Getting your wife's car out of the garage-a poll.

[Tony Sade]

I recently dropped yet another hint to my wife that it sure would be great if she let me have the second bay of the garage for shop expansion. (My shop is stuffed into the other bay with most of my major tools on mobile bases.) She scoffed when I told her of all the stories of spouses I had read about who generously, selflessly agreed that cold weather and exposure to the elements was actually good for vehicles and who were willing to do anything they could to support their spouse's addiction, uh, I mean hobby. She suggested I "take a poll". So, I'd sure like to get a sense of whether experience supports my hoped-for takeover of the rest of the space. Be truthful, but a creative interpretation of the facts that would tend to support a fellow woodworker in his hour of need, would certainly be appreciated. ;)


Thanks,

[Jim Becker]

A nice Lexus sedan with heated seats and a remote starter is about your only hope...:D

Seriously, Dr. SWMBO doesn't mind parking outside, but it's largely because she's never had a garage for a car, anyway. I suspect she'd get used to it right quick, however. The one garage bay we have is reserved for the Kubota... :o

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mine is other, because during the summer, when there is no frost on the windows it is of course dear, whatever your little heart desires. During the winter when she would have to scrape windows and go out in the cold, it's you'd have a better shot at sleeping in the driveway than my car! :D

I can deal with that.... During the winter I use the whole garage, I just have to clean up her stall every night.

[Tyler Howell]

You may win the battle but you will never win this war. Best to start planning your separate, free standing shop.;)

[Brad Schmid]

OK, 2 factors contributed in my case :)

1) I have a 3 car garage, 1 16ft door and 1 7ft door. The 7 ft bay which I offered doesn't have an automatic opener. That translates to "too much trouble".

2) Sawdust all over the car wasn't all that appealing to her :D

bam! 3 bay shop ;)

Brad

[Bruce Page]

Tony, when my wife & I bought our home, I told her that she could do anything she wants with the house, but the garage was mine. When we bought a new car a few years later she said how nice it would be to park it in the garage, I was scared but I stuck to my guns. When we bought the next new car several years later, she didn’t even ask!
I religiously clean the snow & ice from her car – even if I’m not going into work that day.

[Keith Starosta]

My wife agreed to letting me take over the entire attached two-car garage, if I am still able to pull the family truckster in during bad weather. No problem!!! That's what they make portable bases for!!! :D

Keith

[Robert Cox]

It just kind of happens. One day the car won't quite fit. And soon she doesn't even try anymore.

Remote starter is a plus.

Cleaning ice and shoveling snow is de rigeur.

Of course, my garage is filled with crap. 2 dressers in the throes of stripping, some, not many, tools, mower, bikes, etc.

[Dan Gill]

You can put a car in a garage? That's a new concept . . . Thankfully, here in north Texas we don't have much snow or ice.

[Joe Mioux]

Well I have a twist to this issue. We have an oversized two car garage. It is 24' wide (two garage doors on this side) and 32" deep. My wife says we need a 3 car garage. I tell her that we have the equivalent of a 3 car garage now just without the third garage door. SHE says well then you need to build a new detached or attached workshop/storage building. I say we can't afford to do that right now.

Sometimes LOOL's really do understand.:)
Joe

P.S. Her minivan WILL ALWAYS overnight in the garage. I know not to even ask.

[John M. Cioffi]

My answer to the pole was - other. My reason is when we were in the process of purchasing our home,She said, you will even have a 2car garage for a shop. I asked, what about you using it for the car.
Her reply,with a wave of her hand was, I don't have any interest in it,never have. use it for your shop.
Best part is, when I decided to gut & rebuild the inside, she was right there tearing out the old walls & helping to insulate,ect.!!!
All I can say is,WOW!!!
John, a VERY BLESSED Woodworker.

[Rob Russell]

I've never really even seriously gone there.

We did an addition on our house. For her hot tub. The construction materials kicked my car out of the garage. 'Nuff said?

[Wes Bischel]

This is one of those questions that reminds me how lucky I am. My shop is in the back corner of the basement. The 24x24 detached garage I built when we first moved in is now occupied by a '54 Chevy 210 (it came with me to the marriage) and a '69 Falcon wagon (the "truck"). Both our daily drivers sit in the driveway. Now, to be fair, the first six years she had one bay and when we bought the Falcon she moved outside.

