Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 06, 2008 3:44 pm Do all of your houses have internal garage access?
If not, is it because it wasn't important to you / you don't like it / design couldn't accomodate it? Those of you who do have internal garage access, where does it come into and why? IMO, the best access is into the front hallway, as we were looking at medium size houses, many of them did this but usually in a narrow design where there is only street frontage of garage, hallway and one room, usually the main bedroom. The design we picked is wider and has a room either side of the front hallway, the garage is set back a bit and access is into the side of the family room, a straight walk across to the kitchen, handy for bringing groceries in. So we're happy with that too. But this will be something new for us- our current house was built in 1959, we added a carport around 1990 and a roller door some years after that, but it is not under the main roof. I've noticed different designs, some coming directly into the kitchen or thru the laundry or the pantry, not ideal, IMO. I like my kitchen to have no flow thru traffic. My friend comes in a WI pantry, she likes it for putting shopping away but I wouldn't like walking thru pantry all the time, especially with anyone else coming home in the car with you. Likewise my laundry is often a work in progress, smelly footy boots, underwear hanging to dry etc - not a good impression for guests! What do other forummers think? Just wondering. Re: Internal garage access 2May 06, 2008 3:48 pm Our entry is via a mud room into the entrance area. We have a door on the mud room as well as the garage, this helps keep any cold draughts out in the winter. In the summer we vent the evaporative cooling through the garage. This allows us to keep the house locked whilst having the cooling running. Re: Internal garage access 3May 06, 2008 3:51 pm Ours come into the front entry - adjacent to the actual front door. Its a must have IMO, nothing worse than parking in the garage, then having to wal back out to the front door. Good for security too - you can close your garage door when you have driven in. Built Porter Davis "Dromana" 2007. Re: Internal garage access 4May 06, 2008 4:12 pm Ours will come into the study. I prefer it to come into the hallway, but like you we have rooms in the way, and didn't want to compromise the size of those rooms to make an extra bit of hallway or a mud room.
We'll also have a door coming from the garage to the veranda - not far from the front door. Don't think we'll use it much though. Re: Internal garage access 5May 06, 2008 4:16 pm For us it is a must and I recommend it to anyone considering it.
Ours enters the house just behind the front door, so in our front entrance area of the hall. We almost never use our front door ourselves (only for letting in visitors)... Re: Internal garage access 6May 06, 2008 4:19 pm Ours connects to the main entrance hall as well, but is somewhat obscured behind a feature nook in the entrance hall proper.
Having direct access was a must-have for us -- hate carting groceries around, so the shortest route = best! Re: Internal garage access 7May 06, 2008 4:57 pm In our last home it was straight into the study. In this home it will be into a hallway which leads to the kitchen / study / home theatre end of the home.
In my opinion it is extremely important to have internal access to the garage. Especially with babies / small children who have a tendency to fall asleep in the car and need to be whisked into the home and placed straight to bed without any interference Re: Internal garage access 10May 06, 2008 5:21 pm Absolutely necessity! Don't move walls if you don't want to but make sure you put in a door to somewhere. Where we currently live it feeds through the laundry into the kitchen which is great for bringing in groceries. In the house we are building it comes into the hallway at the front of the house. Fi has moved in!! Re: Internal garage access 11May 06, 2008 5:32 pm Our Clarendon house plan has a rear garage door opening to the hallway of study & laundry. However, as our garage is going to have a 932mm stepdown to comply with council gradient requirements, builder is not providing the door as there is no room to provide stairs to comply with council requirements. We will get a door put in after hand over and then settle for a small set of stairs . We are yet to figure out this. May be timber stairs? Re: Internal garage access 12May 06, 2008 6:19 pm I didn't get one. My original plan didn't have one but I was asked if I wanted to add one. If I'd added one it would've gone into my study and I didn't want that. I'm not too concerned about the rain though, if I go in the front door from the garage I'll only be exposed to the elements for about 2 steps and then I'll be on the porch. Received keys to my new home on 16/5/08 Re: Internal garage access 13May 06, 2008 6:25 pm Agreed with the general consensus above. Convenience is the main reason.
However, due consideration should be given to the potential for hazardous fumes to enter the home. Not just exhaust fumes, but volatile fuels & other substances stored there etc. The best thing is to have the garage separated from the home by a decent airspace, but with some form of protective shelter. Maybe a covered pathway or similar. This is a greatly overlooked aspect of most modern home designs. Indoor air quality should be given far more thought! Also, thought should be given to having good doormatting, to collect stuff from the shoes before entering the home. (A big doormat at the front door doesn't help much if 90% of foot traffic enters the home from the garage)! Ash. Re: Internal garage access 14May 06, 2008 6:44 pm Rav Our Clarendon house plan has a rear garage door opening to the hallway of study & laundry. However, as our garage is going to have a 932mm stepdown to comply with council gradient requirements, builder is not providing the door as there is no room to provide stairs to comply with council requirements. Hi Rav! We have EXACTLY the same issue - it would've needed an elevator practically.... We don't have internal access with our current house (I always worried abot the security aspect of it) but we did have a door at the rear of the garage. We had decided to go with internal access this time, then the step-down issue came up, so we changed it to a door on the side of the garage, to allow access down the side of the house. Then, they decided to put the rain-water tank there, so no door. Then......they moved the rain water tank without telling us to the other side of the house and now it's too late to add a door....Oh well, maybe we can arrange something after handover. Built a Clarendon 'Balmain' 2008 Re: Internal garage access 16May 06, 2008 8:25 pm In our new house, it has internal access to a hall way that is near the formal lounge, study and main bedroom.
I am looking forward to it, cant wait to be dry and warm when entering the house! Our current house has a verandah to walk under to get to the front door, but Im still excited about internal access. Paula Re: Internal garage access 18May 06, 2008 9:44 pm New house as an internal access from the garage and next week we are having an alarm put in that can be operated from the same fob as the garage door.
DW can come home push the button, open the garage door, disengage the alarm, close the garage door, and enter the house without getting her "do" wet. She's very happy..... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Internal garage access 19May 06, 2008 10:04 pm Our original plan have internal access door from the garage going to the hallway. But we changed the plan by moving the garage (made it wider) to include a mud room in between the garage and the hallway and closed off the mud room with a sliding door.
When you enter the house from the mud room, you will be facing the powder room, the laundry to the left, and the hallway to the right. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Built the Nevada 42 Next project - landscaping! Re: Internal garage access 20May 06, 2008 10:07 pm VJ Our original plan have internal access door from the garage going to the hallway. But we changed the plan by moving the garage (made it wider) to include a mud room in between the garage and the hallway and closed off the mud room with a sliding door. When you enter the house from the mud room, you will be facing the powder room, the laundry to the left, and the hallway to the right. I want your mud room!!! Paula For reference, this is the Austlii reference. My take on this is, that they would be breaking the law denying access to a homeowner in Victoria, or their agent from having… 1 10211 |