These photos from the Glassboro Fire Department are a terrific reminder of the value of fire doors. Although most doors in single-family homes are not required to be fire-rated, the International Residential Code does require protection between the garage and the home. Here is an excerpt from the 2015 IRC, which describes a 20-minute fire door or other substantial door, with a self-closing device:
R302.5.1 Opening protection. Openings from a private garage directly into a room used for sleeping purposes shall not be permitted. Other openings between the garage and residence shall be equipped with solid wood doors not less than 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) in thickness, solid or honeycomb core steel doors not less than 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) thick, or 20-minute fire-rated doors, equipped with a self-closing device.
From the fire department’s Facebook page:
On 8/11 at approximately 23:00 hours station 26-1 was dispatched to a reported dwelling fire in the Camelot development. The fire was contained to the attached garage of the dwelling thanks in part to the metal fire rated door that had a self closing feature and completely drywalled walls and ceilings which is a standard in new construction.
Thank you to the Glassboro Fire Department for permission to share these photos with iDigHardware’s readers!
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I’m worried we’re going to see a lot more garage fires as electric cars become more popular. Gasoline is flammable, but it needs a spark to set it off. Electric car chargers are basically high voltage, high current power supplies, and from my experience in the power supply industry, I can tell you that such power supplies will occasionally just blow up for no reason. Some tiny, microscopic flaw in the crystal structure of a transistor gets exacerbated by the repeated stress of shunting dozens of amps of current, until one day it just goes bang. And if there’s anything flammable exposed to the sparks, or if there’s a current surge, then a fire is pretty likely. It’s only about quarter percent a year if you have a good design and good quality parts, but there is always that random failure rate. And that can be exacerbated if the power supply is left neglected in a garage, full of dust and insects, with a tarp thrown on top, in 90 degree weather.
Electric cars are probably safer than gasoline cars in a collision, but the chargers are probably more dangerous than a can of gas.
And it has no latch bolt in the door.
I noticed that too. Weird, right?
– Lori
I see a lot of Luan doors with a piece of tin tacked to the garage side in existing homes. Is that considered a 20 minute door?
It’s not a 20-minute door but it might be acceptable in some jurisdictions.
– Lori
Unless those are spring hinges, there is no “self-closing device.”
What does the Residential Code say about the wall construction?
Hi Brian –
I’m not sure about the wall requirements of the IRC but I read that the garage is required to be sheetrocked so that would provide some level of protection.
– Lori
I also noticed no latching hardware … but if you look at the edge of the door there appears to be two holes and what looks like a lock latch or bolt plate ? could this have been closed by a roller catch? Michael make a valid point about electric cars… as more and more become main line vehicles its only a matter of time before cheaper (OK OK Less expensive )aftermarket batteries or parts become available and they may not live up to expectations.
I read an interesting article on price … Its unwise too pay to much… but its worse to pay too little.
When you pay too much all you loose is a little extra money, that’s all .
But when you pay too little you sometimes loose everything. Because the item you bought was incapable of doing the task it was purchased for .. The common law of Business practice prohibits paying a little and getting a lot… It cannot be done ..
Correction to my previous comment I did notice in the first photograph a lever set on the door so it did have a positive latch hardware albeit probably a grade three residential latch set but at least it held up … Sorry for some reason the first photo did not load …
If you look at the blank plate you will see that it is for a deadbolt option the lever is just below the blank filler plate.
hello so we are in the process of selling our home and buyer had home inspection done and noticed that the inspector suggested that we need self closing hinges on our garage entry door that leads to the laundry room? Texas and home build in 2010
Hi Casper –
I’m not sure what your local codes require, but the International Residential Code requires the door between the house and garage to be self-closing. You could use spring hinges or a door closer depending on how much control you want the closing device to have. Door closers are generally more reliable over time. You should be able to buy either from a hardware store – if you go with the spring hinges you might want to take a photo of your existing hinge and also measure the height of the hinge (at the leaf on the door or frame, not at the knuckle/barrel). The picture will help when you’re in the store trying to remember if the corners are square or round, and how many screw holes the hinge has.
– Lori
Hi thanks for offering to help homeowners with questions! I salvaged an old wood, carved door…very heavy, but not consistent thickness because of the deep carving. I looks like a Philippines or Indonesian type of workmanship (just a guess) probably from the 50’s-60’s. Do you think that would work as a fire door? It weighs a ton!
Hi Cheri –
The door you are describing is probably not a fire door so technically it can not be used where a fire door is required, BUT since your question is on a post about garage doors, the door may be fine. I don’t know what your local codes require, but the International Residential Code allows the door between the house and garage to be a solid wood door that’s at least 1 3/8″ thick (see the code section in the post for other options). Although a 20-minute door is acceptable, the IRC does not require an actual 20-minute door for this location.
– Lori