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What's in Your Garage?
Ok, my wife and I are building a new house (but thats not the point) and are going to have a larger than normal 2 car garage. Now my wife says the garage is just a place to put your car. I want to add the epoxy flooring (with speckles), full automotive work bench and tool system (you need to work on you mowers and stuff too). Anyway, I'm creating this discussion to see what kind of HOMES people have for their vehicles. Pictures would be neat also, but you don't need to. Lets see how elaborate us car people keep our garage's. This way I know I'm not alone in my thinking, that a garage is more that just a place to store your stuff, and a place to keep your car. Also if there is anything special that makes your garage your own, that would be neat to hear about it.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Odie
Odie's Carspace
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The odd thing is my house itself is very roomy but the garage sucks. I plan to have a barn built attached to what is now the garage that's big enough to comfortably house 3 or 4 cars with a small lounge so I can smoke cigars indoors.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I ended up building a 24x40 foot garage that's separate from the house. You can see it, in various stages of construction here. I hate to say it, but in some ways I'm already starting to regret it. If I had it to do over again, I would've gone 40x27 (the most the county would let me do) and put in a gambrel second story that would have looked kinda like this.
I'm thinking about building a carport addition to the garage, something maybe 12x40 or 15x40 or somewhere thereabouts, between the back of the garage and the woods.
BTW, your garage looks pretty nice. You're gonna dig it I think. Plenty of room for classic cars. If you would've built it with the Gambrel roofline you would've had room to store car parts and bikes and kayaks and snowmobiles upstairs from the '63 Bel Air's and '62 Chevy Nova SS's, eh?
Looks like you've got plenty of room to throw tennis balls deep for the dogs to fetch, too. Ever considered opening up a car manufacturing facility there? You have?
What kind of car are we gonna build? The 52 of us forum members could all come to work with you immediately. Let's work on it.
Corvair? Triumph TR-4? Uh-huh.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
In addition, I have a small niche that is large enough to store a refrigerator, my lawn mower and snow blower.
However, my house does not have a basement, which is why I think the builder 'super sized' the garage area.
Lots of the new houses being built where I live are starting to offer "tandem" 3 car garages, which means that one side of the garage is 2 cars deep.
I've heard of houses in CA and AZ that come with 4, 5 and 6 car garages attached to the house! Of course, at the prices those homes are selling for, you'd have to have multiple people living there just to afford the mortgage!
At one time the property was all joined together, but got split up, probably sometime between 1924 (when the house next door was built) and 1934 (the earliest back my Grandma can remember of this area) It's not a big building, maybe 10x20 feet, and was from that era where cars had narrow passenger cabins, small doors, and running boards. You could conceivably fit a car in there, but it wouldn't be fun. My condo had a 10x20 foot garage, and it was quite a maneuver to squeeze a '57 DeSoto or '67 Catalina in there and be able to open the door without hitting anything. I had a refrigerator in it too, which really made things tricky.
Over the years the neighbor has built up her driveway, to where it's at least a foot above the entrance to this old garage, so I couldn't easily get a car in there from that side, anyway.
I'm thinking about refurbishing this old building, and busting through on the opposite end and putting in a garage door. I think the groundhogs that live in it won't be too pleased, though.
At first glance it might seem to make sense to just tear it down and build a new one, but I don't think the county would let me rebuild it where it is. They made me put my new garage at least 90 feet from the road, and I don't think even the back wall of that old garage is 90 feet back from the road! It would probably be a lot less hoops to jump through if I just fixed it up, rather than tear down and start over.
Here are 3 pictures of what my garage will look like (these are of the model)
If you want to see more check out my Family Homepage here.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
I'd say that once the floor was prepped and the paint was mixed, it only took about 20 minutes to do each section. The prep was the annoying part, though. First I had to wet down the floor, and since the concrete was still pretty young, just being poured around late March/early April, it soaked up the water like a sponge, so it took a lot of water to keep it wet. Then I had to put down this cleaning solution mixture that was this white crystally stuff that would've looked great on a marguerita glass. Scrub it in real good, rinse it off, squeegee it out. Then rinse again and squeegee it out. Then let it dry, run my fingers across it, and if any dust or anything showed up on my fingers, hose it down again, scrub it again, rinse it all out, and let it dry. And repeat until there's no dust.
Fortunately my floor cleaned up pretty quickly the first time, so I didn't have to rinse and repeat too many times. And while I had been parking cars in there before I painted, I put plastic down, and then some T-111 scraps that were leftover from construction to catch any drippings from the cars.
