When I moved to Texas, one of the first things I told my mother is that our cars live in the garage, not in the driveway, and our garage is not a storage unit. It is also good as an anti-theft deterrent, especially with catalytic converter thefts on the rise. Therefore, because it is supposed to be a secure location, I like to park my car with the windows open (to air out the interior) and to keep the trunk open (to load/unload stuff). However, I keep getting told by my know-it-all neighbor that I shouldn't be doing that, as keeping the windows/trunk closed helps contain any fires. What is the current consensus on this?
I've seen enough car fires in the winter to presume that is a mythical take on how cars burn. Glass has a lower melting point than sheet metal, meaning it's going to fail much quicker in a fire.
Two car garage is a requirement in a home for me. I don't understand people who have garages and don't put cars in them, especially in the winter.
Not garaging one's car in Oklahoma is asking to get it totaled by hail damage. So I always keep it garaged if that's an option. There are other benefits as well (such as avoiding the elements and reducing the risk of pet escape when bringing in groceries, and freeing up driveway and street parking space for visitors).
Fires? That sounds like an old wives tale, one I've never even heard of until now. As noted already the melting temperature of automotive glass is low enough that it is going to melt in a fire. That said, a car isn't likely to catch on fire unless there is something seriously wrong with it. An ICE especially would really need to have some sort of major problem to catch on fire from a cold/idle state.
At present moment I just have my Challenger parked in the garage, the other side is a COVID era gym I still use at least once a week. I use my Challenger once a week on average or for special occasions such as a substantially scenic road or a car show. I keep the windows closed due to the dust that is common to my area in the summer. The summer dust is bad enough in Fresno that I still need to wash the Challenger once a month due to dust accumulation. If I left the trunk open it likely would kill the trunk bulb after about a week since I don't think it has an automatic shut off.
Your mother? She's the one fighting you on this?
In-garage fires? They're so infrequent I wouldn't consider windows or trunks major factors.
I'd worry more about a trunk light or warning light running down the battery or insects/animals getting in the car through the window or trunk.
When I had a garage, I'd leave the windows and trunk closed. Still lived to tell the tale.
And yes, people who fill up their garage with junk and do not put their car(s) in it befuddle/concern me. In my experience, the junk just sits there.
Car fires are quite rare, even less so if they're not running. (The external combustion engine proved to have poor reliability and low dependability scores; thus, largely relegated to action movies and civil unrest.) It also depends on the age, upkeep, and overall condition of the vehicle. Eventually, there may be a few more car fires in more homes as electric cars become increasingly common.
We keep our cars garaged but at least one of them will wind up outside when one of kids has a car. And I keep it in a parking garage when possible.
I've had several friends over the years that endured car fires. One was in a garage that burned down. But I would be more worried about modern hybrids and electric vehicles that have "high-voltage" lithium batteries that are prone to fires.
If you have a modern home, there should be a fire separation between the garage and the house. Here in Orange County, North Carolina, our county required a firewall that runs all the way up to the roofline and a higher fire-rated door between the garage and the house (this all might have been required because of the type of double-door that we needed).
We live out in the woods, so it is nice to get the car into the garage before a big storm hits so that the car doesn't get damaged. I had one incident years ago where I had an SUV and a pickup (which is now my clunker) sitting side-by-side and a big tree came down on both. Amazingly, it only took out the window on SUV hatchback, but I don't park my cars side-by-side over there anymore. Moral of the story: If you CAN'T get the car in the garage when you need to, it stays outside and gets washed away in the storm. Or blown away. Or hit be a tree.
Most of mine are outside, only because I have room in the garage for 1 vehicle. It's not a 2 car garage, so the WRX lives there to preserve the paint and interior as well prevent birds from nesting in the hood scoop. Stupid birds...
I've never heard of the car fire tale. Keeping the car closed and locked might be a deterrent to theft if someone were to get into the garage.
I almost always keep windows open and the rear lid raised on my vehicle when it's in the garage. I even make a point of opening one or more windows in winter. Not only for ventilation and access (and I make sure the rear light switch is off), but because I get a perverse pleasure in knowing it's still protected from inclement weather. It's one of my weird routines/habits.
I never keep the trunk open, unless I'm loading or unloading from the trunk. Be it in a garage or elsewhere.
As for windows open, I normally keep them close, unless I'm changing the oil, or tinkering with the gauges.
Though I can forget and leave the windows open after driving.
