Attached garage or not .....

[yeldogt]

This is the Garage Journal ... Garages are important --- I get it.

While I have built houses w/ attached garages ... they are just for parking and light storage. IMO -- any garage drives design .. are ugly and expensive. I also find doing anything messy in an attached garage -- transfers to the house.

My first suburban house had a large attached garage (house was block and brick) I made the mistake of upgrading it when I should have used it for parking and put the money into a separate structure since I had the space .... taught me a valuable lesson.

Most middle of the road development homes for the past 30+ years have designs driven by garages -- nothing pretty about seeing two big doors. I think this has changed peoples perspective vs years ago where all houses had detached garages.

I was just on the phone with my architect and mentioned this -- and the cost. He confirmed (reconfirmed) what I have found to be the case. The costs associated with attached can be higher than building a separate structure especially when going big -- 3 car.

I see a lot of people who want a larger space and I wonder if they ever asked a professional about the cost of two structures ... just because it seems as if one would or should be cheaper. Most of my projects don't have attached ...

 

[99LeCouch]

If the land and access is there, no reason not to for projects or long term storage.

That being said, some folks want convenience of attached garages. Running out for a tool, no trudging through snow to get to the car, and not carrying heavy loads far to the house.

It depends on the goal and the resources available. Parking and basic car maintenance is far different from storage and working on a project. Or having a full workshop set up.

 

[99LeCouch]

If the land and access is there, no reason not to for projects or long term storage.

That being said, some folks want convenience of attached garages. Running out for a tool, no trudging through snow to get to the car, and not carrying heavy loads far to the house.

It depends on the goal and the resources available. Parking and basic car maintenance is far different from storage and working on a project. Or having a full workshop set up.

 

[mike93lx]

I love parking in my attached and wouldn't want to give it up, neither would my wife. IMO, it is worth the design considerations and cost for the convenience, especially in New England.

For a shop, detached is great

 

[DillonC]

While we do plan on building a detached garage and a separate further away "shop" in the future, an attached garage was a necessity when we built our house a couple years ago.

We only live in middle GA so the winters aren't too bad, but you can't beat getting into a ~70° car in the mornings without ever having to step outside.

You're right though that doing anything messy in the garage does transfer a little into the house.

 

[zmotorsports]

For me and what I do in my shop it is detached only, never would I do what I do in my attached garage.

That being said, I also realize that the work I perform is probably a bit more in depth that what most people will accomplish.

I don't like the possibility of smells, sounds and debris from my work shop being tracked into the house and especially don't want the wife or occupants in the house to have to listen to air tools and/or what's going on in the shop.

At my last home I had a small 2-car attached to the house for parking daily drivers and lawn & garden equipment in and a 1150 square foot detached shop for working in with all of my tools and equipment that was about 35' behind the house.

My current and forever home has a 4-car attached garage and a 3k square foot detached shop/RV storage located about 45' from the back of the house.

From a purely financial standpoint, at least in our area, detached shops/garages only bring in pennies on the dollar of what they cost to construct whereas a larger attached garage will bring in much more money on resale. This was confirmed not only when I built my last shop back in early 90's but especially when I sold our home in 2016.

When we were looking my buddy who was our realtor told me to find a large attached garage and it would provide better resale value or at least find a home with an existing detached garage that I could purchase at a better bargain than building a new shop. That made perfect sense and again, based on what we saw we found this to be true. The downside was that none of the homes we looked at hat large enough detached garages and nowhere near what I wanted so therefore would require a large amount of remodeling or construction to bring it up to what we were looking for in our forever home.

When I finally told my buddy to just find us a house with the property and I would take care of the detached shop he again informed me that resale value would suffer and we would pay more to build a new structure vs. find an existing. My wife and I accepted this and insisted that my shop did not exist anywhere except in my head and we just wanted the home with the property and we would take care of the construction of the new shop.

Financially it would make more sense to have the garage on the house but from a work flow and personal preference I would go detached.

If for only parking and convenience I would say attached as I hate having my cars sit outside whether rain, snow or shine. I want them protected inside and want the convenience of getting out of the car in a dry garage and walking into the house. For a working shop however, I want it detached for certain.

Garage = parking, shop = working.

 

[yeldogt]

I love parking in my attached and wouldn't want to give it up, neither would my wife. IMO, it is worth the design considerations and cost for the convenience, especially in New England.

