Poll: Parking in the garage

[Paige]

What does he intend to use the garage for if not for parking? Is there something special like a work area he wants to keep clean? I could concede that maybe he has a point if there's a good reason to keep it clean and dry. 

 

I can't imagine caring about how clean my garage floor is. Um...not clean? Very not clean. I've had many houses with garages and if we don't park in them it's because it's been full of junk we don't need. Right now, we park in it with muddy tires, rain, sleet, slush, etc. 

 

I back in too, but begrudgingly. Our driveway makes backing out difficult and it's a very tight fit with maybe 2in of clearance on either side of my van. 

 

I thought I had issues because DH cares if I back my van in straight or not. I thought that was whackadoodle-  all I care about it not hitting the sides and being able to open the doors. Your DH has mine beat with the garage preoccupation.  :lol:

[Matryoshka]

Our stand-alone 'garage' has a wooden door that has to be manually opened to each side.  And the back of it has the roof caved in.  Previous owner did roofing on back end wrong, dh noticed but was planning on tearing it down and building a new garage.  Never happened, so roof collapsed.

 

So, don't ever park in the garage.  And, considering the back end is open to the sky, not particularly caring about the floor.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Matryoshka

[Renthead Mommy]

We move about q 2 years. The goal is always to get a garage with room for stuff and cars. Some houses are better than others.

 

In the very hot south we worked it so my car could go in the garage so baby -preschooler didn't have to go into a hot car.

 

In the snowy north, by sixth grade, bikes and things took up a lot of space. As a christmas gift the boy and I moved bikes and summer stuff to the shed so the husband could park in there fir the winter.

 

Two houses have either had no garage or tiny garage (1930's cars were a lot smaller when that house was built!)

 

Size of garage is a factor. If there is a shed to hold things is a factor. If there is a garage is a factor as well as remote opening and keypad.

 

How pretty the garage floor is, is NEVER a factor!

Edited July 8, 2017 by Renthead Mommy

[Davysmom]

My first thought was - What? people actually clean the garage floor?? Haha!

[Arctic Bunny]

Does he have OCD? (This is a serious question, not a snarky one!)

In all seriousness, no. But his dad is fastidious about his garage, and in all fairness, it's his normal.

[Arctic Bunny]

What does he intend to use the garage for if not for parking? Is there something special like a work area he wants to keep clean? I could concede that maybe he has a point if there's a good reason to keep it clean and dry.

 

I can't imagine caring about how clean my garage floor is. Um...not clean? Very not clean. I've had many houses with garages and if we don't park in them it's because it's been full of junk we don't need. Right now, we park in it with muddy tires, rain, sleet, slush, etc.

 

I back in too, but begrudgingly. Our driveway makes backing out difficult and it's a very tight fit with maybe 2in of clearance on either side of my van.

 

I thought I had issues because DH cares if I back my van in straight or not. I thought that was whackadoodle- all I care about it not hitting the sides and being able to open the doors. Your DH has mine beat with the garage preoccupation. :lol:

Alas, he intends to use the garage for parking cars. Clean cars.

I was victorious when I parked my car perpendicular to the house (in the driveway) and DH thought it was slanted. Then he found out the edge of the driveway is not perpendicular to the house!!!! Neener neener!!

[Arctic Bunny]

My first thought was - What? people actually clean the garage floor?? Haha!

This is my family's normal, with a very occasional sweeping.

And I'm going to be helping degrease! Ha!

[MistyMountain]

I start parking in the garage when it is cold enough to frost at night. In the summer there is more stuff in the garage like bikes and camping equipment actively being used but we clear everything out of the main floor and put them away once the weather starts getting colder to park in the garage. The garage is much warmer so the car starts right away and is warm already and there are no windows to scrape or snow to clear off. I do it for snow, slush, frost and cold. The floor in the garage is concrete and the whole purpose it was built for is to have cars that are in use parked in it. I never once cared about keeping the garage floors pristine. That would be silly. We take our shoes off in the house anyway but it is no dirtier then walking in from outside.