I actually had my vehicle battery partially die when I left my rear tailgate open in the garage overnight. I had to have a neighbor jump me, so I try not to do that anymore.
Common sense should tell you to keep the windows up and the trunk closed, even when the garage door is down.
As for the car fire thing, I've heard stories about electric vehicles catching fire while being charged overnight. Because of that, I've held off on buying one, and the possibility of our current cars being the last internal-combustion powered vehicles we ever own has my back to the wall. While a Tesla would be cool to own, the high cost and unproven technology have turned me against that prospect, so I intend to keep my Equinox for as long as I can.
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on September 29, 2022, 07:46:41 AM
Two car garage is a requirement in a home for me. I don't understand people who have garages and don't put cars in them, especially in the winter.
Here in the Boston area, in many areas not only do people *not* garage their cars, instead they're used for storage (raises hand). Some of my neighbors have even turned their one-time garages into basement living areas or additional parking spaces.
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on September 29, 2022, 12:46:40 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on September 29, 2022, 07:46:41 AM
Two car garage is a requirement in a home for me. I don't understand people who have garages and don't put cars in them, especially in the winter.
Here in the Boston area, in many areas not only do people *not* garage their cars, instead theyre used for storage (raises hand). Some of my neighbors have even turned their one-time garages into basement living areas or additional parking spaces.
That said, if I had the $$$, I would garage my vehicle.
If my family had an extra garage for my car, I would happily garage it. I actually had access to a parking garage my last year at school. So I had a better situation there than I do at home! When I move out, it will be a priority for sure.
I have a detached one-car garage in a fenced-in backyard. I rotate cars that aren't registered that I keep in it. Right now one isn't in it, but one I have for sale is in the backyard just in front of it.
Quote from: ZLoth on September 29, 2022, 07:37:37 AM
When I moved to Texas, one of the first things I told my mother is that our cars live in the garage, not in the driveway, and our garage is not a storage unit. It is also good as an anti-theft deterrent, especially with catalytic converter thefts on the rise. Therefore, because it is supposed to be a secure location, I like to park my car with the windows open (to air out the interior) and to keep the trunk open (to load/unload stuff). However, I keep getting told by my know-it-all neighbor that I shouldn't be doing that, as keeping the windows/trunk closed helps contain any fires. What is the current consensus on this?
I've never heard of any of this reasoning by you or your neighbor.
Unless you are an extremely unclean, unkept person with loads of trash in the car, you're not really airing it out. Most car's ventilation systems are pretty good. A garage by its nature tends to be a dusty area with poor ventilation, so you're just adding dust and other unfiltered air into the car.
If you need to use the trunk, open and close it at the same time. When you're out shopping, you wouldn't leave the trunk open in the parking lot just so you don't have to open it when you bring your purchases to the car, right?
A car fire is extremely unlikely to start in the interior of a parked car unless you have combustibles within the interior, or are a smoker and potentially unextinguished matches, ashes or butts are within the car. If you've ever driven by a car fire on the highway, have you ever seen a fire where the fire remained within the interior of the vehicle? They usually consume the entire car, and at a fairly fast rate.
So, IMO, just park the car. No need to overthink it.
Quote from: Dirt Roads on September 29, 2022, 10:20:51 AM
I've had several friends over the years that endured car fires. One was in a garage that burned down. But I would be more worried about modern hybrids and electric vehicles that have high-voltage lithium batteries that are "prone to fires".
Fixed the quotes.
In the 1980's, there was, on average, 400,000 to 450,000 vehicle fires per year. Approximately 0 were electric car fires.
In the 1990's, there was, on average, 350,000 to 400,000 vehicle fires per year. Approximately 0 were electric car fires.
Since 2000's, car fires have dropped significantly to roughly about 175,000 vehicle fires per year the past several years. So, how many are non-ICE fires? No one really knows. One of the few sources of data appears to come from a group called autoinsuranceez , and then this article https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a40163966/cars-catching-fire-new-york-times-real-statistics/ notes that they don't really provide any statistics to back their findings or theories.
So, there's going to be a few partial or fully electric cars that will catch on fire. But the theory that they're "known" to catch on fire is quite false, and ignores just how many ICE cars catch on fire each year.
well, car fires are not totally urban legend:
https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/subaru-recalls-100k-vehicles-over-fire-concerns/
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-recalls-defects/kia-suv-recall-park-car-vehicle-outside-due-to-fire-risk-a3676531174/
I don't see a reason to keep internal car volume ventilated until its wet, or is under direct sunlight. If nothing else, mice or squirrels may find something interesting inside...
