Is a firewall (construction) different from the house wall itself? How does it differ with the perimeter fenc

Question

I have a friend who is constructing a house. Does he need to put up a separate firewall aside from the existing concrete house wall? Thanks.

Answer 1

Usually, a firewall is required between a garage and a living area. In case your car overheats and catches on fire, the firewall slows the transfer of flame from the garage to the rest of the house. It generally requires just a certain thickness of fire rated drywall. You also need to have a fire-rated door if you're going to have passage through the firewall.

Check with a general contractor for the actual requirements (don't just go by what you read on YA).

Answer 2

To add to RS's answer:

Most free standing residential dwellings do not require firewalls per se (as above, check local codes).  A sheetrock covered wall has a certain fire rating, so the door through it (say from a garage) must have the same fire rating if there is a separation requirement.

Answer 3

You would have to consult local building code, but ...

In construction, a firewall is a fire-resistance rated wall assembly intended to slow the spread of fire from one side to the other, and are certification listed. Firewalls subdivide a building into separate fire areas, and are located in accordance with the locally applicable building code. Firewalls are a portion of a building's passive fire protection systems.

Answer 4

no, concrete is pretty good at resisting fire, and you only normally put a firewall between tenancies for example in a townhouse you would put a fire wall on the common wall so that if fire were to break out in one residence it would not spread to the other residences

Answer 5

A firewall is generally used in the attic in buildings with multiple residents, such as apartments..That is where code requires this, not on a single dwelling home..the firewall is in the attic between the apartments if they are joined together..duplex..quadplex, 8plex etc....Firetaping the joints is then required as well and it is just common sheetrock which has a fire rating to begin with...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_(c...