I totally agree with @stellasmom. Garages are for cars. We have our bike hanging on hooks in the garage, storage cages attached to the ceiling, and built in shelves for storage. But the primary use is our cars and we park them there. Even in CA. I don't like to park outside.
Post by hisno1girl on Dec 15, 2013 11:22:18 GMT -5
We have a long driveway too (3 car length) and it kinda curves around the front of the house and we always clear the entire driveway. What do you do if you have people come over?
Post by LoveTrains on Dec 15, 2013 11:46:38 GMT -5
I'm in New England and my neighborhood is houses from like 1880-1940. Most people have detached one car garages on city lots (4500-5000 sq ft). The garage has the bikes, lawn mower and other yard stuff. We squeezed our car in during Nemo last year but not worth it for a storm like this. We also have mini closets in our house and the basement is fully finished with no room for storage.
Post by pantsparty on Dec 15, 2013 11:49:33 GMT -5
Do people in NE have basements? I truly don't understand this. Growing up it was the same, there was always at least one car parked outside because the garage always had a ton of crap inside of it. And we had a basement...with a ton of crap inside of it.
I never knew that the house I grew up in actually had a 2 car garage. It was just my dad's workroom and actually the house is old and modern cars wouldn't fit. They now made it into a craft room for my mom and bought a prefab 2 car garage, but then bought a third car. lol
Can you tell me more about the pre fab garage they bought? Do they like it? Does it seem sturdy? Do you know who they purchased it through?
DH and I want to go look at this awesome Victorian house in our area, but it doesn't have a garage, which is a deal breaker. I didn't realize these pre fab options existed until I saw your post and they don't seem terribly expensive. I would love to know more about it since it would make this house a serious option.
I will see if I can find a picture of theirs, but they got it in a neutral color and then painted it to match the house. It looks like it has been there forever.
We actually had a snow day for ice when it was delivered so we watched it be put in. It was pretty amazing. A big group of guys comes and gets the two main pieces put together and then two guys did all the finish work. It is very sturdy and seems like good construction.
I'm not sure where you are, but they bought it from here www.kloterfarms.com/ and they deliver in CT, RI and MA. I'm sure there are similar companies elsewhere.
ETA: on the inside (this is the third car. still makes me laugh)
I totally agree with @stellasmom. Garages are for cars. We have our bike hanging on hooks in the garage, storage cages attached to the ceiling, and built in shelves for storage. But the primary use is our cars and we park them there. Even in CA. I don't like to park outside.
See, I could understand if someone in California used their garage as storage, because we don't have basements. But we ALWAYS use our garage for our cars. My H is pretty OCD about keeping our garage organized and clean.
Do people in NE have basements? I truly don't understand this. Growing up it was the same, there was always at least one car parked outside because the garage always had a ton of crap inside of it. And we had a basement...with a ton of crap inside of it.
Yes, but the tend to flood during Spring when the ground is already saturated from snow melt and the water runs off. So unless its a finished basement or you have good shelving or wall systems your stuff would get ruined.
And a lot of times even finished basement will get flooding issues if we get enough rain.
Ah, I see. Does that always happen? We had the same type of weather in Michigan and I don't remember the basement flooding.
Post by shopgirl07 on Dec 15, 2013 12:26:15 GMT -5
I've lived my whole life in New England and never have had a flooded basement. I mean, sure, some basements flood but it's certainly not a given. I imagine basements in different parts of the country flood equally.
If I'd had a garage I've always parked in it too. But I don't have a lot of crap or any kind of hobbies that would take up a lot of space in a garage.
All of our stuff in the garage is up off the floor on hooks or on shelves. I understand little/no storage but dammit, I am through shoveling out cars. This rant brought to you by 15 years of street parking in the city. Garages for lyfe!! Lol.
When we lived in a subdivision, H used our garage for his boat and/or snowmobile. We have seperate buildings for that now, so I get to use the garage for my car. Yay.
I totally agree with @stellasmom. Garages are for cars. We have our bike hanging on hooks in the garage, storage cages attached to the ceiling, and built in shelves for storage. But the primary use is our cars and we park them there. Even in CA. I don't like to park outside.
See, I could understand if someone in California used their garage as storage, because we don't have basements. But we ALWAYS use our garage for our cars. My H is pretty OCD about keeping our garage organized and clean.
Post by snipsnsnails on Dec 15, 2013 13:03:31 GMT -5
Hey, you guys told me to store my outdoor furniture in the garage for winter! I could just cover it, but the New England winter is still rough on it if it's out. How can I do that and get my car in there??
