Garage (residential)
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A residential garage (/ˈɡærɪdʒ/ or /ˈɡærɑːʒ/; Latin meaning: [gōː-raːgɛ]) is a walled, roofed structure for storing a vehicle or vehicles that is part of or attached to a home, or which is an associated outbuilding or shed. Residential garages typically have space for one or two cars, although three-car garages are used. When a garage is attached to a house, the garage typically has an entry door into the house. Garages normally have a wide door which can be raised to permit the entry and exit of a vehicle, and then closed to secure the vehicle. A garage protects a vehicle from precipitation, and, if it is equipped with a locking garage door, it also protects the vehicle(s) from theft and vandalism.
Some garages have an electrical mechanism to automatically open or close the garage door when the homeowner presses a button on a small remote control. Some garages have enough space, even with cars inside, for the storage of items such as bicycles or a lawnmower; in some cases, there may even be enough space for a workshop or a man cave. Garages that are attached to a house may be built with the same external materials and roofing as the house. Garages that are not connected to the home may use a different style of construction from the house. In some places, the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that, while roofed, is not completely enclosed. A carport protects the vehicle to some degree from inclement weather, but it does not protect the vehicle from theft or vandalism.
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Residential garage insulation
In northern climates, temperatures inside an uninsulated attached residential garage can decrease to freezing levels during the winter. Temperatures inside an uninsulated attached garage in temperate climates can reach uncomfortable levels during summer months. Extreme temperatures can be a source of energy waste and discomfort in adjoining living areas, due to heat transfer between the garage and those areas. Homes with an attached garage often experience this "interface" problem. Insulating only the outside of the building against the elements without extending the insulation to the garage walls and roof is a costly mistake.[1]
In Australia
Australian homes typically have a two, one and a half or double car garage, with some newer houses having a triple garage, with one double door and one single door. Prior to the 1970s most of them were detached from the house, usually set further back with the driveway leading up past the side of the house, common with old fibreboard houses, but not uncommon with earlier brick houses. The most common doors on these garages were either 2 wooden barn style doors with a standard sized access door on the side of the garage, or the B&D Rolla Door, which is described below.
The most common garage door to date in Australia is the B&D Rolla Door, having been around since 1956 and still in heavy use today. They are a corrugated flexible but strong sheet steel door, sliding up tracks and rolling around a drum mounted above the door opening on the inside of the garage. These come in manual and remote controlled electric (known as the Control-a-Door), with conversion kits available. Locking is provided by a key lock in the centre of the door moving two square sliding lock bars in and out of holes in the door tracks, locking and unlocking it, or by the solenoid lock in the automatic motor.
Newer homes feature more American styled tilting panel lift doors which slide up onto a track on the ceiling via a motor and chain drive. Since the late 1970s most if not all garages are attached, and throughout the 80's it became more common to have an access door into the home from the garage where design permitted, whereas it is commonplace now. Most older unit (apartment) blocks in Australia have garages on the ground floor accessible through a common hallway and access doors, all leading into a common driveway. Newer ones now have underground parking.
In the United Kingdom
British homes featuring a garage typically have a single or double garage either built into the main building, detached within the grounds (often in the back garden), or in a communal area.
The common term for these structures in the first decades of the 20th century was motor house. Traditionally, garage doors were wooden, opening either as two leaves or sliding horizontally. Newer garages are fitted with metal up-and-over doors. Increasingly, in new homes, such doors are electrically operated.
Typically, a small British single garage is 8 by 16 feet (2.4 m × 4.9 m), a medium single garage is 9 by 18 feet (2.7 m × 5.5 m), and a large single garage is 10 by 20 feet (3.0 m × 6.1 m). Family sedans have become bigger than they were in the past, so the larger size has become a preferred option. A typical large family car like the Ford Mondeo is about 15 by 6 feet (4.6 m × 1.8 m), meaning that even with the larger size garage, it is necessary to park to one side to be able to open the driver's door wide enough to enter or exit the vehicle.
