Garage To Living Space Door Requirement

While the six panel door shown below gets awfully thin at the panels this is still a 20 minute fire rated door so there s nothing wrong with it being used between the house and garage.

Garage to living space door requirement.

All plumbing and electrical work must be carried out by a licenced plumber or electrician. Yes your garage conversion can most definitely become a living space. To legally do this you must convert a garage by turning it into either a guest quarter or an accessory dwelling unit. If there is living space above the garage the ceiling would have to be 5 8 type x drywall or equivalent.

Replacement of the existing garage door with a large window will ensure the room benefits from plenty of natural light and meet the requirements of the bca. The height of the ceiling in the converted habitable space must be a minimum of 7 feet 6 inches. Again this is not a fire rated assembly but merely what is required to meet the proper fire separation requirements. Depending on the site a 6 inch concrete foundation may be required at the old garage door opening.

The biggest question facing most garage conversions is what to do about the garage door once the door is removed the resulting space needs to be filled in so that it both blends in with the rest of the house and provides a useful service to the new living space. A remodeler doing a flip house changes out all the doors in the home to update the interior and replaces the old door to the garage with a hollow core interior door. The room must have a window opening that has an area which is 10 of the floor area of the new room. If a garage is detached but within 3 feet of the residence any walls within 3 feet must have 1 2 drywall.

Typically drywall or equivalent is all that is necessary to meet the separation requirement. Only common walls between garage and house not perpendicular walls must meet this requirement. For instance there are fire rated doors that have a 20 minute several hours rating and they can be selected to meet fire department code requirements for residential spaces check your condo or townhouse local building codes for any requirements of fire rated entry or house to garage doors.