What is the obsession with detached garages

[AK123]

Because outside of convenience, everything else about them is much better. Better driveway, less heat getting into the house, away from car fumes and other fumes from the garage, and looks nicer from the street because you see a house instead of a garage.

[DejaBlue]

Originally Posted by bluelion_ms3

i would only like a detached garage if i had a breezeway built going to and from the house....someone mentioned that Houston isn't snow central and what not, but here in houston, it rains A LOT....and i don't like running to my car in the rain and trying to get in with minimal water getting in my car. one downside to consider with a detached garage, is it can be more prone to burglary. it's easier to break into a building through a standard door rather than a two car garage door. the two houses i lived in with detached garages, both had the garages broken into to steal lawn equipment.....

It rains ALOT here? Not lately.

Most detach garages DO have breezeways that connect to the house.

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

I love them. It allows you space to put a nice electric driveway gate up. Most have a covered walkway to the back door, and I've had any problem with the weather with them.Also adds an addition space buffer from the neighbors. After living in both styles, I think being detached actually keeps the house cooler than attached, and it certainly keeps wafts of fertilizer from coming into the house when the door opens..

The garage in the front is horrible IMHO."Welcome to my garage." I know why builders do it though, so they can slam houses closer and on smaller lots. Garage on the side works only if your lot is wide enough to back out or swing in. And in new neighborhoods they don't like to give wider lots to standard builds. Still for me, I think it's best to keep all the heat and chemicals that build up in the garage away from the home.I love how some people make the detached look like stable/carriage house in certain neighborhoods.

Exactly!

I don't remember the exact name but there's some neighborhood in Pearland (Southgate something I think) that specialized in these ugly ass barn/stable looking detach garages. With a room and bathroom above the garage too. But the thing really looks like a barn next to the house.

Only in the country are detach garages barn looking. There and this South something neighborhood in Pearland.

And I agree on them doing it to make as many cookie-cutter, tract looking houses on a lot as possible.

[NYer75]

Originally Posted by m48xhp

I mean this in a usability point of view, not aesthetics. I hate a nothing-but-garage-door front elevation as well, but I dont get the detached garage. takes up yard space, have to go outside to get in, higher cost of construction, longer, skinnier driveway...i cant think of one good thing except that insurance may consider it a seperate building which MAY save you a few bucks.

i'm from San Antonio and hardly ever see detached garages.

Cuts the chances of carbon monoxide seeping in to your home to 0. That's good enough for me.

[EasilyAmused]

Also, I'd like to add you get a discount on your homeowners insurance for having detached. Fire hazards several yards from the primary dwelling can be benefical.

[kreeyax]

My current home is the first I've lived in with a detached garage. I didn't think I'd like it much at first, but I love it. The smell from the garbage cans, fertilizer, gas from mower, etc.. doesn't get in the house. The house stays cooler without an attached hot air space (Two cars with hot engines on a 100F day can make it insanely hot). I also have a 7 ft. extension at the rear of the garage, so there's lots of storage room.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

I've had everything from a detached garage, to a front-loading garage, to a garage that had a detached look, but was attached at the very rear of the house.

I prefer the latter for safety and aesthetic reasons, but I don't mind my current house either. We have a three car, front-loading garage, but it has pretty cedar doors, and one bay is set back further from the two car bay. It's getting more and more difficult to build a new house with detached garages now. We found very few builders who offered plans that had them, in the price range we were looking in. Even custom builders are building attached garages now.

The one I disliked the most, was the detached garage, simply because it was so hard for me to back out of the garage, and around my husband's pickup truck, with the 4" of spare room I had, not to hit the house. And even with the breezeway, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I got wet, walking from the garage to the house.

[Houston_2010]

I like attached! I'm not from Houston. To me it's important to keep your house with carbon monoxide monitors and check them frequently. It is true that the bedroom above the garage feels a bit warmer than the rest of the house, but you can redirect the air vents to compensate. Also, once you're in, you're in. No worries about burglars hiding in back yard or some crazy scenario. For rainy days, no worries about getting wet. My house is fairly new as well as my neighbor's and the builder did a garage entrance with a bench and some hooks for people to hang things that you bring inside (wet/dirty umbrella, shoes, etc).

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by Sampaguita

What I wouldn't like are garages at the back of the house accessible by alley in the back. I really like having a driveway from the front of the house.

???? Huh?

I live in the only Houston subdivision that is 100% alleys... Southampton. We love alleys. You don't have to drive down the streets to get to your house, makes for less street traffic. No driveways cutting yards apart; we don't have a single driveway on our side of the street, it makes for a pretty expanse of houses. Never worry about kids or pets on sidewalks when you back out of your driveway. Utilities (and their poles) in the back. Garbage goes in the back. I haul my garbage about 20 feet, not to the front curb!. Honestly, I can't think of a single drawback to alleys.

About half the garages are detached, half attached. It makes little difference when they're in the alley (other than personal preference). In fact, many people just have carports, since you have the privacy of an alley.

Originally Posted by Shizzles

A nice compromise would be to have the garages off to the side of the house with the driveway off to the side as well. Either that, or maybe go for adding back alleys for the garages. They make good places also for garbage collection and to hide utilities.

This.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by astrohip

Honestly, I can't think of a single drawback to alleys.

An alley gives an entire second and more secluded access point to your home for burglers. With full drive-up access for unmarked white vans. Empty when they arrive, packed full when they leave.

I'd rather have the back of my property gated off. At least make the crooks have to scale a fence and then carry merchandise to the front of the house.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by d2mini

An alley gives an entire second and more secluded access point to your home for burglers. With full drive-up access for unmarked white vans. Empty when they arrive, packed full when they leave.

I'd rather have the back of my property gated off. At least make the crooks have to scale a fence and then carry merchandise to the front of the house.

I could see where that could be a problem, depending on how most houses are built. In our case, 99% of the houses in our subd are fenced & gated on the alley side. It would be pretty challenging to break in on our alley side.

Our crime rate is next to nill (we get a monthly newsletter with crime stats), so it's not an issue for us.