Hi,

I am getting a ground floor extension which will overlap into the entrance to the garage, as my garage is in my back garden.

This will mean that my 'up and over door' will be replaced by a standard front door.

The garage has been extended to the rear and is double length, and I also have a driveway that can fit 2 cars.

So my question is, do people use garages for cars anymore or just storage & would it put you off buying a house that has had this done?

Also, someone told me that when I come to sell, I cannot advertise the house with a 'garage', because I do not have an 'up and over door'? true?

Thanks

The word garage implies a building that you could put a car into if you chose to do so. If you can't, because you have removed access, it would be against the description of property rules. It would be more accurate to describe it as a brick shed with up&over door!

I use my garage (which does have car access) as a shed anyway. If I get around to clearing the back of the garden and building a 'real' shed I would put my car in the garage - you'd be surprised how much difference it makes to your insurance - but don't be tempted to tell porkies about it because 'they' always find out.

We were so convinced we'd never use our garage for the car that we halved it to make a kind of cottage thing with roses up.
We're the only ones on our row of 6 with a proper driveway to the side of the house so aren't really compromising our selling chances compared to the neighbours.
Guess I can't call mine a garage anymore ... but I could install a hot tub and put a treadmill in and beef it up as an 'outdoor leisure complex. With power AND light!'

I do not know anyone who uses the garage as a garage. But I have heard stories that some people somewhere actually do.

Oh HC, I really like the sound of the outdoor leisure complex. I can feel a 'swimming pool or not' thread coming along.

I've got a large double garage and I still don't put my car in there.
It is a known fact that in this wet Country of ours the worse thing you can do is put a wet car in a garage.
Wouldn't convert it though into living space.

We have a double garage and it has never entered my head to put the cars in there. We have a driveway which can tke 3 cars so we use that. Garage is used as a log store/workroom but is of limited use as a store room because the mice use anything shreddable as bedding (or they may be rats, but let's not go there).

Interesting question this, we've been in our house for 2.5 years now and I've never put a car within 20' of our garage (party because it's 1930's and a modern car can barely fit in it), it's been used for storage the whole time. We're now looking at building a rear extension and will lose the garage to allow for a decent footprint, we're planning to build a decent size shed at the back of the garden (we have rear access). Upon speaking to the architect, he personally likes a garage and parks his car in his own, but says that 90% of his clients would only use it for storage and are happy to go without. Our estate agent told us that it's a nice to have, but if you can offer decent storage elsewhere (i.e. a shed) it'll have very little effect on value.

I must be in a very small minority, then, as I ALWAYS put my car in my garage!

And if I were buying a new property, a garage would be a high priority.

quote:

the worse thing you can do is put a wet car in a garage.

I know of a couple who won't park their car/van in the garage if it has even slightly dirty wheels for fear of dirtying the garage floor!

quote:

(party because it's 1930's and a modern car can barely fit in it),

We too don't think we'd have fit our car in, in the first place, plus it's the access too. The car will go down the side of the house, but by god it's a tight fit! It'd also now have to mount a raised rendered plant bed on one side, whilst also going down a flagged slope and step, then squeeze through a standard doorway and park itself on it's side.
I imagine it can be done.

ok, thanks everybody

Think I'll lose the garage to go for a bigger extension.

Thanks

I would use a Garage if I had one. In fact, I wish that I had a drive, as that would be better than the present on street parking on a blind bottle neck that I have...

Ary.

We moved house late last year and my husband didn't want to look at any houses without garages - because he wanted one to put our car in. We didn't have a garage where we used to live but now we do the car does go in it, although it didn't for the first few weeks after we moved (when it was full of boxes). Other factors you might want to consider are the amount of downstairs living space you currently have and would have if you did this work compared to the number of bedrooms; how long you plan to stay in the house; how easy or difficult it would be to put turn the garage back into a workable garage if you do the work; and whether when you come to sell competing properties have garages.

If your car is a little exotic many insurance companies will insist on it be garaged over night

My car is a heap but is still garaged cause I really do like to find it there ion the morning

My boyfriend would not even look at a house that didn't have a garage he could fit his car into with decent access. He puts the car away religiously every single night.

I know most people use them for storage and one of my friends has converted theirs (it was too small to fit a modern car in anyway) but I personally would like the garage for a car!

Depends on the car. I had a neighbour who religiously washed & dried his Seat Ibiza (well it was red) every day, covered it with a dust sheet, and pushed it into his garage at night.
If I had a car that was so expensive I had to garage it for the insurance, I'd pay someone to drive it too. Otherwise I'll just aspire to it...