To Garage or Not To Garage?

[ten0rman]

I have never garaged a car in the last 50 years. For a start, I didn't have a garage. and then when I did, there was a recommendation to never park a wet car in the garage; leaving it outside allowed a free flow of air to aid in underbody/under wings drying. Then, of course, there was the all the messing around opening & shutting the garage doors. Although I have never used it for cars, I have used it at various times for a motorcycle, a trailer, and general junk storage. Today, it is used as a home workshop with the easy option of being able to quickly being converted back to a garge if required. In fact, I doubt if my present car would fit in to it.

Leaving it as a garage, albeit as a home workshop, does have the advantage that when the house is eventually sold, the buyer then has the option to do whatever is required: one of my neighbours knocked down his attached garage and added two extra bedrooms & bathroom to his house, thereby preventing any future buyer from using that space as a garage/workshop/storage/whatever. Whilst I can see the attraction of what he has done, I think it is a retrograde step.

ten0rman

[Lootman]

I have never garaged a car in the last 50 years. For a start, I didn't have a garage. and then when I did, there was a recommendation to never park a wet car in the garage; leaving it outside allowed a free flow of air to aid in underbody/under wings drying. Then, of course, there was the all the messing around opening & shutting the garage doors.

Cars rust a lot less these days, so the rule about never putting a wet car in the garage doesn't apply so much now.

Likewise it used to be suggested not to heat your garage, as temperature accelerates the rusting process, but again that isn't a thing so much any more.

For me it is what Bruncher said - the joy of getting into your car and being able to drive off in the morning, with no scraping and wiping. The battery performs better as well. As for fiddling with the doors, get an automatic garage door opener. It changed my life.

Best of all is a garage integrated with the house, so that you can walk from house to car in a T-shirt in January,

That said I've also had a car port, and that provides a good deal of shelter with less infrastructure,

[sg31]

Cars rust a lot less these days, so the rule about never putting a wet car in the garage doesn't apply so much now.

Likewise it used to be suggested not to heat your garage, as temperature accelerates the rusting process, but again that isn't a thing so much any more.

For me it is what Bruncher said - the joy of getting into your car and being able to drive off in the morning, with no scraping and wiping. The battery performs better as well. As for fiddling with the doors, get an automatic garage door opener. It changed my life.

Best of all is a garage integrated with the house, so that you can walk from house to car in a T-shirt in January,

That said I've also had a car port, and that provides a good deal of shelter with less infrastructure,

What happens when you get to the end of your journey or if you breakdown,have a flat tyre etc.?

[Lootman]

Cars rust a lot less these days, so the rule about never putting a wet car in the garage doesn't apply so much now.

Likewise it used to be suggested not to heat your garage, as temperature accelerates the rusting process, but again that isn't a thing so much any more.

For me it is what Bruncher said - the joy of getting into your car and being able to drive off in the morning, with no scraping and wiping. The battery performs better as well. As for fiddling with the doors, get an automatic garage door opener. It changed my life.

Best of all is a garage integrated with the house, so that you can walk from house to car in a T-shirt in January,

That said I've also had a car port, and that provides a good deal of shelter with less infrastructure,

What happens when you get to the end of your journey or if you breakdown, have a flat tyre etc.?

There is always a coat in the car, plus wellies, torch, gloves etc

[taylor20]

Some personal observations:

Our last house had a 'double' garage (that we never put the car in, I generally used it for DIY and storage), however when we came to sell, we got an asking price offer the same day it went on the market... As the buyer wanted a workshop and all the other double garage properties had done conversions.

If you have trees above your drive then the advantages of a car port / garage are even more obvious - scraping pigeon sht off the windscreen is far more unpleasant the ice! Plus the car roof accumulates a layer of green slime.

The house we now occupy has had the garage converted and we needed the extra space, it does have 4 'sheds' one of which is pretty large, not quite as good as a garage but close. I also found damp/moisture in the garage far worse than in a wooden shed.

[88V8]

I would never buy a house without a garage or at least the space to build one. We have a double that I built four years ago, with two cars in it and my workshop at the back. At our previous house we built a side garage + workshop, the car went in there.
I can however perfectly see how a carless garage would fill up with junk, as clutter expands to fill the space available.

Having said that, if you plan to stay in the house, build for yourselves. I would however do so in such a manner that the space could easily become a garage once more if a future owner so desired.

V8

[JohnB]

The problem is that on the OPs plot he either has a garage or the equivalent utility/garden room space. The latter might be a red line for a different purchaser, and at least he's building the extra bedrooms that might be a redline for someone else.

Modifying a house towards a target market can be a mugs game, as there are so many competing demands. The key thing is not to be the cheapest or most expensive house on your street, as that's the kind of anomaly that stops location/location buyers.

[PrincessB]

We are doing a two-storey side extension and considering the merits of ditching a garage in favour of a utility room, wetroom and garden room. Two questions:

Hello. I'm off work and doing battle with computers today.

Couple of questions, not seeing the plans I'm guessing most aspects, but some might make sense.

Are you planning a double storey garage + room above? In my opinion this is not the best way to do things. Granted that you'll add some floorspace, the 1st floor can tend to be a long skinny room or two very small bedrooms unless you're going to extend the upstairs bedrooms into the upstairs extension. This can get a bit messy, though it does work fairly well if your upstairs needs were an en-suite, dressing room or similar.

On that note, have you needed planning permission? Some I've met try to stick within the permitted development rules and tie themselves in knots in order to do so. Full planning is worth doing as it assists resale if you ever sell. It only costs a few hundred more and if you're a dab hand with a ruler and pencil you can draw out the plans yourself (have done this after sacking the architect)

I don't know how well progressed you are with your plans, or permissions but my thoughts are;

If you can extend the width of the extension sideways you'll have better roomspace upstairs - Some have recommended a double garage, I would suggest that 1.5 garage width would work without appearing showy.

I would also have discussions about the insulation levels for the walls and most importantly the flooring. I can't speak from personal knowledge, but I would assume that the amount of flooring insulation is set differently depending on whether a car is supposed to be in there or whether you're going to use the space as a living area. From experience, laying a big slab of insulation under the floor is not overly expensive, so you've got some options to consider.

Further options would include getting a really big power cable installed for the electric car you'll have in a decade, water and power to the front so the strimmer and jetwash are all good to go.

I've got a motorbike (large maxi commuter scooter) so I would design the front space of house with three metres of depth to store a bike or two with space for some shelving. With 1.5 width, you'll have space to do an up and over door and should be able to design a door into the utility area into the plans.

From front to back you'll have;
Shallow garage - Which as you say could be extended to full car length
Utility area - Seperate from garage with water and power and if required removable to allow space for a car.
Wetroom - Great idea.
Garden room? Would need more detail on this, might consider re-designing the windows at back of house to let more light in or possibly going backwards on a single storey extension with pitched roof and overuse of Velux type windows to frame the back of house.

Just some ideas.

Regards,

B.