Separate But Equal - 4 Tips For Designing The Perfect Detached Garage
Adding a detached garage to your home gives you a chance to add space to the layout and help ensure that both you and potential buyers love the home. But, creating the right look and feel to your garage while marrying it to the house takes a bit of planning ahead. Here are 4 key aspects to building the right way.
Don't Let it Detract
Generally, a detached garage should sit back from the front entrance and street so as to avoid overpowering the home itself. Your local zoning requirements may make this mandatory, too.
Place the garage close enough to the house to be easily accessible via a walkway or breezeway, but keep it separate enough that it doesn't lead guests' eyes away from your beautiful home. Rather than install a large blank garage door, look for an overhead door with window embellishments or a carriage style door.
Match the House
While you want the garage to be a separate unit, it should complement the home in many ways. Match architectural styles and even a few features of the house, such as the roof pitch, dormers, and other exterior materials. Likewise, the overhead garage door material should be of a similar vein to the home's exterior entrance or window styles.
You'll likely want to come up with a complementary color palette as well, although it doesn't need to be a perfect match. Hardware is another good way to make the two buildings seem like a package, so look for garage door hardware that melds well with your front door trimmings.
Size it Right
Because a detached garage can be more expensive than an attached one and it sits away from the house, it can be hard to get the size just right. The space available may limit your options or it may just make the new outbuilding seem smaller or larger than it really is. And some homeowners simply misjudge the amount of use a detached garage will get.
Avoid these problems by working with your contractor during the planning stages. A garage should be at least a few feet wider than the width of all cars expected to be parking there. And, if you don't have any other outdoor space to work in, don't underestimate the tendency to do work inside the garage.
Wire it Up
Be sure you wire the garage for electricity and possibly running water. Many people use their garage as a shop, so you'll want to plan ahead to make the space useful. At a minimum, be sure to run electrical connections for interior and exterior lighting.
If you plan to do more than just park inside, you may also want to include some 20 amp electrical connections for power tools and even plumbing for a sink or toilet.
Planning the right size and space for your detached garage will help you create just the right building to make your home look great and feel more complete.
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