Edited July 8, 2017 by MistyMountain

[RootAnn]

DH backs his car in, but that's so he can get out of his door once it is in the garage. We have strategically placed bikes/mower/lawn implements (including hanging some of them so everything fits) along the sides of the garage. I pull in straight & he backs in. If you are sitting on the other side of the vehicle, you wait until we pull out of the garage to get into the vehicle (unless you are very skinny). 

 

If DH ever replaces his vehicle, he will need to get another car with a short wheel base so that it'll fit into his spot.

 

If my DH was going nutters over the garage floor like this, I'd support him as long as he give me the evil eye when I pull in the sloshy van. "Whatever you like, dear."  :001_rolleyes:

[MistyMountain]

I do not know anyone who will not use their garages in the winter because the floor might get dirty. People who do not have garages wish they did. Why else would they have automatic door openers. Not many people get their car washed every day especially in the winter. It would be futile. I definitely say that is nutty.

[Butter]

I always park in the garage.  I don't care if the floor gets dirty.

 

I only picked rainy, though, because I live in south TX.  We don't get snowy or slushy and if by some weird event we did, I wouldn't be moving my car out of the garage until it was melted!

[Laura Corin]

I don't park in the garage, but that's because the ride on mower is in the way. I don't worry about garage cleanliness.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Laura Corin

[foxbridgeacademy]

I answered this for DH who parks in the garage, I park in the driveway because 1. I wanted a work bench and storage, 2. I can't park that close to another car without bumping/banging it (this has been proven) and 3. DH drive the EV and needs access to the plug.  But even if it was me driving I'd still park in the garage bad weather or not.

[Tanaqui]

Well, I don't have a car, and I don't have a garage, and most people on my block don't have driveways (and those that do have garages in our neighborhood use them as sheds, which may be wise as nobody has money to repair their home roofs, much less the roofs of the garages, every one of which is detached)... but I'm voting that your hubby has a screw loose.

[Melissa in Australia]

We have a shed, a huge steel shed. One end of it is where we park the cars. We live beside the ocean, we get salt spray. If we didn't the car would rust away.

[mumto2]

Our garage has shelving units including down the center. Very organized. But no room for a car!

[SKL]

I don't park in the garage but others park in my garage.

 

I think your husband's plan is fine as long as HE is going to do all the work.  :)

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Don't have a garage myself, but growing up, the garage is where my dad's workshop was, cars were parked in the driveway!  

[Mama Geek]

Dh keeps all the tools in the garage and that's where lots of projects take place.  No room for parking.  We have cleaned up and put vehicles in for hurricanes, but it is a tight fit.

[Pawz4me]

Garages are by definition meant for parking cars.

They have durable concrete floors for that reason.

I have been in garages with epoxy floors before. They're okay, but I didn't see the point. And you have to be careful putting the stuff down.

Our garage walls and ceilings are painted. We periodically sweep it or give it a really good clean out with the leaf blower.

At our first house in the course of doing some remodeling we had the inside of our garage vinyl sided (walls and ceiling). That was nice. Easy to clean, no painting.

[Night Elf]

The garage is not a room in my house. It's designed to house cars. It gets dirty. No surprise there. We also have work tables in there with a bunch of tools, paint cans, and other stuff like that. They get dirty. We occasionally clean, maybe once a year. I have no idea how the floor is treated but it's grey.

 

When I was a kid, the garage was full of dad's stuff and storage boxes. As an adult, I've been lucky so far that all my garages are big enough for cars and a work table. I'd never park in the driveway if I owned a garage. Craziness!

[Guest]

Your DH is nuts, and I say this as a "neatfreak." The garage is for housing the cars. I always park in the garage.

 

We do clean out the garage from time to time; we just did this on July 4. Took out all junk waiting in limbo, DH pressure washed everything. I do love it when it's like that, but the garage gets dirty from all manner of things, not just dirt coming off the cars.

