Attached vs. Unattached Garages (Plymouth: sale, homes, buying)

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Old time farmers had most of their buildings connected. That way they didn't need to go outdoors to feed the stock, milk the cows or collect eggs. Snow removal was not much of a consideration.

I read a nice book on the subject: Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England Amazon.com: Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England (9781584653721): Thomas C. Hubka: Books=

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

However, snow removal is a huge consideration. With today's pickups and plows the pickup has to have a large area to push the snow back away from the driveway. The very worst situation for a pickup plowing snow is a long winding driveway in the woods. In a normal winter the pickup soon runs out of places to put the snow.

Enter the snow blower. A homeowner with that driveway ought to have a snow blower of at least 10 horsepower. Where to put the snow is no longer a problem. The next step up is a tractor mounted snow blower. That is the ultimate and is frequently seen in areas where heavy snowfall is normal. I just fire up the 4 WD Kubota and drive that snow 50 feet out into the woods.

Makes me smile.

Wouldn't that be just as much a problem with a detached garage?

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by gcberry

Here are the disadvantages: 1. When you warm up the car the garage will have carbon monoxide fumes. 2. When you open up the garage door, you are letting cold air into your entire house, even if doors leading to the garage are closed. BTW, I believe hazardous materials/flammables must be stored in metal cabinets if they are stored in an attached garage, and there must be fire doors/fire walls leading to the rest of the house. That said, we will store our hazmats in a (detached) shed. The advantage of the attached garage is in building costs. In our case, our house was built on a slope, so we did a bit more extensive foundation work to accommodate the walk out basement and garage, but the actual building costs were less.

I see no reason the doors between the garage and the house cannot be built to be as protective against heat loss as any outside door from which you exit a house.

As for monoxide fumes, leave the garage doors open while you warm up the vehicle--or better, start the vehicle, drive it out of the garage, and let it warm up in the driveway.

Also, I would imagine if the attached garage were heated, say to 40 or 50 degrees, no warmup would be necessary.

[cebdark]

Having grown up in a house in the middle of a Maine field where snow drifts and/or storms often rendered my car's rear end buried under 4 feet of snow, and now living in a Maine house with an attached garage, I will say with absolute certainty:

"I WOULD LIVE IN A TWO-STORY OUTHOUSE, AS LONG AS IT HAD AN ATTACHED GARAGE!"

Yep. It really is that great. If it's cold and breezy, I pull right in and shut the door behind me. I don't scrape windshields, I don't chisel ice off wipers, and I don't have to throw myself against the door to get it to open it if it's frozen shut. When it's pouring out, I haul my groceries into my house without regard for getting drenched. I open both doors to ventillate when the car is warming up. If the air is such that it's blowing exhaust back into the house, I simply move the car out of the garage.

I will never be without one again. Never. Ever.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by reloop

Having grown up in a house in the middle of a Maine field where snow drifts and/or storms often rendered my car's rear end buried under 4 feet of snow, and now living in a Maine house with an attached garage, I will say with absolute certainty:

"I WOULD LIVE IN A TWO-STORY OUTHOUSE, AS LONG AS IT HAD AN ATTACHED GARAGE!"

Yep. It really is that great. If it's cold and breezy, I pull right in and shut the door behind me. I don't scrape windshields, I don't chisel ice off wipers, and I don't have to throw myself against the door to get it to open it if it's frozen shut. When it's pouring out, I haul my groceries into my house without regard for getting drenched. I open both doors to ventillate when the car is warming up. If the air is such that it's blowing exhaust back into the house, I simply move the car out of the garage.

I will never be without one again. Never. Ever.

Sounds good to me!

[Acadianlion]

Homeowners insurance policies make no differentiation between attached and detached garages from an underwriting standpoint. In point of fact building codes require attached garages to be one step (7" minimum) below the floor grade of the house because CO fumes settle and won't normally rise above that level.

The only homeowner's insurance issue with attached garages is that a standard homeowners policy has "coverage B: appurtenant structures", which will provide up to ten percent of the dwelling value to a detached garage. IF the garage is attached to the house, then the "Coverage A: Dwelling" value needs to be increased to meet the total replacement cost value of the structure.

The biggest single drawback to having an attached garage is that they are never quite big enough. Our garage here is 36' wide and 24' deep. That ought to be big enough for parking two cars inside, one would think. But the end bay being finished off into an 8X16' clothes closet for my clothes horse wife, and only an 18 foot wide door, and all the other stuff in the world crammed in, parking the two cars inside is not a slam dunk. T

The trouble with having so much underroof space, is that people in general tend to acquire more and more "stuff". It seems an axiom that if you have space, it needs to be filled. Even if the stuff is worthless and unnecessary, most people just gotta have it.

[retiredtinbender]

No garage is EVER big enough; nor the cellar. I agree, if you have empty space it needs to be filled. It is a moral obligation to go out and buy more stuff. And then forget you have it because it is tucked away in some unseen area of the garage.

[Kracer]

Where would you keep all the old canoes, lathes and old corvettes if you just had an attached garage. Attached and detached are a must. Detached garage with a woodstove is a requirement especially if you want a long marriage.

[American girl]

One of each is the way to go If you live with a "tinkerer" he will take over the garage so it's best to let him have the unattached garage; leaving you the covenience of the attached. Heat them both and your problems are over LOL

[RetiringInMaine]

Like Acadianlion, I have an unattached garage, which is not married or even engaged to the house. Its about 24 x 24, and I plan to put in a workshop in the back section. Currently my workshop is in the house with the attached one car garage which has no place for a car since you need some place for your riding mower(when you have an acre of grass you have to have a riding mower) and the snow blower and the diesel generator that was never installed and the radial arm saw and the table saw and the band saw and the workshop table I expect that I'll have room for one car but the other poor thing will have to brave the cold. Probably the Jeep Wrangler will be out side, since it claims to be tough and doesn't want to be put in a sissy garage with the Ford Focus Wagon anyhow since they really don't get along.

I finally moved the stuff out into a 10 x 12 storage place big enough for a large car.

[Acadianlion]

My wife and I were involved in high school, but life took over and it wasn't until thirty years later that we reconnected via the Internet. She came here to live and during the early months found many things that were essential elements of life were just missing from what had been a blissful, peaceful and well ordered bachelor's existence.

Anyway, one day she pronounced a need for an ironing board. She told me that she was going to Walmart to buy one. I said, "wait a minute, I have at least one and perhaps two. I went up to the barn to retrieve the ironing board that I had had stashed there for years.".

Not long after that, she needed something eles, and I intercepted her before she could go and source it from Walmart. Thus developed a pattern: she would express a need for some odd or end, and I would go up to the barn and pick it up and bring it into the house.

"What is that?" She shrieked, one day. "What do you have up there, some sort of magic barn?"

So the name has stuck. And that first structure I built out of left over trusses and left over clapboards has been officially cristened "The Magic Barn".