Garage Firewalls- What you need to know

Andy Lynam, WIN Home Inspection Green Valley: Garages can be areas where fumes can accumulate because of cars, lawnmowers, fuel, and stored chemicals. The fire separation wall helps to create a barrier to help keep fumes and slow down flames in case of a fire. The shared walls between the attached garage and the home should meet the requirements of a fire separation wall. One of the most common issues WIN Home Inspectors find with fire separation walls is non-fire rated pull down attic stairs. Standard pull down stairs are not rated for use in a fire separation wall and should be modified to meet the standard or replaced with a rated system. Also tampered with garage to house doors is another common area for issues. Any breaches of the door (animal doors, windows) will void the fire separation. Though the requirement for an auto closer on the door has been removed from the IRC Code we feel it is a good safety feature.

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