Fininshed bedroom in basement next furnace

Hi all,

Just finished an inspection. My ? is " Home owner finishe an area in basement to bedroom. Walk in closet is next to utility room where furnace and water heater are installed. Utility room has solid bifolds and closet to bedroom has louvered doors. Does this meet code or more importantly safe?" I have finished numerous basements and code never allowed this (Colorado) Any input would be appreciated

Thanks

Egress,
How do you get out of the basement bedroom if there is a fire?
Steve

I’m not clear about what you’re describing. Are the gas appliances actually in the bedroom, or are the rooms that house the gas appliances adjacent to the bedroom. If they are simply adjacent, then I don’t see a problem, at least from a code aspect.

Bedroom door or window which meets egress requirements.

Gas appliances are in utility room which is adjacent to bedroom walk-in closet

Chuck

If I understand your discription of layout, it sounds like you walk through the Bd.Rm. WIC (bi-fold louvered doors) into Mech. Rm. (solid bi-fold doors). Right?
If that the case, it should be Ok (at least in my area), as long as clearances were observed when building the walls, etc. and combustion air was calculated into the design equation, for proper operation of both gas appliances (Furnace & Water Heater). I’d always recommend adding additional combustion air to the space from outside (outdoors), even if it is presumed that cubicle/square footages say it’s not really necessary. I always allow for being safe, rather than sorry.

Thanks Greg,

Clearances were observed

Chuck

What about Combustion Air to the area. Once the equipment is enclosed, C/A becomes a real issue for safety and efficency sake.

I totally agree with Greg.

The original installation of any natural gas burning appliance(s) in a basement which is not finished at the time of installation hopefully correctly installed to begin with.
Now we see "finished " basements with “closet appliance” situations.

Does the appliance MFG label or manual state that this appliance can be installed in a closet? Is it a natural draft, Cat1, negative pressure unit?
If so then you just might have a potential CO generator there.
Combustion air like Greg stated cannot be just disregarded or reduced because of a finished basement and bedroom to boot to…:roll:
Two forms of escape? Window?? Size of window? Does local jurisdiction allow for such a deal?

Death trap comes to mind…:wink:

Thanks for the input. I did point this out to the client. The furnace is high eff and gets combustion air from outside, Plus the ceiling is unfinished and can draw air through the joists spaces from the adjacent storage room.

chuck