I've only had an attached garage once. I didn't lock my car or worry about the windows. I never considered leaving my trunk open but my windows were left open out of laziness and not to air out the car. There was no firewall between the garage and house, so a garage fire would have probably burned most of the house down; I never lost sleep over the lack of firewall. I've had garages elsewhere, but they were never attached and the only time it was used only for storage was when I lived in Tidewater and the single-stall garage didn't work very well for cars. I currently have a carport which works fine in the desert though I'd park in a garage if I had one.
I wonder what the difference is between Dirt Roads' friend circle and mine. None of my friends have had a car fire. I know of one friend that lost everything in an apartment fire (old building).
Quote from: skluth on September 29, 2022, 02:30:50 PM
I've only had an attached garage once. I didn't lock my car or worry about the windows. I never considered leaving my trunk open but my windows were left open out of laziness and not to air out the car. There was no firewall between the garage and house, so a garage fire would have probably burned most of the house down; I never lost sleep over the lack of firewall. I've had garages elsewhere, but they were never attached and the only time it was used only for storage was when I lived in Tidewater and the single-stall garage didn't work very well for cars. I currently have a carport which works fine in the desert though I'd park in a garage if I had one.
I am not sure about the degree of the protection, but drywall is generally fire-resistant. In general, 30 min for regular stuff. There may be some higher grade drywall used in the garage that you would never notice.
So, I suspect, people inside the home may be OK. Not sure about home resale value, though...
Please note that snow is still on the roof above garage
(https://www.journal-topics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1-30-22-EGV-FD-Wellington-Fire-scaled.jpg)
One-car garage but a two-car driveway means I can't really park there unless I want to waste extra time rearranging the other car for the household. It's good enough for storage since our weather doesn't get too extreme and the worst I have to worry about for an outdoor car is some wildfire ash.
I moved away from home at 18. I'm now 41 years old, and I've never had a garage.
Quote from: ZLoth on September 29, 2022, 07:37:37 AMWhen I moved to Texas, one of the first things I told my mother is that our cars live in the garage, not in the driveway, and our garage is not a storage unit. It is also good as an anti-theft deterrent, especially with catalytic converter thefts on the rise. Therefore, because it is supposed to be a secure location, I like to park my car with the windows open (to air out the interior) and to keep the trunk open (to load/unload stuff). However, I keep getting told by my know-it-all neighbor that I shouldn't be doing that, as keeping the windows/trunk closed helps contain any fires. What is the current consensus on this?
I think it's a good idea to keep a car garaged if the space is available; two out of three cars I've owned have been totaled due to hail damage that could have been avoided if I had been able to park them under cover. But I think it's a bad idea to park with windows and trunk open, even in a closed garage. That's a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on the window gear and the battery. I don't know of a battery maintainer that will pump in enough juice to counteract the drain from the trunk lamp.
Moreover, our garage has a mildly unpleasant smell--a mix of gasoline and ethanol that escapes the gas can for the lawn mower, plus dead grass--so I actively don't want that getting into the cars. I even pull our back door almost closed when I step out to dump newspapers and empties into our wheelie bin, which we keep in the garage. A car should not smell of anything (other than "new car smell," which still occasionally surfaces for my daily driver even though it is now 28 years old) or need to be aired out as long as the interior is kept picked up, as I try to do to prevent theft and discourage search requests at traffic stops.
The risk of a garage fire is so small that we basically don't take any special measures to address it other than to stay up to date on maintenance and take prompt action if and when a gasoline smell is evident near either vehicle.
Living in a place where one occasionally wakes up to 2 feet of fresh overnight snow, parking in a garage or at least a sturdy carport saves quite a bit of digging in a snowy winter.
In the development where I live, only maybe 30% of the units have garages; the rest have designated spaces in open parking lots. When I bought this place my offer was basically $200/sq. ft. of living space (that was a while ago) plus $50K for the garage, and when I see some of my neighbors struggling to uncover their cars on a frigid morning I am very glad I paid the extra money.
I don't worry about a car fire; if anything the furnace down in the garage would be a more likely source of a fire.
One-car garage, built into my house. The car is always in there when I am home.
