Foreclosure Home Inspection - Garage Door Inspection
Inspection of garage door material and mechanism
Door material: -- Solid core (fire-rated) -- Not fire-rated --> Serious safety and fire issue, needs to be fixed immediately
Door mechanism: -- Automatic, self-closing -- Not self-closing --> Serious fire hazard issue, needs to be fixed
From this garage door on the left you can see that the living space floor is higher than the garage floor level. The garage door is self-closing and can be held open (see the attachment on the lower left side of the door). Washer and dryer are also on the higher platform. Dryer is operated with natural gas and may cause fire if it is on the garage floor level.
Inspection of garage vehicle door
-- Auto-reverse operational (keep a stick, bucket while door is closing to test) -- Infra-red system operational (put an object between sensors to test) -- No auto-reverse -->serious safety hazard, risk of injury (children, humans, pets, etc.)
This is a chain-operated automatic garage vehicle door mechanism. The red puller is for manual operation. The luggage with an extended handle on the right side represents a risk for safe operation.
Inspection of safety in garage
Make sure that the living area next to the garage is completely protected from fire.
Any connection from the garage to the living area must be fire-proofed. A hole was drilled for this electric wire connection and sealed. Holes compromise the fire protection of the sheetrock as shown in this picture.
Inspection of potential risks in garage
Examine carefully to discover following risks:
- Gas appliance (gas water heater) has flame during operation and may cause serious problems when in touch with fumes above the garage floor. Any gas appliance must have a base at least 18 inches higher than the garage floor.
- Electrical wire extensions are frequently used in garages. This is against the electrical standards. The wire extension should not be used to substitute permanent wiring.
Sound condition of garage is important especially if there is a living space on it.
Periodically check any water penetration if the garage floor is lower than the rest of the house.
Keep the garage ventilation system unobstructed as many people use their garages for storing items that may prevent such ventilation.
Every business has its own rules and surprises as well. Home inspection is no exception. Here’s one of the surprising device that I noticed at the neighboring property:
Quiz: “Y” shape large tree branch inserted into a vent pipe (clogging it) to hold a wire with a stone attached on the other end to keep it tight. It was on the roof of a neighboring house. What is it? It is not an antenna. I and my colleague couldn’t figure what it was! It’s up to your imagination!