Poll: Parking in the garage

[Arctic Bunny]

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

Oh dear. Like wheel wells and such?

[Arctic Bunny]

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.

Oh my! DH ranked houses based upon their garages. If we were talking about one of many we'd seen, it would be "you know, the one with the finished drywall?"

[Arctic Bunny]

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.

Obviously I can't show him this!!

What kind of carpet? My DH speaks of mats....

[Arctic Bunny]

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.

I know, right? After years of scraping and defrosting and then sweltering, I can't wait!!!

[Scarlett]

I don't have a garage but I answered from when I had one. We do have a shop we park some cars in sometimes....

[MommyLiberty5013]

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?

Nope. Water, salt and mud after awhile break down the concrete. Protecting the floor makes sense. Any crack larger than 1/4 wide in some communities has to be repaired in order to sell a home. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

We park both vehicles in our garage. It protects them from storms and also in winter keeps them free of snow so we don't have that extra chore in mornings.

[Arctic Bunny]

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.

His man cave is in the basement, and I'm pretty sure he only gets one!

 

I'll confess that I took the dog to the kennel for two years - just so he wouldn't find out they lived down three miles of gravel, lol. The dust! The chips! The stones getting stuck and wrecking the brakes!

[Arctic Bunny]

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

There's one in every crowd... ;)

I'm glad to hear the mats last. Did you have a squeegee, too?!

[Arctic Bunny]

I spent the morning sitting outside having coffee with the neighbours. They haven't parked in their garage in 8 years because they haven't unpacked all their boxes yet! Ha!

 

In other news, they're very interested in how our floor goes, because if they did the same in theirs, they would park in it.

 

I still cannot get past not using your garage just because you don't want to dirty the floor! They must all think I'm wackadoodle.

[frogger]

We would park in the garage if it didn't double as a workshop. Right now there is a 70 mustang being worked on and a work bench for doing things like building a bed this weekend Oh and 6 bikes (one for every member of the family)those MUST come in. :)

 

If I were made of money I'd have a detached workshop (so no fumes could get in the house) and an attached garage.

[frogger]

Oh and if I built my own garage, it would have a drain in the floor.

[KungFuPanda]

Why does he love cleaning floors. Either it's for a car, and an extension of the driveway, or it's living space and the car never goes in. I guess you could get a GIANT welcome mat so your car could wipe it's feet, but that's just as silly.

[Arctic Bunny]

Why does he love cleaning floors. Either it's for a car, and an extension of the driveway, or it's living space and the car never goes in. I guess you could get a GIANT welcome mat so your car could wipe it's feet, but that's just as silly.

Oh my goodness, that is brilliant! Maybe a mat that looks like it has mud splotches on it? Tire tracks?

Or one of those bristly mats along the entrance for the car to wipe its tires on, before getting to the "real" mat?

[Arctic Bunny]

Oh and if I built my own garage, it would have a drain in the floor.

Yes! They put them in the basement; they should be standard in bathrooms, garages, and laundry rooms!

[KungFuPanda]

Oh my goodness, that is brilliant! Maybe a mat that looks like it has mud splotches on it? Tire tracks?

Or one of those bristly mats along the entrance for the car to wipe its tires on, before getting to the "real" mat?

The only sensible thing to do is cover your entire driveway with indoor/outdoor carpeting; the green stuff.

[Daria]

His man cave is in the basement, and I'm pretty sure he only gets one!

 

I'll confess that I took the dog to the kennel for two years - just so he wouldn't find out they lived down three miles of gravel, lol. The dust! The chips! The stones getting stuck and wrecking the brakes!

 

I read this as you took your dog to the kennel and left him there for two years so the dog wouldn't find out where you lived.

 

That would be more whackadoodle than your husband.  Maybe not much more, but definitely a little more.

 

Then, I reread it.  

[MBM]

There's one in every crowd... ;)

I'm glad to hear the mats last. Did you have a squeegee, too?!

 

Please, please. Squeegees are for amateurs. I used a wet vac and then hauled it out and dumped it in the sewer grates. It's important to cop an attitude that shows you do this all the time, doesn't everybody? Just in case the neighbors think you've lost it. :D

 

Here's what we used:

 

https://www.amazon.com/AutoFloorGuard-Containment-Black-Snow-Rain/dp/B015OZ7BMK

[PrincessMommy]

What?  :confused1:

 

Garages are places to keep boxes of books. Cars do better in the rain than books do. 

 

This is crazy talk!  :laugh:

 

yup.  Our garage is our free storage unit  :laugh:   Of course, right now it's our 2nd storage unit since we're preparing to move and need to make our house look like minimalists live here. ;)

[Arctic Bunny]

The only sensible thing to do is cover your entire driveway with indoor/outdoor carpeting; the green stuff.