In the early days of the motor car, a garage played in important role in protecting the vehicle from the weather (particularly so as to reduce rust). It was also the case that early motor cars started more easily when they were warm,[2] so that keeping them in a garage rather than outside made it easier to get the engine going in the morning. Modern motor cars, however, are very well protected against rust, and modern engines start with no difficulty even in very cold conditions.
In North America
Many garage doors open upward using an electric chain drive, which can often be automatically controlled from inside the resident's vehicle with a small radio transmitter.[3] Garages are connected to the nearest road with a driveway. Interior space for one or two cars is normal, and garages built after 1950 usually have a door that connects the garage directly to the interior of the house (an "attached garage"). Earlier garages were often detached and located in the back yard of the house, accessed either via a long driveway or from an alley.
In the past, garages were often separate buildings from the house ("detached garage"). On occasion, a garage would be built with an apartment above it, which could be rented out. As automobiles became more popular, the concept of attaching the garage directly to the home grew into a common practice. While a person with a separate garage must walk outdoors in every type of weather, a person with an attached garage has a much shorter walk inside a building.
Garages are often found where the attic entrance is located. Also used to store tools, bicycles and lawn equipment most garages have unfinished concrete flooring. Some garages include a separate storage room to partially alleviate this problem.
Around the start of the 21st century, companies began offering "portable garages" in the United States. Mostly, these garages are made of metal and do not connect to the house or other structure, much like the garage built before 1950. Many homeowner's associations frown upon the installation of these nonconforming buildings, but still, their popularity is increasing.
Garage flooring companies can install flooring products that are not generally available to the homeowner, providing a coating system that will last many years. These include epoxies, stained concrete and modular garage tiles (PVC vinyl, polypropylene or other polymers) to name a few.
Notable garages
The first planned private garages appeared long before 1900. Early examples of planned public garages appeared at the same time. The first recorded public parking garage in the US (Electric Vehicle Company Garage,[4] Chicago) was build in 1898, in the UK (Christal Palace Garage,[5] London) in 1900 and in Germany (Großgarage der Automüller G.m.b.H.,[6] Berlin-Wilmersdorf) in 1901.
One of the oldest surviving private garage in Germany today is the 1903 finished Automobil-Remise (automobile carriage house) of Villa Esche by Henry van de Velde. Carl Benz, the inventor of the automobile, had a tower built for himself in 1910, on the first floor a room for studying, on the ground floor car parking space. It still exists in Ladenburg, Germany.
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Chemnitz Villa Esche Remise 2005.jpg
Automobil-Remise, Villa Esche, Chemnitz (Germany), 1903
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Dr-Carl-Benz-Garage.jpg
Dr.-Carl-Benz-Garage, Ladenburg (Germany), 1910
Hewlett-Packard of the Silicon Valley started its business in a garage. That garage, the HP Garage, is now a museum.[7]
Gallery of special garages
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Seattle - 1047 Belmont Pl E garage.jpg
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Kantoor en garage van de Gouvernements Automobieldienst TMnr 60021702.jpg
1919
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Paulina Driveway 1938 Russell Lee.jpg
1938
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Strasbourg-Hôtel Brion (10).jpg
Garage of Hôtel Brion (1904)
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Savigny-sur-Orge 081.jpg
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Ost Dřevěná garáž.JPG
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2012-01 Wiederitzsch 03.jpg
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Bochum Dahlhausen - Dr.-C.-Otto-Str. 186 01 ies.jpg
Carhouses
Garages in the United States and Canada used to store streetcars and buses are often referred to as carhouse or car barn. These storage facilities are either metal or brick structures used to store streetcars or buses away from the elements. In Britain they are referred to as bus depot or depot.
See also
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Look up garage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Garage. |
References
- ↑ "How to make your home energy efficient"; Howstuffworks.com
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- ↑ Shannon Sanders McDonald: The parking garage. Design and evolution of a modern urban form, Washington 2007, p. 16
- ↑ Kathryn A. Morrison, John Minnis: Carscapes. The Motor Car, Architecture and Landscape in England, New Haven/London 2012, p. 167
- ↑ René Hartmann: Die Hochgarage als neue Bauaufgabe – Bauten und Projekte in Berlin bis 1933 (Magisterarbeit), Technische Universität Berlin 2009
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