It is pretty short front-to-back, so my rear bumper is literally 3-4 inches from the door when closed, and this leaves minimal room at the front end to walk around it. Because of this, I can't open my trunk without opening the garage door, as the trunk lid swings out past the end of the rear bumper. It's not a huge car either (Hyundai Sonata).
After I moved out from my parents, I've never had a garage because, with one exception, the apartments I've lived in never had a garage. The one that did cost an extra $50 a month, so I passed on that.
Quote from: Rothman on September 29, 2022, 08:09:03 AMYour mother? She's the one fighting you on this?
She's the one who keeps the garage door slightly open to allow the cat to go in and out. That also means all sorts of junk gets blown into the garage. :pan:
Quote from: Rothman on September 29, 2022, 08:09:03 AMI'd worry more about a trunk light or warning light running down the battery or insects/animals getting in the car through the window or trunk.
Thankfully, there is a timer on the trunk so that the light doesn't remain on. And, I haven't had an issue with insects yet.
Quote from: Rothman on September 29, 2022, 08:09:03 AMAnd yes, people who fill up their garage with junk and do not put their car(s) in it befuddle/concern me. In my experience, the junk just sits there.
Yet, the combined value of the barely-looked-at items stored in the garage is worth less than the vehicle that is stored outside. I already went though a purge when I moved from California to Nevada, and I'm trying not to collect so muny baubles. The Christmas stuff is stored in my attic, and I do have a garage organizer on my wish list for several years down the road.
Quote from: J N Winkler on September 29, 2022, 03:30:51 PMMoreover, our garage has a mildly unpleasant smell--a mix of gasoline and ethanol that escapes the gas can for the lawn mower, plus dead grass--so I actively don't want that getting into the cars.
Because of a grass allergy that is aggravated when I do the lawn plus not having the time to maintain a lawn, I don't have powered lawn equipment beyond a electric powered leaf blower. All of my outdoor yard items are stored in a shed separate from the garage.
Quote from: Scott5114 on September 29, 2022, 08:00:15 AMNot garaging one's car in Oklahoma is asking to get it totaled by hail damage. So I always keep it garaged if that's an option.
I don't know about Oklahoma, but when I did some road tripping in Texas, I saw mobile homes which were under a carport. I do pass a house or two in my neighborhood which had a carport.
When I look at the tornado records, the county I live in (Collin) had a maximum number of three tornadoes in a recorded calendar year. Greyson to the north had a maximum of six tornadoes in 1971, otherwise multiple years having four tornadoes. Denton to the west had a maximum of four tornadoes in a calendar year. Hunt to the east has a maximum of five tornadoes in 1994, otherwise multiple months of four tornadoes. And Dallas to the south of me had a maximum of nine in 1996, eight in 1994, and seven in 1971, otherwise multiple years with five. So, I'm not worried about tornadoes, although I prepare for them better than I prepared for an earthquake.
Like I said, when I see thunderstorms in the forecast, I pay attention. Like a dog with it's tail between it's feet, if it appears to be significant thread, I run for cover and watch the chasers on YouTube.
Seeing this being discussed, I wonder what the difference in garage usage is in parts of the country with basements and parts without. I have a one-car unattached garage, and my basement contents would probably be mostly out there if I didn't have one, especially with a functionally useless (as storage space) attic. I guess not having a basement affects things for people.
When I moved out, they just had carports in the apartments I lived in. But in this house, I use the garage exclusively. Not letting those grubby little cat(alytic converter) burglars ruin my exhaust.
I have no basement. I have no garage. Therefore, I have no junk.
Quote from: SectorZ on September 30, 2022, 08:26:07 PMSeeing this being discussed, I wonder what the difference in garage usage is in parts of the country with basements and parts without. I have a one-car unattached garage, and my basement contents would probably be mostly out there if I didn't have one, especially with a functionally useless (as storage space) attic. I guess not having a basement affects things for people.
I think the difference is less than one might expect, simply because many people don't rationalize their junk storage at all--some are more ready to sever their emotional attachments to objects than others. Also, the garage is often storage of last resort for objects that are too bulky or too heavy to take down basement stairs (one example from personal experience: the steel frame for a motorized hospital bed). I know at least one family that parks both of their cars outside even though they have a two-car garage and an unfinished basement that is perfect for overflow storage. Other families render large fractions of their basements unsuitable for general storage by finishing them for use as everyday living space. I've never been comfortable with this because of the potential for flooding and leaks, but I know many who are prepared to tolerate these risks.
