Attached Garages Not Always a Bonus

A lot of home shoppers often will only look at homes that have attached garages. These are very convenient but beware because they can also be accompanied by some hidden dangers.

The first hidden danger is crime. A lot of people will drive into their garages and
not be paying attention to their surroundings. If a criminal follows you into your
garage they would have direct access to not only you but to your home as well.

People also sometimes leave their garage doors open when they are leaving the
house or sometimes when they go into their homes. If a criminal enters through
the garage they would again have direct access to the house.

The second danger is from fires. A lot of house fires start in the garage. Some of the reasons for this are:

• This is the area that people most likely do welding or any work on
their cars; these activities require working with all sorts of flammable
materials.
• A lot of water heaters are located in garages.Because they work on
natural gas. If the pilot light were to go out and a spark happened,
it may ignite the fumes. Car batteries can also spark under certain
conditions.
• Cars sometimes drip oil and gas. These fluids may collect unnoticed
and eventually ignite.
• Flammable liquids, such as gasoline, motor oil and paint are
commonly stored in garages.

The following tips can help prevent garage fires completely or can slow
down the ability for them to spread:

• If the garage allows access to the attic make sure the access door is
made from a material that is fire rated.

• The walls and ceiling and most importantly the doors should be fire-
rated.
• The floor should be clear of clutter. Loose papers, oily rags and other
potentially flammable items are extremely dangerous if they are
strewn about the garage floor.
• Use light bulbs with the proper wattage and do not overload electrical
outlets.
• Tape down all cords and wires so they are not twisted or accidentally
yanked.
• Do not install a pet door in the door! Flames can more easily spread
into the living area through a pet door and most pet doors are made
of plastic which offers zero fire rating.
• It the door has a window make sure that it is fire-rated.
• The door should be self-closing. While it may be inconvenient,
especially while carrying groceries into the house from the car, doors
should be self-closing. You never know when a fire will happen and it
would be unfortunate to accidentally leave the door open while a fire
is starting in the garage.
• Check the joints and open spaces around the door. Make sure that
they are tightly sealed. Any openings at all can allow dangerous
fumes, such as carbon monoxide or gasoline vapor, to enter the living
area.

Concerning items placed on the floor, you should check for the following:

• Store all flammable liquids in clearly labeled, self-closing containers
and only in small amounts. Keep them away from heaters,
appliances, pilot lights and other sources of heat or flame.
• Never store propane tanks indoors. If they catch fire they can
explode. Propane tanks are sturdy enough to be stored outdoors.

In summary, there are plenty of things that you can do to prevent garage
fires from spreading to the rest of the house or to keep them from starting
in the first place.

Any questions of comments please contact
Matt Epstein @ Prudential California Realty
@ somatt@aol.com or (818) 789-7408.