Did you know that most home owners are unaware that their garage and its systems are supposed to be able to slow the spread of a fire if one should occur in the garage?
Some examples of the living space shared wall between the home and garage should have the some of the following.
- Floor should be noncombustible material
- Door should be fire rated or solid wood door at least 1-3/8 inches thick and or solid or honeycomb-core steel door at least 1-3/8 inches thick. No openings in the door.
- The garage living space wall should be not less than 1/2-inch (12.7 mm) gypsum board applied to the garage side. Garages beneath habitable rooms shall not be less than 5/8-inch (15.9 mm) Type X gypsum board or equivalent. Walls should be taped and sealed appropriately to the local government requirements.
- Attic access should have a hatch cover made from an approved, fire-rated material. (We recommend having a home inspector investigate if your home has a garage attic access).
We recommend reaching out to your local local home inspector if you have any questions and concerns or you can call me directly at 720-660-5419.
Below is an example showing the walls that are shared living space wall in correlation to the garage walls.
Above is a great example of a new build garage wall we want to see when inspecting a home. You can clearly see the drywall is taped and sealed. Also you can clearly see the fire rated metal plate on the back of the service garage door.
*This is for educational purposes only and we are not recommending that the reader should or should not hire a garage or drywall professional. The example garage in question may have some of them, none of them, and or all of these things regarding the considerations. It’s important to have a professional help determine the risk and if in need of repair/replacement.