[Hikin' Mama]

So, seriously, we are going to be applying some kind of epoxy stuff to the concrete floor. After we degrease it, clean it, and etch it. Why are we doing this? Because I have thus far been totally unreasonable, but persistent, with my plan that throughout the winter - when it's snowy and COLD out - I will park my car in the garage. Not only that, I will drive straight into it. And I'm not going to the car wash every day beforehand. So, in preparation for my crazy ideas, my DH has developed the above plan to preserve the pristine floor. Once the epoxy has set, he is going to put down some kind of special mat things. And he has already bought the squeegee.

 

He IS nuts, right?

Wait, I need to go check my calendar. I thought it was July, but maybe it's really April 1, and I'm just confused.

 

Yes, he is NUTS. Says a very anal clean freak who still thinks this is a crazy idea.

[catz]

Wow! I park in the garage 99% of the time. So does DH. I don't care if my car is filthy. We get huge slushy snow piles in there in the winter. Oh well. Maybe a push broom through there a few times a year. That is just crazy talk. Lol.

Edited July 8, 2017 by WoolySocks

[Carrie12345]

I opened this thread even though I don't have a garage, thinking it would be about *time.  Like, don't open the garage under the kids' room at 2am. (My neighbor's garage faces my master bedroom and, even though our houses are far apart, it wakes me up late at night.)

 

I can understand using a garage for something other than cars.  SO many people use them just for storage or as an extra room.  But to leave one sitting empty while the cars sit outside?  BANANAS!!! I can't imagine going to great lengths to keep the floor pristine.  And, not having a garage, I spend lots of time cursing all the dirt and muck that gets dragged in from walking from the car to the house!

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We always park in the garage. When the car is really full of snow, we do brush it off before entering the garage.

[TechWife]

We have a one car garage and DH parks in it so that he can charge his car, so I answered for him. It has a bare concrete floor and he parks in it without regard to the weather.

[Guest]

When we moved into this house, the broker said there was a garage and when we did the house tour, we just took her word for it and didn't go inside.

 

Move in day came and DH sent me a picture of "the garage." .... there were horses standing in the middle of it :laugh: :laugh: . We do have a storage place, but it's really just the owner's barn that happens to have an opening next to our driveway. Retro fitted ancient houses are quirky lol.

 

When we do live in houses with garages, I never park in them. I can't stand the sounds of people getting in and out of cars in enclosed spaces. Plus the door going up and down is murder to my ears. DH likes to park in a garage, but it always ends up feeling like more work than it's worth. They are never big enough to actually move around. with ease.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We have a car port. 

[Annie G]

OP, your dh sounds like mine. He's always wanted a garage and it's his 'thing'.  Ours is detached, walls painted better than the house interior, with painted floor and ...wait for it...a custom carpet that the car sits on.  There's a fridge for cold drinks, a bar height table so dh has a place to sit when he takes a break from working. Speakers built into the ceiling so he can listen to music.  And an extensive collection of car care products/equipment.  A rolling cart for his car wash supplies so he doesn't have to bend over to get to the wash bucket. And the walls are covered with car art specific to the kind of car we have. 

 

It really is a thing of beauty, and I have no idea why washing and detailing cars appeals to him (to me it's like what it would be like if I had a toilet cleaning obsession, but whatever). But he keeps our cars clean and I don't have to.  

 

The car that lives there isn't driven in winter but the rest of the year can be pulled into the garage dirty.  He'd rather clean the garage floor than leave the dirty car outside. 

 

I'm pretty sure he could write a similar description of my quilting hobby so this is not a criticism- we just each have different happy places.  

[Granny_Weatherwax]

We have a detached garage that has an indeterminate build date and was probably not permitted at the time of construction. We're thinking it might be from the 1950's but we're not certain. It's long, narrow, has a slanted roof, and an untreated cement floor.  It simply will not fit a modern car (well, a Mini Cooper or an older VW would fit). It's a storage area for bikes, kayaks, holiday decor, furniture, etc. Since it is detached and about 30 feet from the house, I would still have to brave the elements when going to and fro.  My car sits outside in all types of weather.

