Garage Ceiling Needing Sealed

Just got an inspection done on my own house and am wondering about this callout. Why would my garage ceiling need to be sealed with 3/8 plywood. There is a room built over it but it seems like it would just add weight to the structure and not really provide anything. Attached are screenshots from the report.


What’s above? Living space? Also, that paper face insulation should be covered, (but I don’t think that is the reason for the narrative.)

Google firebreak.

I did. Is 3/8 plywood a 1/2" type x gypsum equivalent? I am seeing that thin plywood should be specifically called out as to not be used.

Should be 5/8" type X drywall on the ceiling if living space above. 1/2" drywall is fine on the walls. 1/2" drywall is also fine on the ceiling if no living space above. I’ve never heard of 3/8" plywood being suitable.

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It’s suitable if you want to add fuel to the house fire. :rofl:

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2015 IRC Code and Commentary Volume 1 (Residential) - Chapter 3: Building Planning - R302.6 Dwelling-garage fire separation .

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No, not at all!

Correct.

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Exactly… … :+1:

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We should have more information about your situation. Is the garage attached or detached from the home?
Brian asked a relevant question.

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The garage is detached. Made of durisol. There is a room above the center part of the garage. The walls of the room are 1/2” gypsum with insulation on top. Currently not sure with the floor is.

Ryan Uecker called it properly. Should be 5/8 sheetrock to maintain a proper firewall. I’m assuming the room above the garage is considered livable space.

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Well looks like I will be the prick in the room (been quite awhile for that)! You have an advanced mechanical engineering degree and have been inspecting since 2019 (original license date). By now I would expect that with all of the Home Inspection training (hopefully) you would realize that most if not all of our requirements are in the Building Code manuals even though we do not quote code on existing homes. These codes can easily be read for free at https://codes.iccsafe.org/codes/i-codes .

So with your advanced training and abilities needed to obtain them why is this a question that can not be easily answered by a little keyboard finger walking?

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Well since I was unable to find anything about 3/8 plywood. I thought there may have been something that I didn’t know about. Therefore I came to a place to ask. Since there is no code about using 3/8 plywood as a firebreak I assumed that maybe he was calling out for something different that I didn’t know about hence my question.

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This :up_arrow:

There should be a firewall between the garage and any living spaces.

garage firewall requirements - Google Search

In general, garage fire separation requirements dictate the use of fire-rated materials, like drywall, to prevent the spread of fire from the garage to the rest of the house. Specifically, 5/8-inch Type X drywall is often required for separations between garages and habitable spaces above, while 1/2-inch gypsum board may suffice for separations between the garage and the rest of the house. Additionally, garage doors leading to the house should have a 20-minute fire rating.

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Yep^ :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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What kind of room?

Thus, a great reason to contact your local AHJ as it may be a local issue/variance… which you will never find in the National Code books!

THIS vvvvvvv… may also be a factor which your local AHJ will have his own opinion on!!..

IMO… you need to have a talk with your Building Dept. regarding the Permit that was issues for the work, and was the Final Inspection performed and signed off on!

The floor of the room doesn’t matter. The fire-resistant barrier must be installed on the garage side of the wall/floor assembly.

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I can’t believe that someone actually put this quote in a report. A ReportHost report at that.

“The ceiling in the garage and the two rooms off of the garage need to be sealed with 3/8 plywood”.
(Sealed and Plywood)

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