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Old 05-23-2011, 12:37 PM
 
21 posts, read 65,995 times
Reputation: 17

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We've just relocated from Houston and are shopping for homes for our family in the NW suburbs (we have two small children, 5 and 2.5).

We're interested in a home that has a detached garage. I realize this largely depends on personal preferences, etc and I can of course imagine some basic pros/cons, but I'm hoping for some feedback along the lines of "it's not so bad as you think" or "DONT DO IT!" Lots of people seem to have them, but I imagine those folks to be born and bred hearty midwesterners.

Any guidance?
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Old 05-23-2011, 12:44 PM
 
14,802 posts, read 17,550,171 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by runlolarun View Post
We've just relocated from Houston and are shopping for homes for our family in the NW suburbs (we have two small children, 5 and 2.5).

We're interested in a home that has a detached garage. I realize this largely depends on personal preferences, etc and I can of course imagine some basic pros/cons, but I'm hoping for some feedback along the lines of "it's not so bad as you think" or "DONT DO IT!" Lots of people seem to have them, but I imagine those folks to be born and bred hearty midwesterners.

Any guidance?
I would never want an attached garage. Fugly!

Oh, and welcome to the area!
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Old 05-23-2011, 01:08 PM
 
Location: Chicago, Tri-Taylor
5,014 posts, read 9,387,810 times
Reputation: 3982
Quote:
Originally Posted by runlolarun View Post
We've just relocated from Houston and are shopping for homes for our family in the NW suburbs (we have two small children, 5 and 2.5).

We're interested in a home that has a detached garage. I realize this largely depends on personal preferences, etc and I can of course imagine some basic pros/cons, but I'm hoping for some feedback along the lines of "it's not so bad as you think" or "DONT DO IT!" Lots of people seem to have them, but I imagine those folks to be born and bred hearty midwesterners.

Any guidance?
I love my detached garage. It's solid brick and was built in the 1920s, so it was fun to paint the inside and put car related signs on the walls and stuff like that I'd summarize the pros and cons as:

Pros

1. Insulation. No worries with a detached garage.

2. Safety. Don't have to worry about accidently killing everyone in the house via carbon monoxide poisioning.

3. Community. Not sure what NW suburbs you're looking at but most Chicago and inner-ring suburb garages are alley access. I have more interactions with my neighbors in the alley than anywhere else, by far. Also, alley parties are a blast.

4. Housing Choice. Chicago Bungalows, Greystones, English Tudors, raised ranches, and other cool forms of older Chicago homes don't have attached garages.

Cons

1. Graffiti and break ins. You have to be more careful about locking up your stuff and with what you keep out there than you do with an attached garage.

2. Security. A little more risky coming home late at night because you have to walk from the garage to the house. Motion lights aren't a bad idea.

3. Winter. With side driveway, all you have to do is snow blow your driveway and you're done. By contrast, alley plowing is a total afterthought for Chicago and most municipalities. I was stuck in the house for two days during the February blizzard.

4. Utilities. Most detached garages in Chicagoland have electricity by this point, but a few of the really old ones don't. And it's often very basic service (a light bulb and a couple outlets), so you have to add circuits and outlets if you want to heat it, use power tools, things like that.

5. Size. Most detached garages are going to be 2 car maximum, and many were built during the Model A era or earlier, a car that was roughly the size of a modern VW Golf. Thus, many of the land yachts Americans have come to know and love won't fit in these garages. And people didn't tend to pack their garages full of crap back then, so they were built just large enough for two Model As.

Those are my thoughts. Personally, I love mine and wouldn't do it any other way.
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Old 05-23-2011, 01:53 PM
 
Location: Barrington, IL area
1,594 posts, read 3,047,510 times
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I would never want to have a detached garage.. Going outside through a foot of snow and -10 temps (or pouring rain) to get to and from the car would not be fun.
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Old 05-23-2011, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Oak Park
214 posts, read 542,839 times
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Detached makes for a nicer looking house, plus windows in your house where the garage would be. No driveways makes for a much nicer looking neighborhood. If you can't handle walking 25 feet in the cold, you will have much bigger problems in Chicago.
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Old 05-23-2011, 02:48 PM
 
14,802 posts, read 17,550,171 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatchetman View Post
Detached makes for a nicer looking house, plus windows in your house where the garage would be. No driveways makes for a much nicer looking neighborhood. If you can't handle walking 25 feet in the cold, you will have much bigger problems in Chicago.
Glad you said it!

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Old 05-23-2011, 03:35 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,921,999 times
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Really depends heavily on not just personal preference but also price point / neighborhood norms.

I have lived in homes with both attached and detached garage. In my experience the detachted garage, when done right is preferable. Things that make it "right" are access to / from the house that factors in the need for at least some kind of "airlock" or mudroom, ideally with a big covered porch or carport.

The "pad" between the house and garage serves as kind of a "courtyard" or patio that can be more private than a front drive, but more neighborly than just a "walled off" backyard.

The line from the drive into the garage should be sized to allow for cars to be turned around -- much nicer than having to back all the way to street.

Lighting in the garage, on the house, and on the path between the two can make the whole area very useable and pleasant -- lack of any one of those makes winter all the gloomier.

Garage has to be big enough to store yard equipment (including snow thrower), recreational items for kids, bicycles, as well as cars. Good idea to have system to verify that garage is secure -- some homes are laid out so that you can see this -- if not a nice feature is web cam that shows this. Even in good neighborhoods raccoons can wander into a garage and make a heckuva mess...
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Old 05-23-2011, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Northwest Indiana
815 posts, read 2,983,369 times
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In my old neighborhood, there was a house that I thought was a good solution to the attached, detached question. They had a screened in porch between the house and garage.

So it had many of the advantages of both.

Too bad you can't find many like that. Its main disadvantage is you need a really wide lot.
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Old 05-23-2011, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Lake Arlington Heights, IL
5,479 posts, read 12,189,313 times
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Grew up with detached garage in Skokie. Hated having to shovel the alley during heavy snow dumps. Going between garage and house during a downpour was also a pain.
Have attached garage in Arlington Heights. Driveway is easy to plow to the street; love convenience during inclement weather. Doesn't seem as big as the detached garage was.
I've seen neighborhoods with both styles that can be described as ugly or described as nice.
I do like the attached garages that are on larger lots and have side access so you don't see the front of the garage but rather the side. Typically they're made to look like the rest of the home with windows included.
Plus for detached, liked setting garbage out in alley instead of front of street.
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Old 05-23-2011, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,101,930 times
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Back in the 70's I had a dog. I rented a house that had a detached garge. I had to walk up three steps to get inside the screened in front porch. The side door was street level. One winter it snowed so much. I could not open a door to let dog out. The shovel was in the garage and those doors were snowed shut too. What do you do?

Climb through the window closest to ground, find a way to open the garage door wide enough to get in to get the shovel. Dig out the door with the least amount of snow in front of it. I had the same problem this year.

Moral of the story? If you do have detached garage, keep a shovel in your basement. .
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