 

We have new garage dreams, though. If I ever get a new garage it will have a drain in the center for collecting runoff from rain and snow. I will pull my car into that thing every chance I get. I can only imagine the fun I'll have not having to sit on seats that have basked in the hot midwest sun or having to scrape off 10 inches of snow and ice in February. I would love to have a garage door opener, too.

[Word Nerd]

Was he secretly hoping to use it as a man cave?

 

My parents' garage and shed out in the country would drive him crazy. The roads can get pretty muddy, which makes the garage muddy, but that beats walking through the muck to get inside the house.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Word Nerd

[QueenCat]

So, seriously, we are going to be applying some kind of epoxy stuff to the concrete floor. After we degrease it, clean it, and etch it. Why are we doing this? Because I have thus far been totally unreasonable, but persistent, with my plan that throughout the winter - when it's snowy and COLD out - I will park my car in the garage. Not only that, I will drive straight into it. And I'm not going to the car wash every day beforehand. So, in preparation for my crazy ideas, my DH has developed the above plan to preserve the pristine floor. Once the epoxy has set, he is going to put down some kind of special mat things. And he has already bought the squeegee.

 

He IS nuts, right?

 

That's insane. And you can tell him I said so!

[Bluegoat]

I never park in the garage, dh is building a boat in there..  Concrete floor.

 

It's actually very rare to see people park in their garages here.  I think I've only ever been in one that has a car in it.  People use them to store stuff, especially things like snowblowers, bikes, garden stuff, and that kind of thing.  Or as workshops.

 

If I wanted to park in the garage, he floor getting dirty would not be a factor.  I mean, that's like saying, don't walk into the md room with dirty feet.  That's what it's for.  If I were worried about oil leaks and such, I'd use a drip pan.

[Rachel]

This is so funny! We do keep our garage clean, but primarily park in there to keep the weather from ruining the paint on the car and to keep me and the kids out of the weather. We have a two car garage but my husband's truck won't fit with my car, so he parks outside.

 

If I got the car really, really super dirty (not going to happen) and giant chunks of mud were going to end up all over the floor, I might wash it first or park on the street until most of the mess is gone to keep it from tracking into the house. That had never happened since we moved here though.

 

We have neighbors who never, ever park in the garage, mostly because it's packed full of stuff, I don't get that at all. I mean if the houses were tiny, yes but that's not the case in our neighborhood.

[Miss Tick]

Our garage was built in the 50's and perhaps fit two cars back then, but now it just gotta I've and the most, bones, tools, etc. I park in there ALWAYS. Sometimes I don't put down the for if I'm heading back out in the next half hour. Sweeping the garage is on the kids 6 week rotating cow list.

[desertstrawberry5]

we have a carport. We don't park in it. It's my kids' outdoor play space-the only part of our property that has shade from the deadly, blazing sun. I did try to park in it once, and got my van wedged against the post. Maybe it doesn't fit, or maybe my spacial awareness sucks. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

I can't vote be a use polls.dont show up on my phone, but we always park in the garage, when there is room, of course. Sometimes, when we are working on a project or doing some major decluttering, we can't use the garage. Ours is bare concrete but it wouldn't matter. Garages exist to protect cars from the elements (rain, snow, hail, falling branches, bird poop, etc.) Granted with 5 drivers at our house and 4 cars here (Ds23 bought one recently), 2 cars have to be outside.

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[kwickimom]

I live in south Texas where its expensive to live per square foot and there are no basements. Most people use their garages for storage or an extended living space/mud room/home gym. Almost everyone in my neighborhood uses the garage door as their entry and exit door also. So I park in the driveway, hit the garage door button and go in the garage. I have never parked in it and won't even if there was a storm or whatever. But then again I drive a piece of crap and don't care if it gets damaged  :lol:

[historically accurate]

Always park in the garage. No matter the weather. People break into cars that aren't parked in garages around here.

 

I do have one child who likes to sweep the garage - so that's the only time the floor gets cleaned. 

