I have a house with a studio apartment located at the rear of the attached, 2-car, 2-door garage. This is not an add-on; it was designed, permitted and built during the original construction of the house.

The house has a normal front door while the studio has its own entrance through the garage. I am getting ready to rent the studio and have been tossing around the idea of creating some sort of 'wall' down the middle of the garage to differentiate the two spaces and ensure that the tenants cannot access each others' belongings. It wouldn't be a permanent studs and drywall wall. I was thinking maybe a wood frame with heavy wire fencing or hog panels. That way light and ventilation are retained (window is on one side of the garage) but keeps access separate.

Anyone else encounter a shared garage situation? Is this something I should think about doing or not worry about it and let the tenants figure it out?

I have a 1920 duplex with a similar situation in the basement. I have a door in the dividing wall with a double cylinder lock. The walls have regular 1x boards with small gaps between the boards. They are only on one side of the 2x wall. I keep thinking I should put some on the other side too, but never have. There is a sliding lock on the door at the top of the stairs for those tenants who are super security aware.

I acquired a 1940's house with a detached garage with an above-garage apartment. You had an exterior door with internal stairs leading up to the top floor, which was the apartment. The washer/dryer hookups and hot water heater were on the bay adjacent to the stairs (and actually positioned in the cavity beneath the stairs). That bay could be accessed by both the garage door and an internal door opening at the foot of the stairs as well. And someone in the past had built a drywall partition between the left-hand bay and the right-hand bay.

It was probably for a similar situation as what you're describing--- the left-hand (middle) bay was for the use of the garage apartment tenant, whereas the right-hand (far) bay was used by the main house. And the drywall was to keep one set of people from messing with the other set of people's stuff.

Unfortunately, the garage doors were those old-fashioned carriage doors. I had to replace them. The openings might have been good for a Model A or a little 1940's coupe, but they're too narrow for, say, a full-size four-door pickup truck.

The former owner, a deceased landlord, had kept the far bay as his biz storage unit/workshop. That was a chore, getting it cleared out... If I recall, we left the studs but broke down one panel of drywall to give the garage apartment tenant full access to the entire place. We don't have any intention of ever renting out the main house (it's built directly on the ground, so it will be a chore to ever renovate it to habitability standards), so there was no incentive to maintain the divider.

The hog panels or livestock panels would be good for circulation and light and they are quite difficult to get through as long as you have them securely fastened.

Thanks for all your responses! I'm leaning towards framing out a 2x4 wall and then covering it with some sort of 4x8 sheet product so it could be removed fairly easily in the future (if needed).

Teresa,

Anything less than a solid wall (studs and 4x8 plywood or osb or metal siding) is asking for trouble. Screw or lock the attic access shut so no one can touch it.

There is a legal standard called IMPLIED SECURITY. If you provide storage or living space it must be secure to keep the occupant and stuff safe. Anything less is negligence on your part.

I hope you are charging extra for extra space!

They provide their own padlock.

Teresa,

Anything less than a solid wall (studs and 4x8 plywood or osb or metal siding) is asking for trouble. Screw or lock the attic access shut so no one can touch it.

There is a legal standard called IMPLIED SECURITY. If you provide storage or living space it must be secure to keep the occupant and stuff safe. Anything less is negligence on your part.

I hope you are charging extra for extra space!

They provide their own padlock.