The Garage
The garage is where your car lives or your storage or possibly even an upgraded living space. Most of the components of your garage are covered in other sections of our emails like structure and interiors as they are typically connected or of the same construction. So, if you see cracks in the garage floor, this is typically part of the home's foundation. But we will cover some of the basics for the type and style of garages in our local area.
Fire Protection.
You might be thinking of course I want to protect my garage from a fire. But we are interested in keeping any possible fires in the garage and not in your house. Anytime you have an attached structure to the home and is required to have fire barriers. As with your attached garage, that as your drywall. Any openings in this barrier can allow for flames in the event of an emergency or even fumes from stored chemicals to enter the home and cause those unwanted hazards. So we want to make sure it is sealed up properly and that's why your service door Hass to have those self-closing hinges. Once upon a time, you had to have special fire-rated materials to seal any openings but now they just want you to caulk them up and make sure what happens in the garage stays in the garage.
The Garage Door Operations.
Your garage door is the smile of your home. And we basically just want to make sure that it opens and closes properly and safely. If there's any noise when opening the door, we recommend the proper garage door, lubrication spray which is easily applied to the wheels, track, and door opener chain. Any damage that may be present is usually considered cosmetic unless it affects the proper operation of the door.
The Auto Door Opener.
The garage door opener and its components are usually one of the most forgotten about systems in the house. People just expect it to work until it doesn't. Just like the auto door itself. If you don't take care of the opener it's gonna break on you before it's time. Besides opening and closing properly with the push of the button do you want to make sure that all the safety systems are operating properly. For starters, you have the eye safety sensors down at the bottom of the track. These need to be located between six and 8 inches off the ground per the manufacturer. To test them, you simply have the door in the open position and push the button and walk through the sensor. The door should automatically stop and reverse upwards. Next is the auto safety reverse. There are currently standards adopted that say this should be tested by placing a 2 x 4 under the door and closing it. If the door does not come back up when it hits the 2 x 4, the auto reverse needs repair. Most of us say this can damage the door and we recommend just standing there and when the door is closing, grabbing the bottom and applying standard resistance. If it's properly set, this will have the door reversed in the upwards position. Last, but not least is the safety spring and release cord. That red cord with the handle that is always tapping the top of your car or hitting your head is your safety release. Please do not ever tie this up out-of-the-way or remove it. If there's ever a power outage, this is how you get out. This cord should be no higher than 6'6" and able to be dressed by the elderly or a young person. Once you pull the release cord, you should be able to go over to the door and open it without heavy resistance. This is so anybody should be able to get out not just the strong ones.
Ceiling Shelving.
Did you know that depending on the age of your home and construction type, ceiling shelving can void your structural warranty and cause issues over time? If you have an engineer at home, these were not designed for such loads and all shelving should be installed with the floor and walls as support only. This can be cumbersome for the house sale. If the inspector does call this up, and the buyer is interested in proceeding with repairs. If these shelves are present, we recommend removing them prior to listing. The engineers will tell you that 30 to 50 pounds here and there should not affect the structure but that's not how they were requested to design it. And anytime you alter an engineering structure it requires that special approval.
GFCI Protection
GFCI protection is required in this area. It is commonly found on inspections that the GFCI outlet was replaced with a standard one preventing proper protection. All areas considered exterior or within 6 feet of water require GFCI protection. In most instances, if it's not present this is simply a $15 repair.
Thanks, everybody for reading, and Halo Inspections will be glad to check out your home to make sure there are no surprises.
Thank you so much for your time and look forward to helping you keep your house happy and healthy.