All doors that access the home from the garage area must be fire rated.
A large percentage of home fires start in the garage where we store our vehicles, water heaters, mowers , gas, oil, and paint cans. The objective of a Fire Rated Door is to prevent fires that start in the garage from spreading to the house, or at least to increase the time it takes for that fire to burn though the door or fire wall. This allows us the most amount of time to escape safely.
Fire Rated Doors need to be solid wood door that are at least 1 3/8-inches thick. Solid or honeycomb steel doors also need at least 1 3/8ths-inches of thickness. Look for a 20-minute fire-rated door, at minimum (the longer the better). They are required to be self closing, and to self latch. A Fire Rated Door that is left open can not do it’s job. The hanging hardware for Fire Rated Doors have an adjustable spring systems that force the door to close and latch after someone has passed through it.
The easiest way to identify a Fire Rated Door is to look at the edge of the door on the hinge side. All fire doors will have a metal identification tag. Sometimes this tag is painted over, but it will still be recognizable as an identification tag.
If the door from the garage to your home is not Fire Rated, self closing, and self latching please consider upgrading or adjusting the door to insure your familie’s safety.