[Loesje22000]

We have a build-in-garage and a carport attached to the house nearby our back door.

As I still have not decluttered the garage since our last move it is impossible to park anything there.

As it also has the best internet connection I think it will never used as car parking :)

We always use the car port as car parking.

[sassenach]

Dh sealed our garage floor back in FL, and let me tell you, wet flip flops and that floor did not go together. I nearly killed myself more than a few times.

 

We now have a 1-car garage which houses stuff and dh's motorcycle. No cars. My van wouldnt even clear the door. But it's ok because our weather is pretty friendly.

[MBM]

We park under a carport in a lot that has brick pavers now. So it's like a garage but without the walls.

 

Anyway, confession time here. At our former house, we used to park our car in the garage on top of a large, plastic mat made to collect the sludge that fell in winter. You know, the stuff that builds up around the wheel area that has a lot of deicing chemicals. We did it to protect our brand new, very expensive concrete garage floor. Deicing salt can be very tough on concrete especially if it shows signs of spalling as ours did. A hundred bucks for the mat was a good investment. It was still doing its job when we sold and the new owners were happy to have it.

 

And, yes, we'd also park the car in the sun to help melt the sludge before parking it in the garage. :D

Edited July 8, 2017 by MBM

[JFSinIL]

Growing up we had a three-car garage - plenty of room for Dad to build out a laundry room and potting shed area for mom out of one car's worth, then the remaining space he built out a workbench, and made a huge work space out of an old conference table he got from work on which he gutted fish or made model ships or hand-rolled thread in patterns on fishing rods etc.  Never a car saw the inside of that garage.

 

Here, we have a two-car garage in the backyard that was added much later to the 1906 property.  The driveway along the side of the house is narrow, and the gate to the backyard a car would barely fit through, Doesn't matter, the garage is full of boxes, lawn mowers, tons of used furniture we have inherited or found at garage sales for kids to take when they move and need stuff. 

[MBM]

What we really need is to use the concrete formula the Romans used:

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/why-2-000-year-old-roman-concrete-is-so-much-better-than-what-we-produce-today

 

Then, add a heated floor and a garage drain and you're all set!

Edited July 8, 2017 by MBM

[Seeking Squirrels]

I voted other on the first question. We park in the garage when it's cleaned/organized enough for it to fit! Right now, it's not so we park in the driveway. We will definitely get it cleared out enough to park in there over winter. I don't care at all about it getting dirty! It's a garage! When it's rainy and slushy and gross out is when I'm *more* likely to park in there so I don't have to walk through it to get inside or clean my car of snow and slush when we leave. 

[DawnM]

We have two garages.  One is an oversized single car size and the other is a 2 car size.  One is sealed/painted concrete and the other is just concrete.

 

We have all 3 cars parked in the garage spaces.  We have some cardboard put down where a car might leak any oil, but other than that, we just park.

[Arctic Bunny]

Well, I don't have a car, and I don't have a garage, and most people on my block don't have driveways (and those that do have garages in our neighborhood use them as sheds, which may be wise as nobody has money to repair their home roofs, much less the roofs of the garages, every one of which is detached)... but I'm voting that your hubby has a screw loose.

A very sensible "other"!

[Arctic Bunny]

Garages are by definition meant for parking cars.

They have durable concrete floors for that reason.

I have been in garages with epoxy floors before. They're okay, but I didn't see the point. And you have to be careful putting the stuff down.

Our garage walls and ceilings are painted. We periodically sweep it or give it a really good clean out with the leaf blower.

At our first house in the course of doing some remodeling we had the inside of our garage vinyl sided (walls and ceiling). That was nice. Easy to clean, no painting.

He is saving up for the vinyl wall panels!

[Sdel]

We never park in the garage. Our old house, despite it being a "two car", didn't have enough room for a car to fit unless it was something compact like a mini-cooper. We just felt we needed more than 2 inches clearance from the garage door/wall to be comfortable parking in there. Our new place doesn't have a garage so we are working on building a carport.

 

Stefanie