(a) Attached to a Dwelling.
(1) The floor level of a garage must be not less than six inches below the level of the floor of any room or stairway landing leading to a basement or cellar, in which there is any direct-fired heating device, gas fixture or equipment capable of igniting gasoline vapors when a doorway from the garage connects directly with said room or stairway landing.
(2) There shall be no openings in the wall or partition separating the garage from the dwelling, except a doorway, which shall be protected with a fire retardant door, which door shall be one of the following: a Kalemein door, a hollow metal door or a solid core, flush-type wood door, not less than one and three-eighths inches thick.
Every such door shall be equipped with an approved self-closing device. A glass panel may be used in any of the doors mentioned in this paragraph, provided the glass or wired glass is not less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. The glass shall be held in place by metal clips or metal angles.
(3) The walls and ceiling of an attached private garage of frame construction shall be protected by noncombustible materials having not less than a three-quarter hour fire-resistance rating.
NOTE: Among other constructions, the following have a three-quarter hour fire-resistance rating when applied to wood framing: one-half inch of gypsum plaster on three-eighths inch gypsum lath, for stud space sixteen inches o.c.; and one-half inch of gypsum wallboard with the stud spaces filled with mineral wool (for walls and partitions).
(4) No opening shall be permitted in the ceiling unless the same is protected with tin-clad or metal covers. The metal for tin-clad covers shall be not less than thirty gauge and shall extend around the edges, ends and both faces of the cover. The hatchway casing shall also be fully protected with not less than thirty gauge metal, as required for the cover.
(5) The floor shall be of noncombustible and impervious material.
(6) No pits are permitted in the garage.
(7) If there is an eight-inch masonry wall between the house and the garage, extending not less than two feet above the roof of the garage, the walls and ceiling of the garage need not be protected.
(8) There shall be no heating or other device with an open flame located within the garage.
(9) The ceiling and walls of an attached garage must be protected and the fire door and door closer must be installed before the garage is used for any purpose. When construction of a garage is a part of a new house, the garage must be completed at the same time as the house and before occupancy.
(10) Private garages, when attached to other buildings, shall be located on the lot within the limits provided by ordinance for such other buildings, unless otherwise required in this Building and Housing Code or by the Zoning Code.
(11) Carports shall be subject to the following provisions:
A. “Carport” means an open-sided, roofed, automobile shelter, usually formed by the erection of a roof from the side of a building.
B. Carports shall be erected not closer to the lot line, nor closer to a street line, than the building line established by the Zoning Code.
C. Carports shall be constructed of noncombustible material, having not less than a three-quarter hour fire-resistance rating, and shall be able to withstand roof and wind loads in accordance with this Building and Housing Code.
D. Carports shall not exceed 400 square feet in area.
(b) Detached From a Dwelling. Private garages, which are not attached to other buildings and are of frame construction, shall be located as provided for in the Zoning Code, but not less than six feet from other buildings of frame construction located on the same lot with such garages. Private garages of frame construction shall be located not less than six feet from openings not protected with approved protectives.
(c) Height. No detached private garage shall exceed one story or fifteen feet in height, except that balconies properly designed may be constructed in such garages for the storage of residential accessories, such as door and window screens used on the premises, etc.
(d) Construction.
(1) Structurally, a detached private garage shall be constructed as required in this Building and Housing Code for dwellings, except that when frame construction is used and the walls are not to be plastered, not more than one two by four stud need be used at a corner of the outside walls, and studding may be spaced not to exceed twenty-four inches o.c.
(2) Foundation walls shall be placed as required.
(3) All sills bearing on masonry walls shall be bolted to such masonry with not less than one-half inch by sixteen-inch bolts bedded firmly in the masonry and located near each corner.
(e) Foundations.
(1) For buildings and structures of frame construction which are less than sixteen feet from the sills to the plates or eaves, foundations shall extend not less than twenty-four inches below such grade.
(2) For private garages of masonry construction and similar accessory buildings not over one story high and not over 660 square feet in area, foundations shall extend not less than two feet below such grade.
(3) Concrete slab foundations for unattached garages and accessory buildings may be six-inch bank run gravel with a four-inch slab, reinforced with six by six to ten by ten wire mesh or six-inch gravel and six inches of concrete without reinforcement. A minimum four-inch shoulder shall be provided for the framing plate.
(Ord. 42-1981. Passed 2-23-81.)