The most annoying part was that it took awhile for the garage floor to dry out. And also, the paint is very temperature-sensitive when you put it down. I think for maximum longevity you're only supposed to put it down when the outside temp is between 60-85 degrees, although the video tape that came with the paint said something like 60-90. And with the heat wave we'd been having, those times were few and far between. And to top it all off, my back went out on me and my roommate, who was going to help me paint the floor, went into the hospital with kidney failure! I tease him and tell him that the only reason he did that was to get out of helping me paint! :sick:
Nice plan! And, of course, downstairs on entry you'd have plenty of room for the two rigs or one rig and a snowmobile or ride-em mower, etc. It's got me feeling like building something!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
First, if at ALL possible, see if that center support column can be eliminated. I know that it's in there to support the 2nd story room overhead, but that column is the cheap/easy way out for the builder. There's other ways to support the load. It could be replaced by using a deeper truss overhead (or using a steel truss).
Second, as andre pointed out, he wished for a wider garage than 24'. Since you're going with double doors, if at all possible consider a wider garage with the doors spaced further apart (obviously constrained by the width of your lot). That way with two cars in the garage, you've still got ample room BETWEEN the cars as well as between the cars and the sides of the garage.
I like the workshop/storage niche on the right side of the garage.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Garage Items
I'm still not sure which to get, the Maximum or the O'Sul systems and then add pieces to it.
The nice thing is I talked to the local warehouse manager, and I can have it sent to the local store and picked up, that way I don't need to pay the outragious S/H.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Drain in the floor (can't add it later)
Full insulation, including doors
30-amp, 240-volt wiring for the future addition of a mini-split HVAC system--these things cost about $1000 plus labor and have a small outside heat pump/AC unit, and would give you a heated and cooled garage.
The "nook" in the back is nice, but if you're storing a lawn mower there, you'll have to move a car to get it out.
one of best things i did was to get 8 1/2 foot wide garage doors. wanted 9 foot but i had somewhat of a budget to stick to. i could drive my expedition in without folding in a mirror.
also, some extra electrical outlets. it's easier and cheaper before the garage is built. you'll need one the 'fridge.
my garage is connected to the central vac, too.
Here's how the fintail sleeps (always under a cover). Not exactly an impressive garage, but it's dry and that's all I care about. The C43's living quarters are too dark and boring to photograph.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Odie
Odie's Carspace
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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Oh, and here's something that really breaks my heart. Back in the summer of '05, this place down the street from me sold for $490,000. 2 acres, all-brick rancher with a 2-car carport, and a detached cinderblock workshop that was big enough to hold 4 cars. This was before I had broken ground on my garage, so I really had a case of garage envy at the time!
Well, whomever bought it subdivided the lot into 4 half-acre parcels! Tore down the cinder block workshop. And now they're trying to sell the house on a half-acre for $399K, and each of the 3 lots for $275-285K. As soon as I saw the notice go up about the county hearing, I knew the garage, at least, was doomed, because it pretty much sat right in the middle of the lot. Kind of a shame to see it go, though. Dang, I wish I had $490K lying around last year. Heck, I wish I had $490K lying around now! Maybe if the real estate market implodes badly enough, I could buy the house and the three other lots and piece it back together again. :P
That home was nice, though, and the garage was nice. That price, though, ouch!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Around here condos are the new "in" thing...I suspect developers will get greedy and in several years supply will exceed demand.
next house, 3 car garage. too bad i have 4 cars.
real estate has cycles. i'll just leave it at that.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
By the summer of '05, these places were going for about $245K. Guess I should've held onto it, but I wanted it gone and didn't want it to sit empty over the winter. There's a siilar place on the market now for $245K, but it's been on the market for a few months now, and I think they're offering something like $9,000 in closing help. The only thing I offered was a homeowner's warranty, which cost me maybe $350.
In late 2005, a house up the street from me went on the market for $350K. It was an older bungalow with a decrepit 1 car garage and an even more decrepit 1-car carport attached to it. It was overshadowed by a couple of McMansions that sprung up right behind it. It sat on the market for several months and according to state records, ultimately sold for $330K. So people aren't getting above their asking price anymore it appears, at least not around here.
Even that place I mentioned earlier that had the 4-car cinderblock garage has come down a bit. Earlier this year they tried to sell off the house and a half-acre for $529K! Now it's down to $399K. And the lots were around $325-335K, and now down to $275-285K. Still too much IMO, but things are cooling.
