Attached or Detached

[texchappy]

As I approach my retirement from the Army for medical reasons, we're planning our dream house in the Texas panhandle. One thing I'm wondering about is whether it would be better to have an attached or detached garage (or both). I'd like to get a lift eventually if that makes a difference. Also, I've been pondering the same question for my hand-tool woodworking shop.

 

[Joe B.]

I would go with both. One for your daily driver, wife's car, lawnmowers and junk like that. The detached one should be your personal shop. It keeps random junk from sneaking in and it is always good to have garage chemicals in a separate structure.

(I suspect you will hear this answer a lot.)

 

[930dreamer]

Hello, what part of the Panhandle?

 

[Stuart in MN]

If you're going to paint cars or weld in the garage I'd go with a detached one, so you don't stink up the house or burn it down. Otherwise, an attached garage is a lot nicer for daily driver cars, particularly in bad weather so you can just drive in and then go into the house.

 

[ambenz]

Definitely detached....if it goes up in smoke, you still have a place to live.
Think BIG!
Write down all the things you want in a garage, make a footprint for the items, and add up the square footage you'll need to put those things in your garage, and double the space you'll need...you'll be glad you did in the future!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

For housing daily drivers, attached is the only way to go. For any work involving painting, grinding, welding, caustic chemicals, etc, go with a detached.

 

[Bib Overalls]

I have a stand alone automotive shop and just added a stand alone shed for the garden stuff.

A couple of observations.

When I was working and had little time for personal recreation I really did not notice the fact that my foot print in the house was kind of small. It was "our house" in concept but "her house" in reality. When I retired I needed more space that I could call my own. So I built my shop. And I built it away from the house. There is no confusion about who owns the space. In the house I have two dresser drawers for my socks and underwear, three feet of hanger space in what the blueprints called "his closet," and a night stand next to the bed. In my shop my wife has permission to enter.

Wood working and automotive work do not mix. You can not rebuild a motor or pack wheel bearings in the same place where you make saw dust. Same building yes. But not the same space. My table saw is in the garden shed.

Thank you for your service.

 

[texchappy]

Sounds like a both might be the answer. Woodworking will definitely be separate from the auto side no matter what I pick.

We're looking at going back to Lubbock.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[HOTFR8]

Welcome to the GJ. Sounds like you have a great project ahead of you.

 

[texchappy]

Hijack my own thread time...

Speaking of designing our own retirement home, I'm open to non-conventiona/traditional/new building techniques as well as solar/wind, passive solar, and different hvac options. Is there a good internet resource or forum to start researching this stuff?

 

[uniballer]

Definitely detached....if it goes up in smoke, you still have a place to live.
Think BIG!
Write down all the things you want in a garage, make a footprint for the items, and add up the square footage you'll need to put those things in your garage, and double the space you'll need...you'll be glad you did in the future!

Best of both worlds. Semi-attached, walkway to it?
Maybe 12ft to 20ft away?

 

[HOTFR8]

Hijack my own thread time...

Speaking of designing our own retirement home, I'm open to non-conventiona/traditional/new building techniques as well as solar/wind, passive solar, and different hvac options. Is there a good internet resource or forum to start researching this stuff?

Look for other that have done this and then just GOOGL, Google, google.

Solar power is good but make sure you use a company that knows what they are talking about.