For a shop, detached is great

I understand and have built attached .. but, they are just for parking. My last two weekend places don't have an attached ... separate.

It's quite common for people to build attached and then they are always moving things around --- so the wife can get in when Snow is coming.

I just see many that the garage is really taking away from the house .. or they build in a way that they will never get it back on resale. I'm talking about designs where IMO the house portion is really compromised. If money and space is no object ..... A big house with a well disigned and incorporated garage is not going to be a minus

Not that I think you should build for the next guy -- but good design always returns investment

 

[larry4406]

On our new construction homes, most of our single family house designs have living space above the garage. The garage foundation does double duty - garage and living space. I like side load garage when the lot can support it as it improves the front appearance of the home.

One of our least profitable designs has the garage connected but only has a master closet above it; waste of $ by not sharing the function of the foundation.

For a ******** shop worker, I can see having the detached garage to contain the mess and put the noise and debris out of site vs trekking thru it and bringing it into the house.

 

[bullnerd]

I think you answered your own question...you NEED both! lol!

 

[BillK]

I suppose a lot if it has to do with where you live ? After having an attached garage for 40 years I cant imagine not having one. I can walk out and get in the car or truck no matter what the weather is like outside and when I get home I pull in and shut the door and its dry

It is also totally amazing how much nicer the paint on the vehicles stays when they live indoors. I have only waxed my 99 Tahoe three or four times since it was new.

I do also have a detached 24x24 for the projects though

I will say that out of all of the houses in our neighborhood mine is one of the very few that actually have cars parked in them.

 

[mikec35]

I have 4 detached garages between my house I'm living in and the house my son is renting from me. I'd really like an attached garage. It's such a pain to go out in the cold, snow and rain. It's also a pain when you think you need a size 15mm socket and it was a 16mm then you realize you didn't get the right ratchet then you discover the ratchet is too thick and you need a wrench.... Not to mention it's probably wise to wear more than your underwear when heading out to the detached garage.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Attached garage and a stand alone shop.

If you live where there is winter attached is nice.. esp as you age. Lots of old folks have fallen between the garage and house. I think resale is easier with attached as well.

I believe detached is a bit cheaper to insure.

 

[ddurrett896]

For me it was all about city code.

Attached = no limit to the garage size, just bound by setbacks.
Detached= limited to 500sqft and the setbacks are shorter.

My house was built with a single car attached and I added a 4 car attached. Kid and wife junk goes in single. My junk goes in 4 car.

Going to build a 500sqft detached for misc stuff like mower, lawn tools, generator, pressure washer, gas cans, etc.

 

[AMCguy]

I've had a detached garage/shop in my last two houses. Although My current setup is enviable, I long for the days when my garage was just through that door in the laundry room.

We'll be moving and downsizing after we retire. Probably in the next year or two at the most. I'll have my wish then I suppose.

Glenn

 

[Stuart in MN]

For me it was all about city code.

Attached = no limit to the garage size, just bound by setbacks.
Detached= limited to 500sqft and the setbacks are shorter.

This is an important thing for many city dwellers.

 

[Keithinsc]

Think resale. Most people want their car warm and cozy within a few steps of the kitchen.

Attached garage, detached shop.

 

[yeldogt]

Think resale. Most people want their car warm and cozy within a few steps of the kitchen.

Attached garage, detached shop.

I agree ... about parking a car or cars. What I'm really talking about is those that build an attached and it's really driving the overall design of the house. In a quest to make the garage everything the house is compromised.

When the garage is inside the footprint of the house -- the cost is higher.

Most people get around the rules by placing the garage off the house .. but, it's connected .... it can be build on a slab .. cheaper.

 

[wssix99]

I was just on the phone with my architect and mentioned this -- and the cost.

This is where things started to go horribly wrong for you! lol

When you want a colonoscopy - talk to a proctologist.
When you want to buy a car - talk to a car salesman.
When you want to talk construction costs - talk to a contractor.
(Leave the architect conversations to design topics - that's what they do!)

He confirmed (reconfirmed) what I have found to be the case. The costs associated with attached can be higher than building a separate structure especially when going big -- 3 car.

The most expensive part of the house (by far!!!) is the exterior walls. (They have MANY more parts than other components of a house: structure, insulation, cladding/siding/masonry, more expensive sheathing, vapor barriers, are harder to finish at height, etc.)