The place two doors down from me is on the market now, too. A developer bought it a couple years ago, thinking he was going to be able to put 6 McMansions on it. It's a 4.28 acre lot with an old farmhouse, which they were just going to tear down. Well, the environmental dept stepped in, declared much of the lot wetlands, and reduced him to 3 houses, PLUS wanted to make him pay for improvements to the road. Then, because another developer with more money was in bed with some local politicians and wanted to get approval to build a high-density senior citizens' community in our zipcode, they came through recently and spot-zoned us, in an effort to reduce overall maximum density for the entire area. Now they can only subdivide that lot into two smaller lots. So needless to say, it's back on the market. They paid $475K for it back in early '05, and it's on the market now for $599K. And basically it's a teardown special. There are bb holes in some of the windows, and in sitting vacant the house has taken on other damage. So basically they're trying to sell it for the land.
I figure if the price ever gets down to about $250K, I'd buy it, just to help preserve the area and keep it a bit more country. Plus, the house that's on it is larger than mine, so if I wanted to, I could build a larger garage there than I can in my own yard!
Thanks. Yeah, I do have a lot of room, but unfortunately the zoning dept is pretty picky about where I can build. The garage is little over 90 feet back from property line up front, and that's as close as they'll let me build toward the road. Normally they'll let you put the house 25 feet from the road and any outbuilding 60 feet, but it's been on the books since the 70's that they want to widen the road's right-of-way from 30 feet to 60 feet...all of it on my side! :mad: The only way it'll ever happen will be if a developer buys up the whole area and decides to build...the county's not going to foot the bill. So suffice to say that, as long as I'm living there, that road probably won't get widened. Of course now I've probably put a curse on my place in saying that!
Then, to make matters worse, I have to get permission to cut down any trees. I didn't need permission to let the damn things grow up, but I need permission to chop them down!
I do have a field in the back that's oh, about 350 feet long and varies between 60-90 feet wide. But anything I built back there, they'd make me build a driveway to it. I don't know if they'd let me just run one out to the neighbor's driveway or not. The first ~200 feet of that driveway is right-of-way though, and part of its bridge is actually on my property, so it might not be THAT annoying if I ever wanted to build back there.
I have thought about building a lean-to on the back of the garage. Maybe something that's the whole 40 foot length, and comes out 12 feet or maybe 15 if I'm feeling adventurous. That would put the edge of it almost at the trees though
Sounds like your dealling with the TVA. My mother has to have permission to remove any trees that have fallen down due to storms and what-not, but they ARE NOT allowed to remove any tree that is standing. By the way my mother lives near Louden, TN.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Get/build a house and detached garage with some design integrity. Design integrity with some room to enjoy your property in.
So many McMansions are stuck right next to each other, looking exactly the same. Big Mac, Big Mac, Big Mac, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder...ooops! We can't have that...a Quarter Pounder next to a Big Mac.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
There is another community going up about a mile away where they do have them on acre lots. At first I didn't believe those truly WERE acre lots. My grandmother's house is on 1 1/4 acres, and her yard looked about twice as big. But once I saw them up close, I could tell what was going on. It's just that the houses were so danged big and tall that they managed to even overpower those larger lots!
Now I'll admit, these things are nice inside. But I just wouldn't want that much house to have to take care of. And I just prefer having more outdoor space.
I see a handful of older homes with attached garages that have the garage door in the rear and windows in the front and side. I like those.
Most of the McMansions that Andre posted looked like they had a single garage door for the "2-car" garage. All of the "2-car" garages I've seen like that would technically hold two cars but were uncomfortably tight to the point of making it hard to get in and out of the cars.
Speaking of the T-R-T, I'm glad we will have the side door and 2 front bay doors, this way I can make a decent haunted pass through for the T-R-T's that will visit. I'm a major Halloween buff, you know Hi-Fi with speakers out front / back of house (can hear through-out the neighborhood), smoke machine, the works. But I also feel kids should not be jipped either. They get full sized candy bars at our house, plus there choice of soda / juice box (T-R-Ting is hard and hot work). Too bad I need to wait until next halloween for the garage, but I still have fun in our current location. Of coarse living near Hershey, Everyone gives out Full sized candy bars.
Talking about halloween, I wonder if anyone does up their car to look like something out of the Munsters or Addams Family...lol. :shades:
Odie
Odie's Garage
Odie
Odie's Carsapce
I checked in to this a couple years ago when I was shopping around. According to the info I got from Rust-Oleum back then was that outside temp needed to be between 60-90 degrees, and relative humidity below 80%. It also said it is best if the day previous to application had also been at least 60 degrees. The info went on to say min floor temperature needs to be 55 degrees, and that painting in mid afternoon was best.
By the way, all of this came from the rustoleum.com website, and if you dig around, there are .pdf instructions that you can print off.
