Firewall In Condo Attic

And that is true condos have fire protection between units for a reason.

Firewall in condo attic.

Designed as an extra layer of protection between the house and the garage an intact firewall resists the intrusion of fire into the home. Because of this the condominium association wants a fire barrier put in if any work is done in the attic. I did find a hole punched in the drywall that i believe goes through to the next unit. It didn t seem right though as it was just such a huge oversight.

For example if there is a middle located townhome with adjacent units on either side you will have 1 hour of fire separation at each side. Owner is very interested in having the work done but. I believe this is a breech in the firewall and should be repaired. The first picture below illustrates a portion of a townhome unit s firewall in an attic that is totally sealed off to provide 1 hour of fire protection on both sides.

I dont inspect a lot of condos but this morning i did one. If there is a firewall in your attic the fire rating should be printed on the. Apparently when the condo s where originally built the common wall was not extended to the roof sheathing. The international residential code requires that in townhomes and duplexes each unit needs to be separated from the next by fire walls.

Arriving at a condo development with many small buildings each building with two levels and housing 10 or 12 units i was met by the buyer who already lived in a different building and the seller. Also the units were converted to condos townhomes in 2007 and the builder made significant updates but again the attic was not changed. Looked at a job air sealing and adding some insulation in a condo. The firewall should extend into the attic separating your attic space from the attic above the neighboring units.

In addition each unit needs to be self supporting where the collapse of one unit will not damage the neighboring unit. I guess im just looking for.