Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - should i cover insulation in a garage?

when we first had our house built in 2000, we put insulation into the side walls of the garage. we did not cover the insulation and left the paper side facing out. now, as we try to sell our house, the prospective buyers home inspection guy says that the insulation needs to be covered because its a fire hazard with the paper facing out. we offered to remove the insulation because covering it now would be cost-prohibitive since we have put up wood shelving over the top of the insulation. we would have to take all the shelving down, basically destroying it in the process, in order to put the dry wall up. we'll do it if we absoulelty have to in order to sell the house (it's been on the market for about a year and a half). anybody have some advice?

It is fire code to cover insulation with a fire retardant material in all areas where there is a potential for fire and a garage falls under that category. If the insulation was there uncovered before you bought the house, it would not have pass city inspection.

If you remove the insulation it might give the buyer grounds for backing out of the contract. Or if you do cover the insulation, there is a chance the buyer may think of other things for you to do or fix. This is actually quite common. My advice would be to talk to your attorney and respond to the buyer's concern but word in such a way that the repair will be in contingent for sale.

What this means is if the buyer for any reason decides to back out of the deal, you may be able to recover the costs of the repair from his/her deposit. You have to talk to your attorney and explain to him/her your concerns. That your sole intent for shouldering this expense is to sell your home and that you are acting in good faith.

You are only selling a home do not get a attorney in the middle of this to make things tuffer.