Some sort of "garage"
Discussion
Most of us dream of an ultimate garage/man cave. Unfortunately, those pesky things like scope, location and money get in the way. What I would like to do is get my car undercover somehow and hope the collective PH wisdom may have some experience.
Current Situation
I live in a pretty standard 4 bed detached mid 80s built house in a close. Single garage that is too small for a modern car but lucky to be able to squeeze 4 cars onto the front of the house outside. Really nice location, great neighbours and a short walk into a lovely market town on the Thames. We don't want to move. Trading up to a bigger house with more outside space here would cost a fortune and I wouldn't want to take on a mortgage to do this.
I bought my dream car last year which currently resides under a decent cover. This protects the car from cats/children/weather etc. but is a faff each time I want to use it - uncovering, cleaning before putting away again etc.
Solutions I have looked at:
Retractable car cover - On paper would answer the brief. I have never seen one in the flesh so don't know how robust they are in wind. One I found has stainless steel construction and you park on a cross brace which holds it down. Not the most attractive of things though (even in grey).
Carport canopy - If parking was up the side of the house, an enclosed version of this would be great. It isn't, so this would protrude in front of the main elevation of the house. This would therefore not be a permitted development and i'm guessing wouldn't be granted planning?
Has anyone done any of the above or something else to house a car? Anything else I could look at?
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Current Situation
I live in a pretty standard 4 bed detached mid 80s built house in a close. Single garage that is too small for a modern car but lucky to be able to squeeze 4 cars onto the front of the house outside. Really nice location, great neighbours and a short walk into a lovely market town on the Thames. We don't want to move. Trading up to a bigger house with more outside space here would cost a fortune and I wouldn't want to take on a mortgage to do this.
I bought my dream car last year which currently resides under a decent cover. This protects the car from cats/children/weather etc. but is a faff each time I want to use it - uncovering, cleaning before putting away again etc.
Solutions I have looked at:
Retractable car cover - On paper would answer the brief. I have never seen one in the flesh so don't know how robust they are in wind. One I found has stainless steel construction and you park on a cross brace which holds it down. Not the most attractive of things though (even in grey).
Carport canopy - If parking was up the side of the house, an enclosed version of this would be great. It isn't, so this would protrude in front of the main elevation of the house. This would therefore not be a permitted development and i'm guessing wouldn't be granted planning?
Has anyone done any of the above or something else to house a car? Anything else I could look at?
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Edited by Maxus on Wednesday 15th January 09:40
I think carcoon is the obvious answer.
But a lot of us with similar problems just leave our "dream cars" on the driveway (often without covers since they can cause scratches etc).
My current one has lived on the drive for almost 2 years and the one before that did so for 3 years. Didn't really seem to cause any issue, except maybe having to clean it a bit more often.
But a lot of us with similar problems just leave our "dream cars" on the driveway (often without covers since they can cause scratches etc).
My current one has lived on the drive for almost 2 years and the one before that did so for 3 years. Didn't really seem to cause any issue, except maybe having to clean it a bit more often.
I’ve got a similar problem, in front of our house (and the building line) is a full width concrete driveway from the house to the verge. Space for about 6 Mondeo sized cars.
The (single) garage is at the rear, the side access is slim by modern car width and it’s already got my ‘toy’ car in it.
The only thing that I think could beat a car cover/carcoon type solution would be a full on race trailer/ enclosed car trailer. But it’d hardly be neighbourly!
The (single) garage is at the rear, the side access is slim by modern car width and it’s already got my ‘toy’ car in it.
The only thing that I think could beat a car cover/carcoon type solution would be a full on race trailer/ enclosed car trailer. But it’d hardly be neighbourly!
TA14 said:
KAgantua said:
Can you make the garage wider?
And/or can you make the door wider?https://www.myparker.co.uk/
I had a cover like that to put my motorbike in, several years ago.
It was in a very sheltered corner of the garden so I can't comment on how it would cope with being placed where it''s exposed to wind etc. It was well ventilated and the bike didn't deteriorate under it, though.
What I can say is it lasted about 4 years by which time the "highly UV resistant" material had rotted (I've found the same with BBQ covers made of similar stuff - regardless how much money you spend they rot within a few years if they're exposed to the sun) and my chances of getting a replacement cover only, not paying for a whole new frame and cover kit, were nil.
So yes as a temp measure, no as a long term solution.
Unsure whether a canopy that protrudes foward of the principal elevation of the property would foul the laws by which carports are "planning exempt" but suspect it wouldn't be a goer.
For storage elsewhere, adequate ventilation and minimal water ingress are critical. An air brick in the back of a council lockup often won't cut it (but depending on atmospherics, condition of roof, air gaps around the door etc, may be fine too).
As I found to my cost when I built a garage, a lot of moisture comes out after construction; an insulated slab, cavity wall and insulated roof with venting through the eaves won't necessarily stop condensation. So go very carefully with any outsourced storage solution, take stock and assess what you've got once you're using it, and preferably make sure you have a power supply to run a dehumidifier in case you find one is needed.
