Hole in firewall, possible solutions?

[311Hemi]

My garage ceiling is a firewall and I cut a hole in it to spray insulation up there. I have it all insulated and closed up in a fashion that allows me to access it again if need be. Am I required to mud and tape the joints there to keep the firewall in tact?

Would it be possible to make it more of a sheet rock access panel that would rest on a wood frame? I know my old house had an access like this inside the house, there was no or tape on it.

[leechlake]

my garage is the same and when we built it had the access panel you're talking about and that was to code about 10 years ago. In my mind double drywall is between the whole house and whole garage with everything "buttoned up" with tape and mud.

In my garage ceiling have lights, ceiling fan garage door opener, heater hung in ceiling. All those things "break the seal" on the firewall in my mind.

I do know this, a house in our neighborhood burned to a complete loss, except the garage, it worked.

[311Hemi]

What do you mean double drywall?

Still not sure on what code is on this...I will call my building inspector today to find out.

[leechlake]

our drywall between our house and garage is two sheets thick. Forgot about it when we were installing garage cabinets and the first one almost fell off of the wall.

[311Hemi]

our drywall between our house and garage is two sheets thick. Forgot about it when we were installing garage cabinets and the first one almost fell off of the wall.

Ahh, my whole garage is only one sheet thick. The ceiling was done instead of a vertical wall in the attic.

[JeremyCampbell]

You probley should put it back up,use fire rated drywall(type x) fire rated tape and then mud it.When a fire rating is in the midst its gotta be taped and mudded.Unless you want to spend some money on a fancy expensive "fire rated" access door.

Will you get away with a regular drywall/ or wood panel? don't know, guess it depends on the inspector when your ready to sell.

Unfortunately a right answer can only come locally,depends on the city or state jurisdiction.

Access panels are usually simple when there isnt a fire rated requirement.

In your case you may need to consult an inspector from your area or call the city and get in touch with the right department to properly advise you what would be suitable.If your ceiling is fire rated then I would assume all the ceiling needs to be to actually do what it was intended to do.They have one hour and two hour fire rating so it's not a one answer situation.

Maybe consult someone locally to give you an idea what the requirements are for your home.Then go from there. Just a thought...