My husband tried to kill himself about 3 weeks ago.
He was digging a post hole with a large auger in the pouring rain…when he smelled something funny… he hit a gasline (that Detroit Edison or Miss Dig) would have missed with their finder thingies…as it was all PVC with no wire around it.
So, that was fun for him for a couple of hours.
After I called him and he answered the phone rather tersely, " I can’t talk right now. The fire department and police are here. I hit a gas line. click" I figured he was alive, but planned his obit anyway:
My husband’s cat tried to kill me this morning. She’s a mostly black cat, and she likes to sleep on the top step of the basement stairs. Going downstairs this morning, I didn’t see her, nearly stepped right on her, and did quite the little rail-grabbing dance when I realized there was a cat under my foot. I’m thinking we might need to do something to discourage the cats from sleeping there.
I had a very similar experience in Hawaii. Going down the stairs one night on my way to the kitchen, I realized there was a furry body under the foot I was about to put my weight on. Since I couldn’t see anything on the step, I deduced it was Morgan le Fey, who was a solid black cat. Who was also very, very pregnant. I tried to avoid her and ended up going ass-over-teakettle down the remaining 9 steps. An ER visit later, where I was diagnosed with cracked ribs and had a half inch triangular piece of scalp clipped off (I’m going to just clip this off - it would hurt more to numb it) I came home to find the *&%##@!! queen in labor. Would she have her kittens in the nice box I had prepared for her? Oh hell no - not unless I sat there with her. If I went to go lie down (cause I really didn’t feel very well - imagine that!) she would get out of the box and follow me, moaning pietiously the entire time. So I sat there.
She had beautiful kittens, and I was very glad I hadn’t stepped on her belly.
That’s a code violation. Walls and ceilings of garages shared with dwelling spaces are to be constructed of not less than an unbroken 1 hour rated firewall. No stairways, no vents, no nothing. The ‘oops’ must be repaired with 5/8" type X drywall, taped and mudded to maintain the integrity of the separation.
You do realize that that was a deliberate attempt at murder, and that no amount of discouragement will prevent the cats from sleeping there, don’t you? No, that cat will stay right there until she finally succeeds. I figure that’s the first part of their plan for world domination, and by the time they’ve bumped off all the unsuspecting ones by “happening” to sleep in unfortunate locations, they’ll have figured out how to grow opposable thumbs. Then cats will rule the world.
You do realize code varies by state? Her state might be different or possibly I am making a jerk of myself as you know the code for her state. If so I apologize if not, well they do vary.
I don’t know the code, but we have a pull-down ladder/stairs thing into the attic from the attached garage. Not uncommon around these parts.
Tom didn’t like where the old ladder was, so installed a new one. So now we have two. He’ll get around to removing the other one eventually. I don’t like the new one, though. It’s narrower. Oh well.
So he has some sheetrocking to do. He’s very handy! You should see the bruise! I asked him if I could take a picture of it, and he said, “No! You’ll post it on the Straight Dope!”
I gotta agree with Bosda. Your thread title was a bit like shouting Fire! in a crowded theater, yes?
On a lighter note, my uncle & I were building a second story on his house, and had just hung drywall on 90% of the new addition. He’d gone up into his new attic for something, slipped on a sheet of plastic, and came crashing down through the new ceiling into the living room. My reaction? (After I quickly ascerttained he was OK)…
"Nice going. We were done with, now we’ve got to re-hang that section :rolleyes: "
Yes, I’m aware of the different codes adopted by different states, but know of no code which permits garage spaces attached to dwelling spaces without a rated firewall/ceiling assembly to separate them.
That said, an older noncompliant dwelling may be “grandfathered”, but it’s still not safe. In the case of a rancher with attached garage and common attic space, the ceiling of the garage can be closed with drywall to protect the entire attic. If storage or access is desired above the garage space, then the vertical fire-rated barrier separating the dwelling from the garage should be continued upward to the underside of the roof assembly, thereby creating two attic spaces. Once that is done, stairs or other access into the attic space above the garage does not compromise the fire resistance of the dwelling.
I don’t like the new one, though. It’s narrower. Oh well.