The most expensive factor in home heating and cooling is exterior wall surface area. (With a special allowance for window and door surface areas.)

^ Cost is reduced (construction and long term maintenance) by minimizing exterior walls and windows. (And pushing back on the architect's "vision.")

^ This is where the tug-of-war with the architect begins. We present them the most cost effective, efficient design "we want" - a cube house or a circular yurt with no windows. Then the architect freaks out and appendages start growing out of the cube and windows are added.... Don't even think about triangles - you'll pay for them all the way to your grave. (Please don't ask me how I know. When you add angles less than 90 degrees, the exterior wall ratio to floor area gets nuts.)

If you are going to heat the garage - definitely attach it.

 

[ard]

I am not sure I agree that a 3 car detached is always cheaper than a 3 car attached... if you are building ‘matching’ structures in terms of design, materials (roof, walls, trim) pitches, etc.

Sure you have a high spec stucco, stone, tile roof, perhaps a 10/12 pitch for a house- and will replace it with a 4/12 pole barn. Then yes, the detached is cheaper....But if you will be creating another structure but maintaining the overall ‘quality’ throughout the project, (and matching materials, visual elements) I’d think the cost differential is less

But, having said that, I have a 3 car attached that is storage and parking- and a separate barn/shop. PITA is that the tool I need is usually in the wrong box.

 

[Mikeske]

Then you have the cheap charlies of the world who really don't care what a place looks like as long as they can have it all. A attachment to the home and a detached building.

I live on a 5 acre rural lot and most of the homes around me a mix of Mcmansions and all the way down to manufactured homes. I am at the manufactured home thing and I am looking for comfort and easy living. 21 years ago I purchased this lot and had my 8 years old manufactured home moved on to this lot. All well and fine as this lot already had everything needed to immediate move in and that was great. I had a foundation put in and the home placed on it. The lot already had a steel pole building and the way I placed the home it was 22 foot from the home to the building.

After several years I finally got the place paid pff and then I started to save. I had a dream and it was to take and put a front and back covered decks and then put a open carport between the home and the steel building. I did this and now I have the convenience of a attached building but the separation to keep the mess confined to shop. If it raining or snow I have the ability to go covered from the weather and get in my vehicle and then drive right out. I guess that I got it both ways detached and attached.

Then a few later I had the 2nd detached building built so I could house my RV when we are home and keep it out of the weather. To each his own.

 

[YukonXL04]

Theres no denying the convenience of attatched. When I planned my garage addition, I planned the 3car attached with a separate shop area behind it. While still attatched, it allowed me to have my close parking area, and a walled off area to keep my messes separate.

But the way my lot is laid out, and having a pool in my backyard, I didnt want the shop area next to, or behind the pool. That takes away from the ambiance of my serene back yard. So the shop area had to be attached to the 3 car garage addition.

I think in the end my 1700sq ft garage addition with work well for me. And for resale someone can always turn the back shop area into extra living space since its attached, and still have a good 3 car garage, so I think resale wise I should be fine

 

[MushCreek]

After years of living with various combinations, we finally got to do what we wanted. First, we have 7 acres, so space is not an issue. Money is, so I did 90% of all of the building. I'm still working on finishing up the barn.

First, we built a modest house. 1400 square feet, plus an insulated, finished basement. Since there's no HVAC in the basement, it's not taxed as living space. All the tax man sees is a 1400 sq ft house. The wife requested just a few features in the house, and one of them was an attached garage. Due to our sloping land, there wasn't an easy way to do a full two-car, so I built a roomy 16' wide attached garage. All that's in there is her car, trash can, and the BBQ equipment. It is nice to get in a dry car when we go out.

'My' shop is a 28 x 48 barn, with 12'+ headroom downstairs, and 8' in the 28 x 32 loft. I'm in the process of making the back 16' of the barn into a separate 16 x 28 great room with a 22' ceiling. This will serve as a once-in-a-while great room for large get-togethers, and as a guest house (there's a full bathroom). We could even do Air BNB, but I doubt it right now.

We built the barn first, as a place to live while I built the house, and a place to store all of our stuff after our house in FL sold.

For me, a detached building makes sense. I have a machine shop set up out there. Oil smell, grinding dust, and metal chips are all a way of life for me. I did all of the above in an attached garage, and it wasn't pretty. I do some wood working as well, and the saw dust gets everywhere. I thought I might do some bad weather wood working in our basement, but I can't imagine controlling the dust and fumes from finishing.

