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Originally Posted by Altavia

Pull down ladder in a fire ceiling | Honest Home Inspections

Our garage has a drop-down ladder in the ceiling, providing access to a storage area in the attic. When we bought the house, our home inspector informed us that this was a violation of the firewall between the garage and the house. Is there a reasonable way to correct this problem and still retain storage access from the garage? —Gene


Dear Gene,
Wall surfaces that separate a garage from a dwelling are required to comply with one-hour fire-rated construction standards. This requirement is intended to slow the spread of a garage fire into the residential areas of the building. When this firewall does not extend into the attic, that is, when the garage attic is not separated from the house attic, then the garage ceiling becomes part of the required garage firewall. Homeowners, typically unaware of such requirements, often violate this fire separation by installing a folding ladder as an attic access.

There is an attic ladder pull down on our new construction home purchased straight from The Villages. So are you saying they are breaking the law each and every time they do this? It would be a huge problem for the homeowners and the Developer. The ladder is mounted on thick painted plywood.