Has anyone added a detached garage or carport?

[aimeedyan]

When we bought this house, we compromised and went without a garage/covered parking. DH was okay with it as long as our plans included the addition of one in the near future. His primary goal is to cover the cars from the elements, so a carport would work okay but we both liked the look of an actual garage, and like the addition of more covered and secured space if we had one.

While a wood one would be grand, it just ain't happening ($$$!) so we're looking at a metal garage with doors, painted to match the exterior of the house.

Anyone added one to their property? Any words of wisdom to pass on?

[auntie]

My MIL added one to her home. Detached, metal garage- set back sort of behind her house accessible from an alley that runs behind her street.

I thought it looked like crap. Her house was older- all limestone block and looked like a little castle- so the utilitarian garage just didn't go.

[sailorgray]

I am glad you asked this. I have been pricing modular garages. I am wondering how much having a garage adds to your property value.

[SusanBAnthony]

Sailor, I don't know, but I do know that when we were looking in a neighborhood with about half garages and half without, prices were in the 10-15k range different, I would say. We thought about a house with a carport, with the plan to eventually tear it down and add a garage instead (there wasn't room to have both) and decided it would be way too expensive. A carport is useless to me, personally, but I imagine in places where just rain (not snow) is a concern, maybe people like them?

[who22]

We sorta added one. There was a partially started 24'x24' wood structure and slab when we bought our house. For DH to finish it off cost us ~10k. Most wood garages that size around here (New England) cost 15-20k total.

[Deleted]

I think this depends on where you live.

Out here in the Midwest sticks everyone has an attached garage WITH a free standing garage on the back.

People like the space for their lawnmowers, fishhouses, boats ATVs etc.

I thought it was entirely normal.

We've built a garage and a couple outbuildings here. It's pretty self explanatory and you get what you get. It's just tin and garage doors. Think about the layout, how you plan to utilize the space, if you want side doors, windows, a workbench area, storage space or just a space for a car. Which way you want the garage to face is another big one in terms of pretty and if weather is a factor where you live.

Here they're great for resale. The house maybe falling down at the beams and uninhabited for the last 40 years, but if the garage is nice, it's sold. An attached garage and a separate garage are big news here. You can't hardly sell a house without them.

And how backwoods do I sound this morning?! Whatever. I'm proud of it!

[sailorgray]

Feb 6, 2013 9:11:32 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I think this depends on where you live.

Out here in the Midwest sticks everyone has an attached garage WITH a free standing garage on the back.

People like the space for their lawnmowers, fishhouses, boats ATVs etc.

I thought it was entirely normal.

We've built a garage and a couple outbuildings here. It's pretty self explanatory and you get what you get. It's just tin and garage doors. Think about the layout, how you plan to utilize the space, if you want side doors, windows, a workbench area, storage space or just a space for a car. Which way you want the garage to face is another big one in terms of pretty and if weather is a factor where you live.

Here they're great for resale. The house maybe falling down at the beams and uninhabited for the last 40 years, but if the garage is nice, it's sold. An attached garage and a separate garage are big news here. You can't hardly sell a house without them.

And how backwoods do I sound this morning?! Whatever. I'm proud of it!

Backwoods? This sounds like my husband's dream! Two garages?!  Then again, he is from an eastern Colorado farming community...

[Deleted]

Feb 6, 2013 9:29:41 GMT -5 sailorgray said:

Feb 6, 2013 9:11:32 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I think this depends on where you live.

Out here in the Midwest sticks everyone has an attached garage WITH a free standing garage on the back.

People like the space for their lawnmowers, fishhouses, boats ATVs etc.

I thought it was entirely normal.

We've built a garage and a couple outbuildings here. It's pretty self explanatory and you get what you get. It's just tin and garage doors. Think about the layout, how you plan to utilize the space, if you want side doors, windows, a workbench area, storage space or just a space for a car. Which way you want the garage to face is another big one in terms of pretty and if weather is a factor where you live.

Here they're great for resale. The house maybe falling down at the beams and uninhabited for the last 40 years, but if the garage is nice, it's sold. An attached garage and a separate garage are big news here. You can't hardly sell a house without them.

And how backwoods do I sound this morning?! Whatever. I'm proud of it!

Backwoods? This sounds like my husband's dream! Two garages?!  Then again, he is from an eastern Colorado farming community...

LOL. People and toys. Part of it here is weather. A lot of stuff just can't sit outside at all a good share of the year. And there's so much to do here with the lakes, the ATV trails, the yardspace to fix up cars and machinery and not have it in your yard junkyard style. People here also like lawn and a ton of it, so little push mowers you can slide in the corner just don't cut it either.

People here with the nice garages..seriously some of them have bar areas/kitchenettes, open the doors on Friday nights and buy some beer. So classy by internet terms but it's fun!

[FoxInFiji]

I agree dairy! I'm only one state over but it a house doesn't have an attached garage (or in the older parts of the city a detached garage) it will take forever to sell or it won't sell at all. Like you we have a two and a half car attached garage and a two car detached garage we use as a shed to store our riding lawn mower, trailer, kayaks, atv (used only to snow plow and pull a yard trailer), and landscaping tools.

OP we redid our attached garage shortly after buying our house. Originally it was a two car garage but the previous owners turned it into a one car garage with a semi-finished shop on the other half. We converted it back to a two car garage and the new garage doors we got are steel but are painted to look like wood.


More info here.

They are Clopay doors and at the time they only had one faux looking wood door line (the Gallery) now they have multiple lines:
www.clopaydoor.com/portfolio-line-garage-doors.aspx

We're very happy with ours. They are a big part of what you see from the road so it was important they look good but in our climate to use real wood is silly. One winter of snow piling up outside the door and they would be warped. Plus the high R value and double paned windows were important to us since the garage is below our DR.