Quote from: J N Winkler on September 30, 2022, 10:12:34 PM
Other families render large fractions of their basements unsuitable for general storage by finishing them for use as everyday living space. I've never been comfortable with this because of the potential for flooding and leaks, but I know many who are prepared to tolerate these risks.
If I had a basement, I would probably finish at least part of it for use as supplemental living space for non-critical things like a game room, guest bedroom, a home gym, etc. Thus if flooding or leaks occurred, it wouldn't be
as problematic as if it occurred in the main living space.
Quote from: Scott5114 on October 01, 2022, 01:43:57 AM
Quote from: J N Winkler on September 30, 2022, 10:12:34 PM
Other families render large fractions of their basements unsuitable for general storage by finishing them for use as everyday living space. I've never been comfortable with this because of the potential for flooding and leaks, but I know many who are prepared to tolerate these risks.
If I had a basement, I would probably finish at least part of it for use as supplemental living space for non-critical things like a game room, guest bedroom, a home gym, etc. Thus if flooding or leaks occurred, it wouldn't be as problematic as if it occurred in the main living space.
Our basement was finished when we bought it. Knowing that getting water is a possibility, I highly recommend something other than carpet for flooring, and areas used for storage have only plastic bins sitting on the floor and have cardboard boxes up higher.
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 01, 2022, 09:37:43 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on October 01, 2022, 01:43:57 AM
Quote from: J N Winkler on September 30, 2022, 10:12:34 PM
Other families render large fractions of their basements unsuitable for general storage by finishing them for use as everyday living space. I've never been comfortable with this because of the potential for flooding and leaks, but I know many who are prepared to tolerate these risks.
If I had a basement, I would probably finish at least part of it for use as supplemental living space for non-critical things like a game room, guest bedroom, a home gym, etc. Thus if flooding or leaks occurred, it wouldn't be as problematic as if it occurred in the main living space.
Our basement was finished when we bought it. Knowing that getting water is a possibility, I highly recommend something other than carpet for flooring, and areas used for storage have only plastic bins sitting on the floor and have cardboard boxes up higher.
my "office" desk is in an unfinished basement (walls are painted, though, and the temperature is pretty comfortable). I used some Harbor Tools tarp to separate the area and a big map on a wall as background for Zoom/Webex. Workbench was repurposed as a desk when covid hit.
Finishing may be nice, but not really essential - especially once you look at all the code compliance issues.
Quote from: Scott5114 on October 01, 2022, 01:43:57 AMIf I had a basement, I would probably finish at least part of it for use as supplemental living space for non-critical things like a game room, guest bedroom, a home gym, etc. Thus if flooding or leaks occurred, it wouldn't be as problematic as if it occurred in the main living space.
We have a full basement that is unfinished, aside from one closet with built-in shelving. It also does not have any plumbing fixtures such as toilets or faucets, though it does have the city water inlet and supply pipes run through and around the floor joists. The windows are no taller than the floor joists, which are laid on top of a foundation sill that in turn sits on top of the poured concrete basement walls. (These days you are encouraged--in some jurisdictions perhaps even required--to retrofit an egress window if any part of the basement is to be converted to a bedroom.) The concrete floor "floats" in the sense it has no solid connection to the walls, and we have a working sump pump.
This has been our experience with leaks:
* A family member set an outdoor hose running in late autumn and fell asleep in a chair as a cold front rolled through. The pipe supplying the hose bib froze and burst, spraying water around the basement. It had to be replaced.
* A pipe feeding one of the upstairs fixtures developed a leak, spraying papers underneath and narrowly missing a stack of death certificates that were needed to execute stock transfers as part of settling a family member's estate. It, too, had to be replaced. The plumber thought the leak might have occurred as a result of erosion within the pipe.
* A valve controlling flow to the toilet in the master bath developed a leak. Water ran down the pipe, through the linoleum and flooring, along a joist, and down into the bowl of a halogen torchiere that, although it had not been used in earnest for over a decade, was still plugged in. The trickle was so small it continued undetected (perhaps for days) until water got into the lamp column and soaked the switch, resulting in the lamp turning on by itself.
* One window leaks in heavy rainstorms through a crack in the basement wall that starts at one corner of the window opening and runs out for about six inches. I think this leak is caused by soil shedding excess water once it becomes waterlogged. The flow is rarely more than a trickle and usually drains around the floor slab without ponding.
