Garage that is too small

[talksr]

Hi there,

We are looking to purchase a house. It comes with a small drive and one garage. I am going back on Monday to measure the garage but by the looks of it, and the neighbours, it is too small to fit a car into. The street is a nightmare for parking on, so would really like to get both of our cars off the road.

Does anyone have any ideas on how expensive it would be to demolish our garage? I was thinking of just using it as a drive?

The green garage on the left is our neighbours, ours would be the one with the black door. The fence to the right of this is access to an electrical substation so we can't go over this boundary.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I'd be looking at a different house or a smaller car. The gradient on that 'driveway' is a bit excessive, presumably the bit of land leading to that gate (with the yellow signage on) either isn't yours or the utility co has a right of way across it.

Losing that garage wouldn't be a massive deal (probably) but you won't get the full width (you'll need to leave some of that centre pillar at least to support the other garage).

 

[catlad]

If you removed the garage door and frame then that would give you a few more inches.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Or what if you took the door and the frame off, as well as make a side opening wide enough for you to drive a car in and manage to open your door to get out easily, so it would look like a car porch rather than an enclosed garage. So this way you don't touch the roof and just knock out a wide opening for car door to swing through and step out, place a small lintel to take the weight of the roof.

 

[Tigercubrider]

The OP doesn't have right of access to the land on either side so an opening does no good if trespass is to be avoided. It depends on what car the op has - generally a 2 door car has bigger doors than a 4 door of the same/similar size

 

[Mikefromlondon]

True to some extent, unless there are signs posted before that section, it can be taken as common access to public spaces, after the yellow sign only authorised personnel can go beyond.

 

[bernardgreen]

Does anyone have any ideas on how expensive it would be to demolish our garage?

If you do demolish it you will have to agree the the owner of the sub station about the provision of a replacement boundary fence or wall between your new driveway and the substation. Without a replacement fence or wall the substation would ba acessible from the street via you new drive way.

Amother consideration is how close to the substation is the house that you are thinking of buying ?

When a lot of people have elecric heating switched on a substation transformer can hum quite loudly. At night the hum can much more instrusive at night than during the day when you inspect the house..

That close to sub station means your supply voltage will be at the tip end of the allowed range ( 230 +10% = 253 volts ) which can mean lamps have a shorter life.

 

[JohnD]

can mean lamps have a shorter life.

modern energy-saving lamps are very tolerant of voltage.

 

[bernardgreen]

modern energy-saving lamps are very tolerant of voltage.

Are you sure of that ? They may work but how resilient are they at the UK upper limit. ( DC capacitor being the weak point )

 

[Nige F]

That garage was built for a Ford Anglia - is the house 60's ? You needed to put 60's Fords in a garage- spit next to one and it wouldn't start (damp)

 

[bernardgreen]

Put sun roof in the garage and buy a convertable or a car with a sun roof that opens.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

That garage was built for a Ford Anglia - is the house 60's ? You needed to put 60's Fords in a garage- spit next to one and it wouldn't start (damp)

My dad owned one, I have no idea what came over him!

 

[talksr]

That garage was built for a Ford Anglia - is the house 60's ? You needed to put 60's Fords in a garage- spit next to one and it wouldn't start (damp)

Yup, 1965 was when it was built! Such a shame as a really nice house inside, very well kept, but parking on the street is diabolical. We are going to view it a second time tonight, but think we may look elsewhere as parking is very important to us - both of our cars have been very seriously damaged in the past when parked on the street.

 

[Nige F]

The real fly in the ointment is the sub station to the right - if that was say ,your garden you could cut a hole in the wall, then roof over a small lean to - that way you could get the drivers door open fully and exit via the lean to or the main door ( I did this once on a house we owned)

 

[bernardgreen]

My dad owned one, I have no idea what came over him!

What was wrong with the old Fords. My Ford ( Sit Up and Beg ) Popular was a great starter car.