Garage Inspection Walkthrough

Often, garages are an afterthought for homebuyers, who tend to put more focus on bathrooms, kitchens, roofs and living areas.

They shouldn't be. There are several important safety and structure issues related to garages that should be examined when purchasing a home.

Firewalls are a must
"It's amazing how many things there are to look for," says inspector Steve Garcia of Huntington Beach, Calif. "The most important thing in a garage is the firewall. Typically you have fires caused in garages by either a car or people storing things in there. Every homeowner wants to be an electrician and the garage is the place they do it in."

Joey Lee of JTL inspections in Capistrano Beach, Calif., says the wall between garage and home should be constructed so it takes a fire at least one hour to burn through to the home. Any door between the garage and living space should be designed to keep fire contained in the garage for at least 20 minutes, he says.

"The door from the garage and the living space needs to be fire resistant, or a minimum 13/8-inches thick, and a self-closing, self-latching, solid-core door. The most common thing we see is a pet door in the door and/or a hole in the attic." Such egresses can allow a fire to circumvent a fire-resistant wall or door by going through or around them.

One inspector's walk through
Louis de Thomas of Anchor Building Inspections of North Miami, Fla., recently inspected a two-car garage and while he found the firewall to be sound, he discovered several problems with the door leading to the house. It was hollow and had no threshold, thus was easier to burn through. Plus, it had no weather stripping, which can help prevent carbon monoxide fumes from entering the home.

De Thomas spent 40 minutes examining the garage as part of an overall home inspection. He checked the roof and found two leaks, inspected the fuse box and found it antiquated with faulty wiring.

Also, the air conditioning unit did not have a fire damper, a device that keeps smoke from entering a home if there's a fire in the garage.

Most of the electrical outlets weren't grounded, including the one a leaky washing machine was plugged into. It's important to use outlets equipped with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI), which will protect against shock if you're using electric tools or appliances in a wet area, Thomas says. "The reason garages are considered a wet area is you can open the door fully and technically it's an enclosed porch; it's not considered to be an interior space," he says.

All three inspectors also warn about automatic garage door openers. It's important they have an auto-reverse mechanism so children or others don't get caught in a closing door.

"Somewhere near 70 percent of them fail to auto-reverse as designed and usually it's just a simple adjustment to get them working again," Lee says.

Structural issues
Garcia says homebuyers should keep an eye out for structural problems. He says garage frames tend to be weaker than the rest of a home and homeowners can make them weaker by removing beams or using rafters to hang a storage loft.

"People add storage holds from roof rafters and it makes the roof sag," he says.

He also recommends taking a good look at the concrete to make sure it's not separating from the home.

"Moisture from underground can cause heaving and cracking. Make sure the slab isn't separated from the foundation. Sometimes it creeps away because it's two different pours. Sometimes it separates up to 1 inch, which is excessive. A quarter-inch isn't bad," he says.

Lee finds it curious that many people don't look after their garages.

"It becomes a junk collection zone. You may have $40,000 to $80,000 in vehicles parked in the driveway exposed to the weather and $600 worth of junk in the garage. It becomes a very big fire hazard."