Clearly! The people on the block with artificial grass will really shake their heads at us, though!

[Annie G]

Obviously I can't show him this!!

What kind of carpet? My DH speaks of mats....

 

It is a carpet meant for a car! It's red with a black stripe on the sides, which was perfect when we had a black car. And now we have a red car so it still works well.  We bought it from MidAmerica Motorworks but they no longer sell them.  It's ten years old and is just starting to show some age...but from 15 feet away it looks brand new. 

 

Dh wants a lift in the next garage.  I would make a 'boys and their toys' comment but I'm just as guilty with  my own indulgences now that the kids are finished with school. 

[Arctic Bunny]

I read this as you took your dog to the kennel and left him there for two years so the dog wouldn't find out where you lived.

 

That would be more whackadoodle than your husband. Maybe not much more, but definitely a little more.

 

Then, I reread it.

I can see that, lol... it's much more clear in my head!

[Arctic Bunny]

Please, please. Squeegees are for amateurs. I used a wet vac and then hauled it out and dumped it in the sewer grates. It's important to cop an attitude that shows you do this all the time, doesn't everybody? Just in case the neighbors think you've lost it. :D

 

Here's what we used:

 

https://www.amazon.com/AutoFloorGuard-Containment-Black-Snow-Rain/dp/B015OZ7BMK

DH's dad installed a central vac outlet in the garage for vacuuming out the cars - FIL uses it for his garage floor, as well, but clearly doesn't have to worry about liquid. Too bad the central vac wasn't wet/dry, then we'd be set.

Thank you for the link - I've been picturing these mats being like the ones you put under computer chairs!

[Arctic Bunny]

It is a carpet meant for a car! It's red with a black stripe on the sides, which was perfect when we had a black car. And now we have a red car so it still works well. We bought it from MidAmerica Motorworks but they no longer sell them. It's ten years old and is just starting to show some age...but from 15 feet away it looks brand new.

 

Dh wants a lift in the next garage. I would make a 'boys and their toys' comment but I'm just as guilty with my own indulgences now that the kids are finished with school.

Someone around the corner has a lift. Fortunately we don't have any cars worthy of a lift, like that guy. DH swears he leaves the garage door open just so everyone driving by can drool!

[Annie G]

Someone around the corner has a lift. Fortunately we don't have any cars worthy of a lift, like that guy. DH swears he leaves the garage door open just so everyone driving by can drool!

 

We have four cars and dh has put brakes on each of them.  A lift would have come in handy for those.  And oil changes!

 

But yeah, your neighbor is just showing off.  He must not have had anyone ask to use his lift!

[Donna]

My car always is parked in the garage. It is one car and attached. We go in and out the door from garage to house always...even dh who does not park in the garage will open the garage door and come in that way. Only visitors come in our front door. Occasionally we clean the garage including sweeping out the floor. Our garage floor is painted concrete. My husband did put down indoor/outdoor carpet squares in four spots and I pull the car in so the tires land on those carpet squares (usually...sometimes I am not as accurate).

[IsabelC]

We don't possess a garage, but if we did, I would certainly park in it.

 

[SimonJoshep]

I always park my car in Garage, but the problem is that I have two vehicles and when whether is not so good then one of my cars suffers. 

[RegGuheert]

We always park as many cars in the garage as we can fit, regardless of weather. Sometimes we can fit two cars, sometimes one and sometimes none. Right now, we can only fit one. The electric car usually gets the garage first since it is newest and it is easiest to charge in the garage (though the cord reaches outside, also). The other bay is currently being used for drying onions and garlic from the garden.

 

The floor of the garage was sealed when it was finished (reduces dust). Then we painted it with garage-floor paint. Finally, we put thick 8' by 16' vinyl mats down where each car would park.

 

ETA: FWIW, our 15-passenger van does not fit into the garage no matter how empty it is.

Edited July 10, 2017 by RegGuheert

[Arctic Bunny]

It is very early in the morning and I am very tired. Therefore, I can't think of anything to say that doesn't make parking the car in the garage sound like TeA....

[Plink]

We own an interior design company.  Our garage is about as fancy as fancy can get - mahogany trim, car lift, artwork, plumbing, line drain, and better lighting than some of our ritziest customer's houses.  HOWEVER, it is treated like a garage.  The floor gets dirty.  That is what it is there for.  

 

Anyone who has antique or sports cars will tell you that, despite those cars being their babies, garages are messy.  There is always oil, grease, and grime somewhere.  Throw down an old piece of cardboard if you know it is going to be bad, and toss it out when the project is over. 

