Garage Safety

Connecticut Home Inspections

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In some respects, garages must be inspected like other rooms of a house. Electrical, plumbing, structural components, walls, ceilings and more are often part of what is in a garage and must be inspected. There are, however, items unique to garages.

The garage door itself must be inspected. If there are door openers, they must be operated and evaluated along with any safety devices such as auto reverse mechanisms, which protect from harm or damage from a closing overhead door. Springs are checked for safety cables, which are designed to prevent breaking overhead door springs from flying out and causing harm or damage.


Garage door openers should plug directly into an outlet. Running off extension cords is not recommended. An auto reverse mechanism is part of a door opener (unless it is very old).	Most new homes have sensors installed at the bottom sides of garage doors that will stop the door from closing if something or someone breaks the beam.	A cable attached to the garage door frame, extending through the spring and attached again to the frame at the other end will prevent the spring from doing harm if it breaks.

In any modern home with an attached garage, additional things should be found to be present. Sheet rock should be present on walls and ceilings common to living spaces for fire protection. Doors to living spaces are checked to see if they are fire rated. If there is a door to a living space from the garage, there should be at least a four-inch step to prevent gas fumes from entering the house. This is particularly important when the the heating system or hot water heater that runs on gas or oil is present on or below the level of the garage. Without this step, there is a potential for gas fumes from the garage to pass into the house and combusting from the flame of the furnace, boiler or water heater.