* Another window also leaks badly in heavy rainstorms and has left big ponds on the floor. Storms also seem to aggravate seepage through a floor crack about six feet in front of the window. I have a cardboard box store in this area and have had problems with boxes sucking up water through capillary action and warping once they dry out. We don't fully understand why this window leaks, but suspect a combination of leakage through a loose window cover and soil waterlogging due to over-irrigation.
Our neighbor actually has a finished basement and, several years ago, had to have all of the floor coverings and the bottom two feet or so of gypsum wallboard replaced when a downstairs toilet overflowed. That cost around $10,000 and was covered by homeowner's insurance.
I also have a relative by marriage who moved around town multiple times, generally living in each house for an average of five years or so while he made cosmetic improvements and then sold it for a profit. Eventually he moved into a house in northeast Wichita that had a walk-out basement and discovered it was built on top of a spring or seep. We don't know how much he ended up spending in unsuccessful efforts to remedy the resulting water intrusion problems, but we are sure it was in the thousands.
So, to make a long story short, finishing the basement is basically a nonstarter for us. We haven't even painted the bare concrete, though we use multiple lamps to establish a good balance between task and environmental lighting. It has worked well as office space. Zoom (and probably Webex too) allows a user to specify an image as a custom background and I've used a shot of Puente Nuevo in Ronda, though I've attended several virtual meetings where multiple participants used bare concrete basement walls as their backgrounds. (It may not be intuitive, but I think tidiness in the background is more important than surface finish.)
So, someone turned on a hose, fell asleep in a chair and despite the running water, the pipe froze and burst? Weird.
Anyway, I'd never, ever finish a basement or live somewhere with a finished basement. The risk of flooding and dealing with that mess is too darn high.
Quote from: Rothman on September 29, 2022, 08:09:03 AM
And yes, people who fill up their garage with junk and do not put their car(s) in it befuddle/concern me. In my experience, the junk just sits there.
This is my dad, and it is primarily a question of the car can be parked outside while all the things in the garage cannot. The garage is home to the lawnmower, snowblower, leafblower, fertilizer spreader, rakes, shovels, chainsaw, table saw, compound miter saw, folding ladder, and various manners of other "stuff" that needs to be stored somewhere and is ideally stored in an unfurnished space.
And before you say he should get a shed, he has one and it is also full of stuff. :-D
Quote from: Rothman on October 01, 2022, 07:08:05 PM
Anyway, I'd never, ever finish a basement or live somewhere with a finished basement. The risk of flooding and dealing with that mess is too darn high.
I don't worry about it on account of topography. We got what was effectively a 1000-year storm last year, dumping 8 inches of rain in under 24 hours. Our basement stayed dry as a bone. I think we're good.
Quote from: Rothman on October 01, 2022, 07:08:05 PMSo, someone turned on a hose, fell asleep in a chair and despite the running water, the pipe froze and burst? Weird.
That is what I was told. AIUI, keeping the water running to prevent freezing works better when the outlet is in an indoors environment that is kept warm.
Quote from: Rothman on October 01, 2022, 07:08:05 PMAnyway, I'd never, ever finish a basement or live somewhere with a finished basement. The risk of flooding and dealing with that mess is too darn high.
There are real estate agents who are very against finishing spaces below natural ground, even if to do so would increase the value of a property. As they put it, there are only two kinds of basement: those that have flooded in the past and those that will in the future. This said, I think the current high interest rates will remind us of some of the reasons homeowners finish basements, notably the "golden handcuffs" problem: having a house that is currently paid off or is on a mortgage with a very low rate of interest locked in, and not being able to purchase a house with a bigger footprint because to do so would entail taking on another mortgage with a much higher interest rate. In that situation, which did not apply for much of the 2010's but was the norm decades ago, it becomes financially appealing to finish a basement to get more square feet of living space out of the same footprint. In this market I do know of many houses that have finished basements dating from this era.
Quote from: Duke87 on October 01, 2022, 11:39:59 PMThis is my dad, and it is primarily a question of the car can be parked outside while all the things in the garage cannot. The garage is home to the lawnmower, snowblower, leafblower, fertilizer spreader, rakes, shovels, chainsaw, table saw, compound miter saw, folding ladder, and various manners of other "stuff" that needs to be stored somewhere and is ideally stored in an unfurnished space.
