Wall to house — garages: code vs good practice

Code: ½″ gypsum. Good practice: meet code.

Ceiling, room above — garages: code vs good practice

Code: ⅝″ Type X. Good practice: meet code.

Door to house — garages: code vs good practice

Code: 1⅜″ solid or 20 min, self-closing. Good practice: meet code.

One-car — garages: code vs good practice

Code: no specific requirement. Good practice: 14 × 24 ft.

Two-car — garages: code vs good practice

Code: no specific requirement. Good practice: 24 × 24 ft.

EV circuit — garages: code vs good practice

Code: no specific requirement. Good practice: 240 V, 40–60 A.

Rooms · Chapter 10

Garages

A garage is a fire risk attached to a house. Code puts a fire barrier between them. Beyond that, it's about size, power and keeping water and fumes out.

IRC R302.5 · R302.6 separationIRC R309 garage floorsNEC 210.8 GFCIIRC R315 CO alarms

1 of 6Next: Size →

10.1

What makes a good garage?

A good garage parks the cars you own, stores gear, separates fumes and fire from the house, and has power for tools and an EV.

The wall to the house is a fire barrier.

Perspective: two-car garage with EV charger, storage wall, door to house with closer — FIG. 10.1 · What makes a good garage?

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The rest of Garages: 5 more spreads, 31 drawings and 20 code citations, plus every other chapter, is part of the full fieldbook.

10.2Garage size and doors5 drawings
10.3Separating the garage from the house7 drawings
10.4Power, EV and floor6 drawings
10.5Garage upgrades8 drawings
10.6Common mistakes5 drawings

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