Home Inspector for Tyler, Lindale, Whitehouse, Bullard and all of East Texas

The garage.

The domain of every man (for many of us...our only domain).

Filled with tools, cars, motorcycles, hunting and fishing gear (deer heads), sport equipment, bikes, toys, posters, model trains, barbells, memories and every conceivable thing a man might need or thinks he needs....I digress.

The garage is inspected very similarly to most rooms in the home.  The walls, ceilings and floors are examined; however, more grace is given.  Generally the walls in the garage are nicked, dinged and sometimes damaged for a variety of reasons - many of which have to do with human error.  The floor generally will have more cracking (and sometimes larger).  Think about it:  vehicles weighing several thousands of pounds are parked on top of it.  Now if the cracks in the concrete are very large or one side is higher than another, then there may be a reason for further examination.

The garage door and opener are examined.  I want to make sure the door opens and closes as smoothly as possible regardless of the door's age.  I examine aluminum doors for dents and creases.  Cracked glass, broken springs, pulleys, cables, tracks and guides wheels are inspected for proper operation.  If the door has an automatic opener, it is operated up and down.  The automatic reversing feature is also tested to ensure that the door will raise if it strikes an object.  This is a common item that I write up.  A national garage door opener association recommends that door opener sensors (electric eyes) be 6 inches off of the floor.  I add two inches to this saying that 4-6 inches is recommended.  The reason?  I have personal knowledge of children and pets who have been injured (or worse in the case of pets) because the eye sensor height was too high.

Another item that many people miss is having a fire-rated door between the living space and the garage OR between the garage and the attic entrance.  Any fire in the garage needs to be contained as long as possible without spreading to the attic or to the inhabitable living space.

Extra equipment, such as the water heater, the electrical panel, the central vacuum, etc..., is sometimes located in the garage.  I'll discuss these items individually in a later blog.

Take care,
Bruce the home inspector
www.TylerHomeInspector.com