It was in a very sheltered corner of the garden so I can't comment on how it would cope with being placed where it''s exposed to wind etc. It was well ventilated and the bike didn't deteriorate under it, though.
What I can say is it lasted about 4 years by which time the "highly UV resistant" material had rotted (I've found the same with BBQ covers made of similar stuff - regardless how much money you spend they rot within a few years if they're exposed to the sun) and my chances of getting a replacement cover only, not paying for a whole new frame and cover kit, were nil.
So yes as a temp measure, no as a long term solution.
Unsure whether a canopy that protrudes foward of the principal elevation of the property would foul the laws by which carports are "planning exempt" but suspect it wouldn't be a goer.
For storage elsewhere, adequate ventilation and minimal water ingress are critical. An air brick in the back of a council lockup often won't cut it (but depending on atmospherics, condition of roof, air gaps around the door etc, may be fine too).
As I found to my cost when I built a garage, a lot of moisture comes out after construction; an insulated slab, cavity wall and insulated roof with venting through the eaves won't necessarily stop condensation. So go very carefully with any outsourced storage solution, take stock and assess what you've got once you're using it, and preferably make sure you have a power supply to run a dehumidifier in case you find one is needed.
Thanks all, some useful thoughts and ideas there.
Here is a pic of the situation. The wall and house side led me to the carport idea but there is a real balance in not having something too unsightly. As you can see, no scope to widen or extend the garage.
Any canopy/carport would extend beyond the principal elevation of the house so I don't think would be permitted.
I do keep an eye open for garages for rent but they don't come up around here. I'm not that keen on leaving the car in a council garage block anyway.
Storage is of course an option but £200/month and again away from the house.
FNG - great advice thanks. Good point about a canopy deteriorating. In my excitement of finding these I didn't think about that aspect.
andburg - I wasn't really aware of the myparker type solution. This is the best idea so far
. My garage could accommodate the car (just) but you couldn't get out of it. By fitting a roller door I could increase the entrance size (which is very tight for my car's fat arse) as the wooden door frames would go. There is a slight incline from the drive which hopefully a myparker could handle. Final challenge being to find a home for the horrendous volume of crap important household items currently in the garage 
That sounds like a bit of a plan for me to explore. Thanks all, I'll let you know how I get on.
Here is a pic of the situation. The wall and house side led me to the carport idea but there is a real balance in not having something too unsightly. As you can see, no scope to widen or extend the garage.
Any canopy/carport would extend beyond the principal elevation of the house so I don't think would be permitted.
I do keep an eye open for garages for rent but they don't come up around here. I'm not that keen on leaving the car in a council garage block anyway.
Storage is of course an option but £200/month and again away from the house.
FNG - great advice thanks. Good point about a canopy deteriorating. In my excitement of finding these I didn't think about that aspect.
andburg - I wasn't really aware of the myparker type solution. This is the best idea so far
. My garage could accommodate the car (just) but you couldn't get out of it. By fitting a roller door I could increase the entrance size (which is very tight for my car's fat arse) as the wooden door frames would go. There is a slight incline from the drive which hopefully a myparker could handle. Final challenge being to find a home for the horrendous volume of That sounds like a bit of a plan for me to explore. Thanks all, I'll let you know how I get on.
Maxus said:
Here is a pic of the situation. The wall and house side led me to the carport idea but there is a real balance in not having something too unsightly. As you can see, no scope to widen or extend the garage.
Any canopy/carport would extend beyond the principal elevation of the house so I don't think would be permitted.
It looks like you could extend forwards to just short of the house front elevation (3m forward?) and wider than the existing garage by 900mm. This would allow you to reverse in with about 5 or 6ft of the car in the existing garage and the rest in the new garage which would have enough width for you to open the car door. There'd also be enough room for your other stuff behind the car (12ft?) especially of you have a shelving/racking system.Any canopy/carport would extend beyond the principal elevation of the house so I don't think would be permitted.
TA14 said:
It looks like you could extend forwards to just short of the house front elevation (3m forward?) and wider than the existing garage by 900mm. This would allow you to reverse in with about 5 or 6ft of the car in the existing garage and the rest in the new garage which would have enough width for you to open the car door. There'd also be enough room for your other stuff behind the car (12ft?) especially of you have a shelving/racking system.
The difference between the front elevation of the house and the current garage front is 1.6m. This would be really useful for having space at the back of the garage and a wider entrance but the car doors would still be in the current garage so a struggle to get out of.This in conjunction with the myparker solution would be good. The added bonus being I would leave the side window of the house in place which would then be looking into the garage so I could admire my baby tucked away from the comfort of the living room. I'm sure Mrs Maxus would be delighted
I have no idea how much an extension to the garage like this could cost. No doubt i'd be shocked. On top of a myparker at £6k it's not a cheap endeavour but it is the only thing that I am missing here.
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