In this connection, it should be noted that not all garages are equally usable for both car parking and general storage. We are fortunate to have an alcove in ours that can accommodate a workbench, as well as nailboards along one wall that we can use to hang up various lawn implements. We've also invested in a shelf set for miscellaneous items. I tend to think that, for a given floor square footage, people with perfectly rectangular garages are at a disadvantage.
I built a shed with my MIL's boyfriend specifically to get the general storage items (mostly stuff my wife had) out of the garage. I also built a side run to the house for yard equipment which can be stored outside. Some storage in the garage was retained, but only on organized shelving units. My garage is largely now a shrine for a car, road signs and maps.
We have a one car garage attached to the house through a breezeway, but for us it's never been useful to park a car in. It's barely big enough to fit a car into, and the house was built in the 1950's, and I've always wondered how the big boats from the 60's, 70s, and 80's ever fit into it. We've always used it primarily for storage of the lawn mowers, snowblower, yard decorations, etc. When we did try parking our van in it, there wasn't enough room to open the driver's door so I had to crawl out the sliding door. Wwe didn't try parking a car in there again for a couple years until we got a smaller car that did fit, and my wife parked it in there in the winter. That worked for one winter, but then the next winter, the door broke and fell on top of the car. The door was an old fashioned one piece flip up door that was starting to rot, and the springs that attached to the sides of it broke and the door fell on the car. Since then we've boarded up the door opening and just use the garage for storage and the cars stay outside. One day if we get the money we might get a new overhead door put on.
Quote from: tchafe1978 on October 02, 2022, 06:35:51 PM
We have a one car garage attached to the house through a breezeway, but for us it's never been useful to park a car in. It's barely big enough to fit a car into, and the house was built in the 1950's, and I've always wondered how the big boats from the 60's, 70s, and 80's ever fit into it. We've always used it primarily for storage of the lawn mowers, snowblower, yard decorations, etc. When we did try parking our van in it, there wasn't enough room to open the driver's door so I had to crawl out the sliding door. Wwe didn't try parking a car in there again for a couple years until we got a smaller car that did fit, and my wife parked it in there in the winter. That worked for one winter, but then the next winter, the door broke and fell on top of the car. The door was an old fashioned one piece flip up door that was starting to rot, and the springs that attached to the sides of it broke and the door fell on the car. Since then we've boarded up the door opening and just use the garage for storage and the cars stay outside. One day if we get the money we might get a new overhead door put on.
My wife's grandparents had a garage just like this (in a 1950's ranch), and somehow her grandmother managed to shoehorn every iteration of Mercury Grand Marquis she owned into it. I don't know how; I did it once and I was terrified I was going to do damage to something. She successfully did this into her late-80's.
That garage literally had nothing in it, it was dead empty when the car was outside.
QuoteMy garage is largely now a shrine for a car, road signs and maps.
Car, check. Road signs, check. But I also use it as a workshop (there's a couple workbenches and pegboards for tools). That said, I cop to storing stuff there I should really move to the shed in the back.
Quote from: ClassicHasClass on October 03, 2022, 01:55:13 PM
QuoteMy garage is largely now a shrine for a car, road signs and maps.
Car, check. Road signs, check. But I also use it as a workshop (there's a couple workbenches and pegboards for tools). That said, I cop to storing stuff there I should really move to the shed in the back.
More or less my current work shop tends to spawn out of that side run to the house or wood back on an old wooden park table I have. We have a shocking lack of power tools that I've gradually rebuilding my assortment of.
Largely my garage is where I do auto maintenance like rotating tires or changing brake pads. It's the only flat place I can park to do work safely.
I will park inside if there is a hail threat or a chance of wintry weather.
We currently have one parking spot in a three-car garage and we share the garage with two neighbors.
In warmer months, it functions as a storage space for larger outdoor toys and accessories and, when I tried (and failed) to strip some painted wooden doors and stain them, a workshop.
In colder months, we park our car in the space, because hell if I'm digging our car out of the snow.
My two-car garage houses both cars, all of our camping gear (which is substantial), and various things like paint, yard maintenance tools, and a few bikes. My sister joked when I first bought my house that it would eventually be storage for all of our crap and not for the cars. I said I would rather not have a car than let than happen.
When garaging your vehicle is not an option:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgvGIpPWQAEmA7e?format=jpg&name=small)
2 car attached garage here- had drywall on the floor covering half of it for 4 years until I sliced it up and tossed it. Still some stuff that prevents a second vehicle from entering but I'm not concerned as I only have - and need - one vehicle.