The stuff I bought also came with a videotape that's pretty straighforward. I had to take it to my grandmother's house to watch it though, as I haven't had a functional VCR in my house in ages now, thanks to Tivo and the DVD players.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Yesterday I went down to the garage to move the LeMans so I could get to my convertible, and when I dropped the LeMans into reverse, I heard something drop out of the undercarriage of the car and plop down onto the concrete. In the rear view mirror I caught a glimpse of a very fat mouse trying to scurry across the floor. More like waddling, it was so fat. Heck, it would probably make a nice Thanksgiving dinner for a family of four in some parts of the world! With my luck, the danged thing is probably preggers!
So, does anybody have any advice for eradicating mice from a garage? I could always put some traps around to get them, but is there anything you can sprinkle around that would scare them off? I've heard that some critters are sensitive to cayenne pepper and it keeps them away...is there anything you can put down for mice?
Odie
Odie's Carspace
He says they work. I have never tried them. Says they keep the squirrels away too. Worth a try.
On Tuesday I went out to the garage to fire up my '79 New Yorker to drive, because my pickup had to go in the body shop to get its rear bumper fixed (second rear-ender in about 2 months).
Well, as soon as I put the car into reverse and started backing out, a mouse jumped out from under the hood, and tried to climb up the windshield! It would hop up, and kept sliding back down, and stayed on the car until I backed out, and then it hopped off and ran into the woods.
That whole day though, while driving that car, I swear I kept hearing critter noises. Now it could just be the car. After all, it's a Chrysler from the disco era, so squeaks and rattles were standard equipment, but for a moment I smelled something dead/rotten coming from the heater vents, and then for a bit the heater started blowing cold, like either a vent or vent door got blocked, or perhaps something was being chewed through. I was getting a bit paranoid, and started feeling like Willard or something! :surprise:
I parked the NYer outside of the garage on Tuesday night, and last night put it back in, and set a trap. I've been seeing fresh droppings on the valance panel of my LeMans, that part that runs between the bumper and the body of the car, so I just set it there. I didn't go out in the garage this morning, since I have my truck back, but I'll check it tonite.
I would go inch by inch around that garage looking for any possible opening that a mouse could squeeze through, and fill it with either caulk, or that expandable foam in a can - even up in the attic portion of the garage if it has one. However, I guess they could also be squeezing in around the garage door itself - in which case you could see if the door has any adjuability built in to it, or call the installer to see if they can do anything to hel lessen any gaps.
The garage doors actually seal up pretty tight. I was impressed. The garage at my old condo had about two inches of play in it at some points.
Too bad I couldn't just get some snakes and let 'em loose in there! But it's cold enough now that the snakes would either hibernate or die.
Or just get a "garage cat" (de clawed of course for when it jumps up on your cars).
It had a softer looking fur than what mice usually have, too. More like the velour you might find in an '80's LeSabre Limited, rather than a base Monte Carlo. :P
So, any idea on what this little sucker was? Maybe just a different breed of mouse from what I'm used to seeing?
Edit: I did some digging around, and I think I identified it. I think it's a vole. Cute little sucker, and I almost feel kinda bad, but I've heard they can also be destructive little things. I'm surprised it could jump high enough to get up into a car...it didn't look like the little legs were built for jumping.
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Okay, now I don't feel so bad about snuffing the little sucker. :shades: Now that I think about it, about 10 years ago I caught one of these things in the garage under my grandmother's house. This was soon after my divorce, when I had to move in with her. I had the snake in that garage, unknown to my grandmother. I forget how I caught the thing, but I threw it in with the snake, thinking it was just a weird mouse, to see if it would eat it. Hey, I figured it would save me a trip to the store. Well, that thing stayed in one corner and the snake stayed in another, and wouldn't go anywhere near it. After awhile, I just gave up and let the danged thing go. I wonder if the vole would have been aggressive enough to kill the snake?
Odie
Odie's Carspace
Yeah, I learned a long time ago to watch out for the mice. I've been bitten a few times by the mice, and a few times by one of my snakes. The mice, cute as they are, pack a much meaner bite! They really sink their teeth in, whereas with the snake I guess there's just that primal fear. When they strike, I probably hurt myself more trying to pull my hand away (hitting the side of the cage, elbowing a wall, etc) then the actual bite!
On the garage front, I've reset the trap, but I haven't caught anything else. Maybe it was just the one vole? I thought it was an odd coincidence though, that on two separate occasions, I started up two different cars, and it just happened to be in THAT car! Somehow, I think there are more than just one.