house with just one-car garage

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by retire-early Is a two-car garage a must?

Yes, at least two.

[pb4uski]

This reminds me of when I was buying our first HDTV many years ago... I was trying to decide between a 42" and a 47". DW favored the 42" because it was less money. The saleserson told me "I've never had a customer return a TV because it was too big" and that sealed the deal for me, we bought the 47".

Ditto for garages, I've never heard anyone complain about having too big of a garage.

[finnski1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover I live in a winter climate, so having a garage means that you don't have to scrape ice off the windows for 5 months. Also, I have a table saw, miter saw, air tools, air compressor, workbench, golf clubs, etc. It's not "stuff"...I'm an avid and active DIYer who has built several decks and completely remodeled my home from down to the studs. This year alone I have built two decks, shingled one house, leveled a cabin, installed kitchen cabinets, removed a window and installed a patio door, and several other things. DIY is my hobby and I need a place for the required tools and supplies.

DIY is my hobby as well and I have all those tools you mentioned.

I built my garage at 30'x 30' with 10 1/2 foot ceilings.
Also have a 12'x 12' separate workshop attached to that. It also has a full 30 x 12 upstairs space with 8' ceilings.
The garage is full. 2 vehicles , a 7'wide camper, a 7 1/2 foot snow plow and all the saws etc. as well as 2 kayaks and 2 mountain bikes.
Also have a 27 x10' wide metal roofed wood shed off the far side where the tractor also sits with 3 cords of wood.

[ncbill]

Over 25 years in a townhouse community with no garages...except for one unit where a previous owner sacrificed half of a finished basement for a small one-car garage...current owner parks their car outside just like everybody else.

[4legsgood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim59 No, why would it be a must. I built a house and garage 30 years ago. The garage has never had a car in it.

This is so true, all 2 car garages in my neighborhood and almost no one can park in their garage. Seems like a one car garage and a shed would do for a lot of people.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by finnski1 DIY is my hobby as well and I have all those tools you mentioned. I built my garage at 30'x 30' with 10 1/2 foot ceilings. Also have a 12'x 12' separate workshop attached to that. It also has a full 30 x 12 upstairs space with 8' ceilings. The garage is full. 2 vehicles , a 7'wide camper, a 7 1/2 foot snow plow and all the saws etc. as well as 2 kayaks and 2 mountain bikes. Also have a 27 x10' wide metal roofed wood shed off the far side where the tractor also sits with 3 cords of wood.

Nice. I just have a basic 24' x 28" garage plus a 10' x 20' storage shelter. There is supposed to be parking for 2 vehicles but only 1 normally uses the garage in winter. Our winters are harsh and it's not worth the effort to heat the garage to go from -30 to comfortable. Maybe on a warmer day I'll suck it up and run out to cut a couple pieces of wood if absolutely required but for the most part it waits until spring.

[harley]

Interesting. It never occurred to me that people put their cars in a garage. Garages are for storage and workshops. I thought "1 car, 2 car", etc was just a strange measurement unit like an Amp or a cubit or something. The things I learn on this site.

[pb4uski]

We have always stored our cars in our garages unless we were doing a project of some sort...and every house we have ever owned has had garage. I've noticed that not parking a car in the garage is much more prevalent in the south and southwest than in the north.

[finnski1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover Nice. I just have a basic 24' x 28" garage plus a 10' x 20' storage shelter. There is supposed to be parking for 2 vehicles but only 1 normally uses the garage in winter. Our winters are harsh and it's not worth the effort to heat the garage to go from -30 to comfortable. Maybe on a warmer day I'll suck it up and run out to cut a couple pieces of wood if absolutely required but for the most part it waits until spring.

We get plenty of snow and cold here in NH but not very many -30 cold kind of days.We do routinely see -10 to plus 30 a lot all winter. -10 with the wind howling is enough to wake you up though. I only made the 30 x 12' area upstairs because I did not want to waste all that space with a 10/12 roof pitch. Don't put much up there because I don't want to traipse up and down the 16 steps to get there

[finnski1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski We have always stored our cars in our garages unless we were doing a project of some sort...and every house we have ever owned has had garage. I've noticed that not parking a car in the garage is much more prevalent in the south and southwest than in the north.

Yes and in the winter not having to scrape ice, brush snow, extra defrost time etc. is worth quite a bit to me.
I would think that in the south and southwest one would want to avoid that sun and strong UVr ays, They do a number on car seals, plastics,paint etc

[ksr]

My last house had a one-car garage and it did make it tougher to sell. My realtor told me that when the house was on the market one couple pulled up, took one look, and decided not to even go inside due to the one-car garage.

The house did sell eventually, of course.

[street]

Homes that sell best are 3 stall garage homes. Garages in my area are a huge selling factor, when homes go on market.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski We have always stored our cars in our garages unless we were doing a project of some sort...and every house we have ever owned has had garage. I've noticed that not parking a car in the garage is much more prevalent in the south and southwest than in the north.

