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Garage Firewalls
Garage Firewalls Should be installed in
Attached Garages
By: Mark J. Donovan
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Fire can occur in a garage quite
easily, due to a variety of reasons including hot automobile engines and stored
fuels, chemicals and rags. Consequently, when building an attached garage
addition, it is important to install a garage firewall on any walls of the
garage that are adjacent to finished living space walls in the main area of the
home. This also includes any finished rooms above the garage addition. |
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Garage firewalls are not designed to
specifically prevent a fire from spreading to the main living area of a home.
Instead, a garage firewall is designed merely to slow the progression of the
fire to the main part of the home. By slowing the progression of the fire, a
garage firewall can provide valuable time to allow the home occupants to exit
the home safely.
A garage firewall needs to be rated
to provide one hour of fire resistance.
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To install a garage firewall that
meets this requirement it is important to use the right type of firewall
building material. Typically a garage firewall is constructed using 5/8th
inch thick Type X drywall on both the garage side and finished living room side.
Local building codes vary so you should check with your local building inspector
prior to installing a garage firewall.
It is important to make sure that
there are no gaps in the garage firewall, where a fire could easily work its way
through. |
If there are pipes that go through
the firewall into the main living area of the home they should be caulked with a
fire rated caulk.
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In addition to garage firewalls, it
is important that all garage doors that enter into the main living area of the
home are fire retardant and ideally self closing. The door should be made out of
either solid wood or metal and should include weather stripping to reduce the
flow of smoke. In addition, if the door is made out of solid wood, sheet metal
should be attached to the garage side of the door.
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Photo by Mark Donovan |
Installing a garage firewall is
relatively inexpensive and easy to do, so if you have an older attached garage
addition that is lacking a garage firewall consider putting one in. It could
mean the difference between life and death.
For more information on building a
garage addition see the
Garage Addition Bid Sheet from HomeAdditionPlus.com.
The Garage Addition Bid Sheet includes an extensive questionnaire (Request for
Quote) that a homeowner can provide to prospective general contractors and
subcontractors for bidding the garage addition. In addition, the
Garage
Addition Bid sheet also includes estimated costs and time intervals
for constructing a garage addition as well as a list of key home material
manufacturers. Finally, the
Garage
Addition Bid sheet includes an extensive
set of helpful tips and advice on making sure the garage addition is built
properly and on time and budget.
How to Finance your Home Remodeling Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Related Information on Building a Garage Addition
Additional Resources from Amazon.com on
Building a Garage Addition
Free Garage Addition
Price Quotes with No Obligation!
Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote
on building a garage addition from one of our prescreened and licensed garage addition
contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once
you receive your garage addition price estimate.
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