Exterior siding in a garage?

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#1

Originally Posted By: kluce
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A house I inspected yesterday had an attached garage added to it. No door to house but the exterior, which was a metal siding, was being used to separate the garage and house.


Is this considered a good enough fire wall or is the lack of sealed joints prevent this from becoming a true firewall. The house was built in 1969 but don't know when the garage was built.

If it was my house, I wouldn't care as long as the joint at the roof and garage was fine - which it was.

What do you think?

Thanks ahead of time.

#2

Originally Posted By: scieslewicz
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Hi Kevin,


Don't you just wonder why these homeowners would add an attached garage and not make it accessible to the house? Strange, but the siding is not adequate for the firewall. Perhaps there is no building department so no permit was ever taken out?

I'd be willing to bet that the framing was all goofed up to. Was there a gas curb?

In my jurisdiction even detached garages and sheds that are within 10' of the house need to have a minimum of 5/8" fire rated gypsum to the house side/s.

I'm not real sure on the date of the firewall requirement but if the addition is recent, it's a problem.

Sue