We're not really taxed on the barn, either. There's no HVAC, although plans are to add a mini-split to the shop, and a wood stove to the great room. I keep my daily driver, an old Miata, in the barn, and it can be a PITA to hike out there, especially in bad weather. I'm retired now, though, so I can just stay home, or take the wife's car. There's no doubt that keeping a car garaged does keep it nice.

There's no one correct answer for everyone. We developed our property based on 60 years of experience for our particular needs. Some folks really have no need of a shop; for others, it's a necessity. Climate is a factor, so is money. We have about $250K in this place, spread out over ten years, and all out-of-pocket, so no mortgage. I don't know what the next owner will make of this place; not my problem. I hope to stay here until they carry me out feet first.

If I had to choose a large, attached garage, I'd think about dividing it off with a solid wall between parking (nearest the house) and the shop area.

 

[Jinks]

I've had both in city environments. On a large lot at our last home I had the standard two car attached parking garage, & built a two car detached for a shop & motorcycle parking. Our current home doesn't have lot space for a separate building so when I remodeled I added 460 sq.ft. of shop/parking attached. For the things I use them for I would never go back to a detached shop/garage. Way too convenient to have access to all the vehicles & tools without having to go outside.

There are projects & types of work best done away from the living spaces, & for that you can't beat a detached, providing you have room. It mostly comes down to what works for the individual.

 

[yeldogt]

People are missing my point .... in a perfect world -- we want it all.

What I see are people designing one building where the garage is taking up an outsize portion of the house .... and the house design is suffering. Sometimes greatly so .....

Often people talk about possibly adding another building in the future ... most people don't ever build a house .... those that do .. maybe one. Most don't understand the overall cost and value equations.

For a given number -- I would rather have a nice workable house with a separate workable garage. VS -- one structure that fails .. especially the house part.


I'm not talking about having 7 acres -- a big house w/ attached .. and a big separate garage.

I have built and rebuilt many properties over many years ... cost is always front and center -- especially with the weekend properties I have built. So.... I have run the numbers many times.

That's all -- think the perception is all one building is cheaper .. it's not always.

 

[yeldogt]

This is where things started to go horribly wrong for you! lol

When you want a colonoscopy - talk to a proctologist.
When you want to buy a car - talk to a car salesman.
When you want to talk construction costs - talk to a contractor.
(Leave the architect conversations to design topics - that's what they do!)




The most expensive part of the house (by far!!!) is the exterior walls. (They have MANY more parts than other components of a house: structure, insulation, cladding/siding/masonry, more expensive sheathing, vapor barriers, are harder to finish at height, etc.)

The most expensive factor in home heating and cooling is exterior wall surface area. (With a special allowance for window and door surface areas.)

^ Cost is reduced (construction and long term maintenance) by minimizing exterior walls and windows. (And pushing back on the architect's "vision.")

^ This is where the tug-of-war with the architect begins. We present them the most cost effective, efficient design "we want" - a cube house or a circular yurt with no windows. Then the architect freaks out and appendages start growing out of the cube and windows are added.... Don't even think about triangles - you'll pay for them all the way to your grave. (Please don't ask me how I know. When you add angles less than 90 degrees, the exterior wall ratio to floor area gets nuts.)

If you are going to heat the garage - definitely attach it.

Actually .... I disagree. A good architect -- that matches what you what to build is a great resource. I can say without any question .. all my projects have been better because of a good architect .. often getting "value" that I would not have had. Design build contractors most often produce very bland results w/ little savings.

Obviously, it depends on the design ...many of the ones that I am talking about only share a single wall .. and the roof area is the same and often does not provide living space above garage. So, the overall material costs are relative.

Depending on the codes -- the attached may need a full foundation. Obviously a fire wall ... needs separate heat.

 

[zmotorsports]

People are missing my point .... in a perfect world -- we want it all.

What I see are people designing one building where the garage is taking up an outsize portion of the house .... and the house design is suffering. Sometimes greatly so .....

Often people talk about possibly adding another building in the future ... most people don't ever build a house .... those that do .. maybe one. Most don't understand the overall cost and value equations.

For a given number -- I would rather have a nice workable house with a separate workable garage. VS -- one structure that fails .. especially the house part.

I for one am sure I missed your original point, sorry.

