I return comment for comment.

Many years ago, house fires quite often started in the garage, which seems logical if you think about all the stuff that is in garages: paint, fertilizer, gas cans, car exhausts, washer and dryer, water heater, and furnace. According to my insurance agent, garage fires are not in the Top 5 anymore, but that doesn't diminish the fire danger that exists in the garage.

Fire door assemblies (door, frame, and associated hardware) between the garage and the living area will help prevent the spread of a fire from the garage into the house. Such assemblies have been required by generally accepted building standards for several decades. In fact, one home inspector in California traced the requirement in the California building codes all the way back to 1929.

Although most doors between the garage and living area are fire rated, I cannot verify that fire rating unless a rating plate is attached to the door. Typically the rating plate is affixed to the inside edge of the door so that it is difficult for it to be removed or fall off.

Fire door rating plate

Arguably the door in the house that gets the most use, and the most damage, is the door from the garage to the living area. When it gets damaged, home owners who replace it don't always realize that the door needs to be fire rated, so they'll buy the prettiest door, or the cheapest door, and install it that evening or weekend. Occasionally, a homeowner will paint over the plate. Such actions are why I won't risk my livelihood by stating that a door is fire rated without that rating plate being present.

There are many different fire door ratings, with the shortest being 20 minutes, and the longest (that I've seen) being two hours.

 

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2 Comments on How long will it take for a fire to get through your door?

FEB
06
223,563 Points 1 Featured Post

I thoguth that 2-hour was standard, at least with new costruction

7:14am • #1
113,648 Points 7 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor

Our realtor discouraged us from buying a house with an attached garage for this reason.  She said it was just safer if the garage caught fire.  I guess she was right! We don't have to worry about fire getting from the garage to the house now!

~Renae

4:05pm • #2

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Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector

San Diego, CA

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Russel Ray, Property Consultant

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