All it takes is spending one winter scraping ice off the windshield for most people to start parking in the garage.

[Amethyst]

At first, I felt like we were really Blowing Dough when we had the mini-split installed in our garage. Then I learned how common it is around here. You step into your car at 76 degrees or whatever, instead of a combination bake-oven/sauna, which is what a car turns into in the parking lot (or driveway) 7 months out of the year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by finnski1 I would think that in the south and southwest one would want to avoid that sun and strong UVr ays, They do a number on car seals, plastics,paint etc

[momoftwo]

Very area/neighborhood specific.

Northern NJ, 30+ years in a small city with beautuful eclectic older homes.
We had a detached one car garage that stored our bikes, mowers, tools, kids toys.
We also had a full basement.

Most neighbors had similar. A very few had one car attached. Some had shared driveways, NO garages.
Homes in this neighborhood are selling for $500-700T today.

We retired to a nearby lake community. Many older small homes, even lakefront, rare garages.
Some new McMansions that squeezed in one/two car garages.

We bought our 100yr old cottage with no garage and a single width gravel driveway. First thing we did was widen and pave the driveway. It easily accomodates 4 cars. We have two.
Low crime area, we have no concern for vandalism. Admit clearing snow off cars is a pain.
Our large basement with walkout works well for hobbies/storage/workshop.

I think its really needs dependent.
We love watching sunset over the lake from our back deck. We enjoy that more than we would a garage.

[RobbieB]

Here in CA you can leave the cars in the driveway. They're not going to freeze in winter and you won't have to dig them out of the snowdrift and they're waterproof when it rains.

I've got the motorcycles in the garage. They don't like the rain. Seats get wet and soak through your pants when you ride.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley Interesting. It never occurred to me that people put their cars in a garage. Garages are for storage and workshops. I thought "1 car, 2 car", etc was just a strange measurement unit like an Amp or a cubit or something. The things I learn on this site.

Also, 2.5 cars, the “0.5” referring to a golf cart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski We have always stored our cars in our garages unless we were doing a project of some sort...and every house we have ever owned has had garage. I've noticed that not parking a car in the garage is much more prevalent in the south and southwest than in the north.

Yeah, in the northern parts of the country many homes have basements, which offer lots of storage space. In Florida basements are not common, and people need a place to store all their stuff. So, car in the driveway, stuff in the garage.

[Aerides]

It really depends on the location/neighborhood, and the target market.

A SFH 3-4/2 home with a 1 car garage is not the norm and would be a harder sell in an area where most homes were built after say 1975. But in the older neighborhoods, built in the 60's, a lot have just a 1 car, or a carport, and the 1 cars are often converted carports.

Townhomes? A 1 car garage is the nice, many have none, and a 2-car would be a major upgrade and a higher end townhome community, the kind that outprice SFHs next door.

We have a 2-car, but only ever have one car in it, and the other half is my gym. And it's barely a 2 car. You couldn't put two dodge ram quad cabs in it.

3 car garages for SFH's only come with majorly upgraded square footage or luxury homes down in S. Fla. You aren't going to find those in your typical 2000 sf home.

But a lot of people convert their garages to extra living spaces as well. A den or extra bedroom, since we can't do basements here. People like options and flexibility over most anything else.

I'd rather an extra bedroom than a bigger garage personally.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst At first, I felt like we were really Blowing Dough when we had the mini-split installed in our garage. Then I learned how common it is around here. You step into your car at 76 degrees or whatever, instead of a combination bake-oven/sauna, which is what a car turns into in the parking lot (or driveway) 7 months out of the year.

Start driving the car at 76F? That's downright luxurious.

By parking my car in the uncooled garage, I can start driving with the car at 110F which is way, way better than 150F if it were outside on the driveway baking under the sun all day.

Where I am, if you have black leather seats and don't cover them up, they will get so hot if hit by the sun ray that the seat burns your bum and thighs. And that's not an exaggeration.

The steering wheel could be so hot that you start driving with gingerly holding it with two fingers. Thank goodness for power steering.

[Amethyst]

I lived in south Florida when I was a teen and young adult. Learned to put a white towel on the steering wheel when leaving the car, then switch the towel quickly to the car seat before sitting down, or face unpleasant consequences to my thighs in shorts. No matter what the interior car color was.

Another practice is to open the car windows immediately on starting the car, and drive a short distance to blow the hot air out of the cabin, before turning on the car a/c. I can watch the car's interior temp gauge drop 10 degrees in just a few seconds by doing this.

Cars sold here, typically have lighter-colored interiors. But they still get darned hot.

Oh, and always always have a filled bottle of water in the car, and put it under the seat to keep it from getting too hot to drink. That probably wouldn't work in your area, though. What do you do to keep dehydration at bay when you are out and about?

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Where I am, if you have black leather seats and don't cover them up, they will get so hot if hit by the sun ray that the seat burns your bum and thighs. And that's not an exaggeration. The steering wheel could be so hot that you start driving with gingerly holding it with two fingers. Thank goodness for power steering.