That being said, I completely agree about the size (and shape) of the garage detracting from the homes style and more importantly value is important.

In our old neighborhood we had a family that replaced the carport on their home with a monstrosity of a garage. I mean this thing was hideous and HUGE compared to the house. Had they just enclosed the two car carport it would had looked fantastic and proportionate. However, they instead replaced the carport with a four wide, double deep and two story garage attached to the approx. 1200 square foot home and it was an eyesore in the neighborhood. They only lived there for about 5 years afterwards then moved and had a new home built but it took them 3 years to sell the house because no one wanted to buy it. The house sat vacant for those 3 years and in the end they nearly had to give it away so financially speaking it was a largely poor financial investment whereas had they just enclosed the carport and maybe built a smaller detached in the back yard it would have been more appealing and definitely easier to sell when the time came.

I think our new home is very nicely balanced as far as home to attached garage and looks very proportionate which is pretty common in our subdivision. There are a few homes in a subdivision about a mile west of us that doesn't have as strict CC&R's and they are getting a bit out of proportion and some neighbors are complaining because they appear to be a garage with a small house connected, although not nearly as bad as the one in our last neighborhood. I know they are doing it due to the investment dollar as like I mentioned earlier, detached garages only bring pennies on the dollar in resale comparted to attached garages but I think some are pushing the envelope on aesthetics.

 

[Slednut]

When I bought my house the attached garage was 14x26, with in a week I went to work and a couple months later it was 26x26. In 2014 I added on to make it 26x56. I also added living space above it. I live on a city lot, I also have a detached steel 20x20, and will be adding a 10x20 soon. I really like my large attached garage/shop.

 

[Pluribus]

My preference is to have an attached garage for parking, etc. and a detached shop. Having to go outside then back inside to get to vehicles is inconvenient.

If I could only have an attached garage/shop, I'd want to design in a sealed off parking area adjacent to the house to minimize odor and dust intrusion as well as to mitigate fire risk. There would be a higher cost to do this, but it would be worth it, IMHO. It is possible to integrate a large attached garage to a house and not have it overwhelm the house, but care must be taken in design to do this. Many people fail and end up with something that's ugly and difficult to sell.

Oddly, I can't add an attached garage to my house, and I'm going to have a significant distance between my house and shop. Putting it closer doesn't work on my site. That's a pain for parking inside the shop, then walking (and carrying stuff like groceries) to the house. I like where I live, so it's a sacrifice and inconvenience I'm willing to work around.

 

[bczygan]

My choice would be a large and multifaceted shop, with attached bedroom, bathroom and kitchen facilities.

Bill

 

[jmiller_2308]

My shop is attached to the parking garage that is attached to the house. Due to building restrictions related to code as well as access on my lot it only made sense to do it this way. In reality, I find this solution has several benefits with no real negatives.

- The shop addition does match the house architecture and actually balanced the house better then when it only had the parking garage. If I had built a detached it would have either not matched the house design or it would have cost many $'s more to build.

- Being attached not only saved me some exterior wall construction but it also saved huge dollars on being able to have electric and water in it. If the shop were detached those costs would have been much greater.

- Before adding the shop addition I had previously heated my parking garage with a unit heater. When the shop was built I put in an actual furnace and dual zoned to heat both shop and parking garage. This improved livability and efficiency. If I had a detached and still wanted to heat the parking garage utility, service, and operating costs would have doubled.

- With the shop attached to the parking garage I can easily do some quick maintenance on a vehicle in the parking garage without having to move it to the shop. It is actually really convenient to move things between the parking garage and the shop on a as needed basis.

- Since the shop is a parking garage away from the house noise and smells from the shop are diminished and don't impact the house at all.

- Being in MN I love the convenience of being able to get to the shop without having to dress for the weather. It is also great to have tools, work space, and lunch easily available without having to go outside.

- OK, depending upon your relationship, the attached shop does allow for the wife to have easier access to get my attention for something. Good or bad depends on your relationship but it is good for me.

 

[yeldogt]

I for one am sure I missed your original point, sorry.

That being said, I completely agree about the size (and shape) of the garage detracting from the homes style and more importantly value is important.

