Garage – Adequate Home for Your Vehicles?

The primary purpose of the garage is to serve as a suitable and safe shelter for your vehicles. This must not be compromised while doing interior home checking for the home you are planning to buy.

Interior Home Checking: Check the Size of the Garage

Test out the garage. This will show you whether the width of the driveway is adequate. If you have two cars, you must have a driveway that is at least 13 feet at the curb. It must be as wide as the garage well before you reach the garage door! A four-inch thick asphalt or concrete driveway is necessary. Anything less than that will cause cracks – and you will see tire tracks after you park.

Is the GFCI receptacle in the garage operable? If not it is a safety hazard and must be repaired by an electrician. A GFCI receptacle is a safety device that is designed to save your life and must be present wherever electricity and water are close to each other. This includes the garage. If necessary, additional GFCI outlets must be added to increase safety.



Interior Home Checking: Check the Garage Doors and Windows:

You will find garage doors usually made of wood, hardboard on a wooden frame, steel, glass, etc. They are of different sized glazed panes. See if there is any rot or water damage in the wood and hardboard type of doors. Check the steel for rust. Glass fiber must be checked for UV deterioration. Aluminum develops dents. Anything that is not in proper working condition needs repairs that add to the cost of the house.

Interior Home Checking: Check the Security of the Garage

Check to see if the garage door is equipped with an adequate locking device. Is the auto reverse mechanism operative? If not, that is a safety hazard as well and needs to be repaired. The outside utility entrance to the garage must be secure. Ensure there is provision to provide lighting to light the outside of the garage.

Examine the garage doors to see whether they operate smoothly or not. Check for weather-tightness, overall condition and fit. If the doors are without motors, they will open and close manually. If they are fitted with motors, they must be operated using the necessary mechanism. Control must be accessible on the outside.

Observe the doors for quietness, time of operation and safety. See if there are loose connections, rust and bent or damaged parts.

If you are looking at a house in a hurricane region, special attention must be paid to single-door two-car garages. The door and track assembly should have been tested for hurricane wind loads.