Cars don't fit in garage at our new house

[SunGreen22]

I'm so upset with myself. We just closed on a new to us, 3 year old house. Went over today and tried to pull both cars in, and the supposed 2-car garage is really just a 1 car one because the steps from the door into the house stick out too far to allow our car in far enough for the garage door to shut. We drive an Accord and a Malibu, so not large cars.

I can't believe we didn't notice this. We have lived in a few different houses and have never had an issue with a car not fitting. I just assumed a 2-car garage would fit 2 average-sized cars, never even thought about it. We have always parked our cars in the garage and in this climate scraping ice off is not something I want to do for 5 months of the year. This would have been a deal breaker. I don't see any way to modify the steps to make it safe to get out of the house, as the elevation of the house is such that the 3 steps are truly needed. Just so mad that 2 adults didn't notice this!

[jenfromnj]

Oh no! Maybe you could call an engineer for a consult about whether anything can be done? I'm surprised your home inspector didn't pick up on that.

[HIU8]

That stinks. There has to be something you can do to alleviate the issue. It is worth looking into. Meanwhile, a couple of other options to live with: use one side of the garage as storage; get a windshield cover for the car sitting outside. Raise the wipers off the car, place the cover over the windshield. It makes a huge difference in clean off time in the winter (I know from experience--sitting in a house with a 1 car garage and single lane driveway dreaming of a house with a 2 car garage someday.....)

[twowhat?]

Yikes!! That sucks!! Maybe there is something that could be done about the stairs so they don't stick out as much. Maybe turning them at a 90 degree angle (so you approach the door from the side)?

And don't be too hard on yourself - that is NOT something ANYONE would think to look for. And it's not on the list of things the inspector would look for either.

eta: when we went to view our current home for the second time before deciding to buy it, the owners had both cars in the garage (I think they just went over to a neighbor's) - a Denali and an Altima - with room to spare. It would never have occured to us otherwise to wonder about whether the garage would fit 2 cars if the listing says it's a two-car garage!!

[khm]

That SUCKS!

This is probably wishful thinking, but check with your city zoning dept. I wonder if there is a minimum dimension that the builder violated. If it is under that threshold, maybe it couldn't be listed with the realtor as a 2 car garage.

I wonder if any of your neighbors have a similar issue (assuming some have the same builder, etc).

[HannaAddict]

That SUCKS!

This is probably wishful thinking, but check with your city zoning dept. I wonder if there is a minimum dimension that the builder violated. If it is under that threshold, maybe it couldn't be listed with the realtor as a 2 car garage.

I wonder if any of your neighbors have a similar issue (assuming some have the same builder, etc).

There is no way a home sale would be undone because of this issue. Wishful thinking is correct. :)

It is annoying though and frustrating.

[weech]

We bought a townhouse a couple years ago and found out after we moved in that our garage is only a 2-car garage if you do not plan to get out of the car.

Two years later, I'm STILL mad about it. When we're ready to buy our next house, I made DH promise that we'll drive our cars into the garage before we sign a contract. :angry-smiley-005:

[khm]

There is no way a home sale would be undone because of this issue. Wishful thinking is correct. :)

It is annoying though and frustrating.

No, the sale could not be undone. I'm a realtor, in my area one of the ONLY things realtors get busted for is improperly listing stuff. If the realty company listed it improperly knowingly or unknowingly (2 car when it is below specs, if there are specs) there might be $ from the realty company through their errors and omissions policy.

If there are no garage dimension minimums it is a moot point. But, most cities have pretty detailed rules about this kind of stuff with regard to new construction.

[trentsmom]

Friends of ours moved into a house with the same problem. And it's not just their house - it's the whole neighborhood. I hope you get to be the one with the car in the garage instead of in the driveway!

[WatchingThemGrow]

OH NO! This is my biggest fear about the house we put in an offer in for today! We didn't TRY putting our van in (who does that at a showing???) but DH thinks it will not fit in the 1 car garage. The current owner has a civic which seems tight. What are the dimensions of your garage?

Honestly, everyone tells me that it becomes way easier to have the DCs' vehicles in the space for ease of use. Not fun to hear that, but maybe they've BTDT. So sorry! CONGRATS on your new house, though!!!!

[secchick]

I know the feeling.

For us, the issue is that we had to do a pier and beam foundation under the code, so we had to have steps up to the door to the house. The entire width of what is normally the tire stop is now concrete steps (but even if we had done wood, it doesn't matter, that 3.5 feet is still effectively gone from the garage). We realized this after the plans for our house were finished, and had to change them to add an extra 2.5 feet to the garage. Now DH's car fits fine, and my minivan has about 6 inches total to spare (but would be a lot more if we stored our lawn mower and wagon somewhere else). In any case, the builder asked us about our cars and pointed out that if we were Suburban/large SUV people we were ou of luck. If anything, I am a little frustrated that our garage seems too narrow on the sides, but that may also just be me trying to squeeze out at 8 months pregnant.

[Pear]

How much more space do you need? I would look into stairs that might not be quite up to code if you just need a few inches. Maybe you could have a thin staircase that is rotated 90 degrees and a platform at the door? You would have to put in code compliant stairs if you sold the house, but that shouldn't be expensive and I would do just about anything to avoid parking on the driveway where we happen to live.

[hellokitty]

Wow, it just seems to me like this must be some sort of code violation! I can't imagine not being able to fit mid-sized cars into a 2 car garage! I'd be looking into the code issue. I'm sorry you are dealing with this, I can only imagine how upsetting it is to buy a new house only to discover such a massive flaw.

[crayonblue]

How annoying! Hopefully there is something that can be done so you can park in the garage.

Our current townhouse has a one car garage that won't fit our minivan!!!! So, for 4 years we've parked it in the driveway.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I almost bought an Accord last summer but had the lightbulb moment to check dimensions as our Civic was a tight fit. It wasn't going to fit easily so we chose differently. I'm sorry you are in this crappy situation!!

Beth

[glbb35]

I know the feeling as well. Neither one of our vehicles fit inside our 2 car garage. The height is pretty standard but we are on a hill where you have to drive down into the driveway/garage and that makes it where we don't fit.

We solved this by giving ourselves automatic car starters for Christmas and it is the best thing ever. Best money in the world I swear. In the winter we start the car early and it is heated and warm and anything on the windshield has melted away. In the summer we have it cool and nice when we leave the house. The best thing is it has a safety feature that unless you put the key in, than anyone who steps into the vehicle can't go anywhere as it shuts off automatically. Maybe this is something you all can look into.

I actually like this better than a garage. We have our garage filled with all the kids stuff. Our neighbors use their garage everyday but she complains that unless she opens the garage door she still gets into a cold or overly hot car every day based on the season.

A different point of view. :) Good Luck

B

DS 03, 06, twins 09 and surprise 7/11

[WatchingThemGrow]

:yeahthat: I knew there would be a genius in the crowd! :cheerleader1:

[KrisM]

That is terrible! We always park in the garage too and I would be so annoyed if we didn't fit. We did measure the garage here and compared it to our old house when we were looking and our Realtor thought we were a bit nuts!

[Melanie]

I'm sorry. BTDT, twice. The first time I took the seller's word for it (lying jerk) and the second I eyeballed it (workbench stuck out too far). The good news is you won't make that mistake again. I think our new landlord was amusing when we measured the garage. LOL.