1966 ranch house in Denver Metro, Colorado. (I am not the original owner.) The attached garage does have a firewall (5/8 drywall) that separates it from the house. Two issues:
- About 8-9 ft above garage floor is a hatch in the firewall; the hatch allows access from the garage to the attic above the house.
See
formatting link
The hatch is, essentially, a 2ftx2ft opening in the drywall/firewall. The 2'x2' piece of drywall is not even attched with any hinges, it's just put in place to cover the opening and is fastened with four nails. Naturally, there is a little bit of space inbetween, so I would like to seal that space - basically, seal off that whole hatch. The idea is to ensure a good fire-resistant seal between the garage and the attic. (Going forward, I won't use the hatch; there is another hatch in the hallway inside the house for attic access.)
My question: what kind of sealant should I use to seal the spaces between the hatch "square" and the firewall. Would any kind of fire resistant caulk do the job? Or is there some kind of tape I'm supposed to use?
- The firewall/drywall doesn't go all the way down to the garage floor. Rather, it ends about 3 inches above the garage floor.
See
formatting link
Also, the drywall protrudes by about 3-4 inches from the wall on which it is mounted - you can see how the bottom edge of the drywall is a few inches away from the bottom concrete part of the wall. The space behind the drywall is hollow (some 2-by-4s, I guess), so I would like to seal off the bottom in order to create a fireproof seal, but also to prevent moisture/insect/debris intrusion. But that area is a bit awkward to work around.
My question: what is the best way to seal off that space? Can I use the expanding foam sealant that somes in an aerosol can?
Thanks Bubba