 

Parking outside and tracking sand and snow into the house on muddy feet will wear out interior floors, which are much more expensive than the concrete.  NO WAY.  

Edited July 10, 2017 by Plink

[Plink]

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.  :)

 

This bears repeating.  Your husband is welcome to be a neat-freak about garage floors if he wants, but asking anyone else to be inconvenienced by his obsession isn't fair.  He wants it pristine, he should be the one who gets to clean it.  

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

It is very early in the morning and I am very tired. Therefore, I can't think of anything to say that doesn't make parking the car in the garage sound like TeA....

 

Boy, that thought just really changed the perspective from which I'm reading the posts in this thread. 

[RegGuheert]

Anyone who has antique or sports cars will tell you that, despite those cars being their babies, garages are messy. There is always oil, grease, and grime somewhere.

Not always. There is a garage nearby that restores extremely rare, expensive antique cars. The budget for those restorations is often over US$500,000.00. That garage is pristine. You could eat off the floor. If that floor gets dirty, it doesn't stay that way. Perhaps it is because of the clientele to whom they are marketing their services that they maintain such a high level of cleanliness.

[Annie G]

 HOWEVER, it is treated like a garage.  The floor gets dirty.  That is what it is there for.  

 

Anyone who has antique or sports cars will tell you that, despite those cars being their babies, garages are messy.  There is always oil, grease, and grime somewhere.  Throw down an old piece of cardboard if you know it is going to be bad, and toss it out when the project is over. 

 

  

 

Ours is treated like a garage but dh cleans it as needed so it's almost always quite clean.  We have a garage that we work in AND it's super clean, just like how a kitchen is run. You use it but clean it when you're done. 

 

OP, what I don't know is how you can wash your car in the winter before putting it in the garage. We have to go to an enclosed heated car wash in winter- there is no way we can wash a car in our driveway from about November until March.  We wash ours frequently during winter because they are exposed to a lot of salt and sand from the road treatments. They get dirty coming home from the car wash, of course. 

[OneStepAtATime]

I really don't give a whit about our garage floor but if it gets really dirty I will sweep it out.

 

We only park in the garage if it is sunny and hot and I know we will need to drive somewhere later or there is the possibility of a hail storm.  Otherwise, I don't even bother.  

[fairfarmhand]

You guys park in a garage?

 

Let me list the stuff in my garage:

 

1 riding lawn mower

1 push lawn mower

2 full sized upright deep freezers

1 rototiller

1 weed eater.

2 headboard foot boards for a pair of beds

1 large cupboard holdinig gardening and canning supplies

1 sprayer for the fields

3 large coolers (you could put  a body in one of these. It's huge)

3 shelving units holding the detritus of farm life.

 

THere's no way we could ever get a car in there too!

 

We're currently building a 2 car detatched garage so we can convert the current garage to living area. The idea is that one bay will be for our crap and one bay will be for the car.

 

I fully anticipate that the whole thing will be full of our crap and the cars will still be in the driveway.

Edited July 11, 2017 by fairfarmhand

[Kim in Appalachia]

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?

 

:lol:  Yeah, he's a bit nuts.

 

But I will add that my parents are like that.  They made sure they had their new garage painted with that epoxy stuff, and have special mats that they park their tires onto.  Really.  I think it's a bit crazy, but each person has his/her own crazy.  :tongue_smilie:

 

And they thought I was odd for not doing that for our new place.  

[MBM]

We own an interior design company. Our garage is about as fancy as fancy can get - mahogany trim, car lift, artwork, plumbing, line drain, and better lighting than some of our ritziest customer's houses. HOWEVER, it is treated like a garage. The floor gets dirty. That is what it is there for.

 

Anyone who has antique or sports cars will tell you that, despite those cars being their babies, garages are messy. There is always oil, grease, and grime somewhere. Throw down an old piece of cardboard if you know it is going to be bad, and toss it out when the project is over.

 

Parking outside and tracking sand and snow into the house on muddy feet will wear out interior floors, which are much more expensive than the concrete. NO WAY.

A garage with a drain? I would have liked that.

 

In Chicago, there's an extremely expensive garage just for show cars. It is immaculate. It should be because the cost is crazy.

 

Shoes always go off at the door in our house especially in winter. House shoes are the way to go.

[Plink]

Ours is treated like a garage but dh cleans it as needed so it's almost always quite clean.  We have a garage that we work in AND it's super clean, just like how a kitchen is run. You use it but clean it when you're done. 

 

OP, what I don't know is how you can wash your car in the winter before putting it in the garage. We have to go to an enclosed heated car wash in winter- there is no way we can wash a car in our driveway from about November until March.  We wash ours frequently during winter because they are exposed to a lot of salt and sand from the road treatments. They get dirty coming home from the car wash, of course. 