In our old neighborhood we had a family that replaced the carport on their home with a monstrosity of a garage. I mean this thing was hideous and HUGE compared to the house. Had they just enclosed the two car carport it would had looked fantastic and proportionate. However, they instead replaced the carport with a four wide, double deep and two story garage attached to the approx. 1200 square foot home and it was an eyesore in the neighborhood. They only lived there for about 5 years afterwards then moved and had a new home built but it took them 3 years to sell the house because no one wanted to buy it. The house sat vacant for those 3 years and in the end they nearly had to give it away so financially speaking it was a largely poor financial investment whereas had they just enclosed the carport and maybe built a smaller detached in the back yard it would have been more appealing and definitely easier to sell when the time came.

I think our new home is very nicely balanced as far as home to attached garage and looks very proportionate which is pretty common in our subdivision. There are a few homes in a subdivision about a mile west of us that doesn't have as strict CC&R's and they are getting a bit out of proportion and some neighbors are complaining because they appear to be a garage with a small house connected, although not nearly as bad as the one in our last neighborhood. I know they are doing it due to the investment dollar as like I mentioned earlier, detached garages only bring pennies on the dollar in resale comparted to attached garages but I think some are pushing the envelope on aesthetics.

I totally get that in some markets having an attached garage is mandatory at a particular price point. All development houses have them ... often to the detriment of overall design .... mostly lot driven problem. Narrow lots .. people want sf ... even if it's air. But -- most often those garages are only big enough for parking cars. How many two cars have only space for one because of junk?

It's not only outside appearance ... some one off designs where people are tying to build an outsized garage ... compromise the living space design because of the incorporation of the garage.

I believe they do this thinking it's cheaper .. when it may not be much more to get two good spaces.

I have found this to be true .... one can design an attractive workable small house.

 

[wssix99]

Actually .... I disagree. A good architect -- that matches what you what to build is a great resource. I can say without any question .. all my projects have been better because of a good architect .. often getting "value" that I would not have had. Design build contractors most often produce very bland results w/ little savings.

I totally agree with all of this. (Without architects, I'd be living in a windowless yurt!) My point is that architects don't have a very good feel for what things really cost. My experience is that they universally understate costs/impacts of design decisions and trivialize the constraints that the contractor has to work within.

It's the nature of an architect to sacrifice cost before the design. It's the nature of the contractor to sacrifice the design before cost. The owner just has to be the referee.

Obviously, it depends on the design ...many of the ones that I am talking about only share a single wall .. and the roof area is the same and often does not provide living space above garage. So, the overall material costs are relative.

I'm getting the impression you prefer houses with a garage attached over the structures that look like a garage with a house attached?

Most architects I know lean towards the former, also. If you can work in 3 dimensions and build over the garage, you have a lot more freedom in the design.

Sharing one wall is significant. That's a 15-20% savings over a detached heated garage and 10's of thousands of dollars in saved construction costs. If you can share more walls or build over the garage, the savings grow from there.

Depending on the codes -- the attached may need a full foundation.

This is a great point. My comments assume building codes that would require one to build a detached garage equivalent to the main house/structure. If a detached garage is built more like a big shed or a barn, then the economics shift.

Obviously a fire wall ... needs separate heat.

Attached, or not, the garage would need separate HVAC in most cases. (A house cannot share "air" with a garage.) One could get clever with radiant to have a shared system.

 

[yeldogt]

I'm not trying to be a jerk ... "know it all" -- with this thread.

I just see a lot of bad designs .. and bad designs are not free .. they cost just as much as good. When resale comes into play -- often more.

wssix99: You have a point about sometimes those designing don't always have a handle on every cost ... that's why building must be a collaboration. What are the ways to get to the plan -- or what else can we do to get close within budget. And you are correct -- too many development houses today look like garages w/ houses attached from the front.

I'm really talking about homeowner designed or heavy modified stock plans that grow too big ... in relation to overall SF and footprint. Garages wipe out whole walls and limit room placement -- windows ..etc.

 

[wssix99]

So, I don't see how the architect's assertion in the original post adds up mathematically that an attached garage can cost more than a detached. (Assuming we are talking about financial cost and not design-related costs.)

Does (s)he just want this project to be detached and was (s)he putting out this assertion to bend the decision?

You know, if you only have a detached garage for everything, you are going to need a tunnel...

I don't think we've mentioned many hybrid options. For ranch/short houses, I'm a fan (design thinking) of a small in/out parking garage attached with a large detached barn for mechanical work and storage. The small functional attached option doesn't need to hold everything and is easier to hide/incorporate than a Garage Journal-sized garage.