the end customer takes advantage of buying a more processed product, which is also certified CE marked (EN14351-1).

The FERRO door kit is supplied with recessed door leaf and three décor matching laminated timber part frame, high quality multi-point lock, weather seals, threshold seal and hinges. For the UK market the FERRO range has undergone the rigours of PAS24 (2016) to BS EN 6375 Parts 1, 2.

The final noteworthy aspect of the Moralt FERRO range is that the 98mm thick blank is Passivhaus certified. The German Passivhaus concept has spread throughout the world since its inception in the late 1980s, not just for residential properties as it was initially intended, but for commercial, educational and administrative buildings.

Moralt’s Passiv doors – all performing to the requisite Passivhaus air permeability and thermal performance – also offer fire rating (FD30, FD60), high acoustics dB42 and for the UK, security performance PAS 24 (2016), BS EN 6375 Parts 1, 2 compliant with the UK Building Regulations, Approved Document Q.