 

 

My intention wasn't to say that garages can not be cleaned, but that it is unusual to expect that they will not experience everyday use.  

[MBM]

Plink, you have artwork in your garage! That automatically puts you into an entirely different level than the rest of us. 😠Very cool, though.

[TravelingChris]

Our oversized two car garage never holds cars and we never intended it to hold cars. Half of the garage is my husband's woodworking shop. The other half is storage of our science equiptment, chest freezer, camping, backpacking, caving equipment, all of our bikes, and all of our lawn and garden tools and equipment. We don't have a storage shed and don't have the flat land to put one on either. We don't store junk and we were pretty good about not storing dumb stuff since we lived a life where we moved every few years. We have lived in this house for six years and we aren't moving any time soon but we won't be using the garage for cars ever, I don't think. One house we considered had a four car garage bit overall it was much smaller than this house so we didn't buy it. From driving around our neighborhood, it doesn't seem that most people park in the garage. If you don't have a storage shed or some other outdoor storage area, where do you all keep things like lawnmowers, edgers, etc.?

[vonfirmath]

What?  :confused1:

 

Garages are places to keep boxes of books. Cars do better in the rain than books do. 

 

This is crazy talk!  :laugh:

 

I want to like this.

 

I wanted to choose, on the first question "When the garage is empty enough to fit a car."

 

Effectively, that means we never park the car in the garage so that is what I chose.

 

I am most tempted to change this to make room for a car in the garage when we are going to have hail.

 

Edited July 10, 2017 by vonfirmath

[Zinnia]

We have a carport, but we actually park our car in it, without a second thought.  

 

My mom uses rugs in her carport.  :)

[Jaybee]

We don't have a garage currently, but when we have had one, we always parked cars in it. Unless we were going right back out.

[melmichigan]

We park both the Suburban and the Jeep in the garage at all times, they are our daily drivers.  They go in wet, snowy, dirty (especially the Jeep).  That is the purpose of an attached garage, or at least the reason I had one built.  We also put the boat in the garage, and bikes, and scooters, etc.  

 

In full disclosure DH does have a squeegee, I bought it for him after watching his attempts with a broom.  He loves it, especially after we've been off roading, or after putting the boat in right out of the river, and it does help dry the floors out a lot faster than leaving the puddles all winter long.  DH has talked about finishing the floor, and that's fine with me.  He works on the cars, and he cleans the garage, so he can make those choices. :)

Edited July 11, 2017 by melmichigan

[Audrey]

For us, it doesn't matter if the floor of the garage gets dirty.  Dh parks the vehicles in there whenever.  I don't park or unpark my own car.  That's his thing he likes to do.  I don't have anything to do with the garages, and frankly, if he doesn't care about a dirty floor, I'm certainly not going to start having anything to say about it.  I prefer to keep my current valet service happy! :laugh:

[regentrude]

  Dh parks the vehicles in there whenever.  I don't park or unpark my own car.  That's his thing he likes to do.  I don't have anything to do with the garages, and frankly, if he doesn't care about a dirty floor, I'm certainly not going to start having anything to say about it.  I prefer to keep my current valet service happy! 

 

So what do you do when you arrive at home or leave while he is out? Is he always there? Do you leave the car outside and carry the groceries through the rain?

[HS Mom in NC]

We always park in the garage no matter what. We live in the suburbs.

It rarely rains here.

It never snows.

Dust storms blow dust in the vents during the summer monsoon season.

My parents live on a dirt road with a dirt driveway and they still park in the garage no matter what.

[HS Mom in NC]

For us, it doesn't matter if the floor of the garage gets dirty.  Dh parks the vehicles in there whenever.  I don't park or unpark my own car.  That's his thing he likes to do.  I don't have anything to do with the garages, and frankly, if he doesn't care about a dirty floor, I'm certainly not going to start having anything to say about it.  I prefer to keep my current valet service happy! :laugh:

 

Why?  Just curious. It seems to me it's more hassle to leave the car in the driveway and walk to the house than to just pull in the garage.  It seems simpler to just get in and pull out of the garage rather than waiting for someone else to do it? Am I missing something?

 

[ktgrok]

He's usually so reasonable! You wouldn't believe how long he's been talking about this and I've been laughing it off. And then one day I turned around and said, "Oh my goodness, you are serious? You don't think we're going to park in the garage?"

And he said, "No! Not with a dirty car!"

It was then he realized he'd have to come up with a different plan....

 

So, what does he think the garage is for? If it's not for parking the car in, what does he want to do with it.