We have new construction but the garage is still too small to fit cars. Even with nothing in the garage, we were barely able to fit two (mid-size) cars without risking door dings and only having inches to get out. If we parked in there now, we'd have to climb over the hood of my car or open the garage door to get to the food and trash cans on the other side. DH's car won't fit, period - the garage door won't close because of the furnace and water heater. I can't think of a more than a couple garages around here that can actually fit two cars if there's so much as a bicycle in it. Better to use the damn thing for much needed storage since we no longer have a basement.
We were able to use our two-car in Ohio only because we had a bump-out and a basement to store the stuff we now have in our garage. Better to park in our (very short) driveway than pay for a storage facility.
We only have a one car garage, so my car is the one parked in it. We're in the middle of redoing our house (all floors/did the countertops/remodeling both bathrooms), and the garage is currently set up as the workshop. I can't wait for the house to be finished, solely to not have to park in the driveway/snow anymore.
Lol, we ask this question of my inlaws (we live in NJ). I grew up in CT and my Dad used our garage to park the cars, store our bikes (hooks on the ceiling), and his riding lawn mower etc. He was an engineer, and very, very meticulous/organized in the garage. Their house was built in the 70's, so I don't know if that matters, and fits two modern cars really well. Moving to NJ, and especially my in laws, everyone parks in the driveway or street and used the garage for storage of crap. Same with my SIL, they store her DH's mustang that never gets used on one side and the other is just a bunch of storage tubs with stuff from their move 8 yrs ago that they haven't touched since.
ETA: We park both our cars in our garage (CRV and Odyssey) and we have a shed in the back for the lawn mower. The snow thrower fits in the garage too. . house also built in the70's
Post by revolution on Dec 15, 2013 13:51:20 GMT -5
We have 3 cars and a 2 car garage. Our two main cars are outside. The other car is in the garage with a ton of shit. Our garage, basement and she'd annoy the shit out of me and make me bitchy when I think about them.
My il's have a massive garage, but they only fit one vehicle. They store their boat, beer fridge, and fil was a mechanic, so he keeps all of his millions of tools in there as well. I think they even have a table set up for drying herbs.
I realize this may change if we have kids, but I don't even live in a cold place and my garage is my favorite part of the house anytime it is cold or rainy. Every house in my neighborhood has at least a two car garage but almost everyone else has at least one car outside because they've filled theirs up with crap. We've lined the edges of the garage with stuff but we can still squeeze in and out of the cars, lol. I just like parking in the garage so much, I don't understand why other people don't make it more of a priority
We are in New England and have been in our house for 7 years. This is the first year that we are parking in the garage. It took some creative organizing and moving spring/summer stuff to the basement but so worth it.
I imagine basements in different parts of the country flood equally.
Definitely not, since precipitation/melt off rates and position in relation to the water table varies so greatly.
In Houston residential basements are essentially impossible. Too much rain and the city is practically at 0ft elevation.
But that's my point. New England homes generally have basements because flooding isn't a huge issue. In Houston, or New Orleans, etc. you don't have basements. So of the areas of the country where basements are prevalent, New England basements are no more prone to flooding than others. It's not like if you have a basement in New England, that it's a given it will flood.
Definitely not, since precipitation/melt off rates and position in relation to the water table varies so greatly.
In Houston residential basements are essentially impossible. Too much rain and the city is practically at 0ft elevation.
But that's my point. New England homes generally have basements because flooding isn't a huge issue. In Houston, or New Orleans, etc. you don't have basements. So of the areas of the country where basements are prevalent, New England basements are no more prone to flooding than others. It's not like if you have a basement in New England, that it's a given it will flood.
I just googled and found that basements are most common in areas where the climate isn't too wet, soil is soft enough to excavate easily, and where it gets cold enough that utilities need to be buried below the frost line. Who knew? Lol.
I still don't think that all basements have equal or even similar risk of flooding, but I had no idea about the frost thing. Interesting.
Post by speckledfrog on Dec 15, 2013 16:13:07 GMT -5
Is this post turning to basement shaming? It isn't even tornado season!
@stellasmom, we keep our cars in our garage. Even though our McMansion is big, it has very little storage. We can't use the attic because of the blown insulation. If we ever move I want a 3 car garage so we can put all of our crap out there.
But that's my point. New England homes generally have basements because flooding isn't a huge issue. In Houston, or New Orleans, etc. you don't have basements. So of the areas of the country where basements are prevalent, New England basements are no more prone to flooding than others. It's not like if you have a basement in New England, that it's a given it will flood.
What area of NE do you live in?
We are at a high flood risk where I live because of the rivers we have around us.
I live in Boston.
And I get that some areas have a high risk of flooding. But it's not like no one in New England can ever use their basements because they will all flood, you know? Of course, I hate basements anyway so I try to avoid them.