Good god, I have too many hobbies.

I guess it's time for some flowers - just because. :)

Wes

[Lloyd Brown]

We have only one truck (no car). So , no self respectable red-neck would park a Working F-150 in a 24x 38 pole barn. It is all MINE, heated and insalated. I tell everone the big door is for plywood and ventalation in the summer. Now if the truck is broke , then , well of coarse. You don't think I am going to work outside when there is a warm shop.

[Jim Fancher]

It was easy for me. Our Honda Odyssey didn't fit very well in our two car garage. Now I have the whole thing to myself. Well, my Wood Geek stuff and Car Geek stuff cohabitate there fairly well.

Any other Odyssey owners out there? I own a little website called OdyClub.com. :D

[Dennis Peacock]

Now...this is PRE-Arkansas.......when I did NOT have a dedicated shop.

Before I even finished building the house.....I simply told the LOML.....

Of course you know that my shop is in the garage and the cars will sit in the driveway. She replied back with.....Ok....as long as you have room for your shop is what's most important.

Cars are made for outside use.....not left sitting inside some part of your house.!!!!!

[Bart Leetch]

We don't have a garage now because we live in one apartment complex & work there & the complex next door. But the LOML knows that when we move into our own place if we don't have a stand alone shop the garage will be completely occupied with shop tools & wood. :)

[Bill Grumbine]

Tony, we have 10 - that's right! - 10 bays where a vehicle could be stored out of the weather. Well, mostly out of the weather for some of them, but we still park outside! Between my shop, which took over the garage, the barn, and two sheds that have 5 bays between them, we could park inside if we really wanted to, but the hike from the house is too far in bad weather as far as she is concerned.

Half my family is from WV. I never knew anyone down there who actually parked in a garage, even if they had one!

Bill

[Dave Right]

My truck sat outside for may years and as I got more tools it started to
infringe on her side making it very difficult to open the drivers side door since she had to park so far over. When the discussion came to a separate building
the only thing she needed to hear was that the entire garage area would be hers to park anywhere she wanted to. SOLD ! Started construction 4 months later. Both of us are extremely happy on the outcome.

[Wade Samuelson]

We're still in our "starter" home which only has a single garage with a little storage room on the side. The garage is filled with all our stuff and the storage area is now my shop. We both park out in the elements. I think it's working out marvelously because she is becoming conditioned NOT to expect to EVER think that she will park inside. Then...when we move....the garage will be MINE! ALL MINE!!! Muhhh huwahhh hah hah!!!

(yeah. right.)

[Dominic Greco]

The moment we moved into the house, I had the garage so filled up she never got the chance to move the car in! :D

Oddly enough, this has been a topic of discussion lately. I get the old "What am I supposed to do when it's raining or snowing?". My reply is, "Pull up to the porch and walk the 3 feet into the house!"

However, she doesn't complain (as much) when it's winter time and I start, warm up, and clear her car off for her. By the time she gets to it, the car is all nice and toasty and clear or snow/frost. My point, a little good will goes a long way.

[Jerry Olexa]

We have a 3 car garage which helps but we still pull out one of the cars (sometimes Both)when Im woodworking. The excuse errrr I mean reason is...sawdust will get all over the car(s). My wife is very accomodating about this altho I did build her a craft area, bench etc in the basement so we coexist.

[Richard McComas]

This is an easy one. My wife knows that vehicles were made to be outdoors and woodworking machines were NOT. It's that simple.

[Chris Rolke]

i will have to post a couple of pics of my setup ( the wife doesnt care to park in the garage ) but i have a 1968 camaro that i keep at my house during the summer and keep in the garage ( it stays at my parents house during the winter ) so i feel like moses ( part the tools the car needs to go back on the garage )

i makes it interesting to say the least

[Ellen Benkin]

My "other" is NO.

[Rich Konopka]

Wait a darn second. You have to ask???

Only Kidding..:D

Ask me why my shop is in the basement??:(

[Jim Ketron]

You could say well you can have both bays and I will build a detached shop 40x40 and it will cost 30,000 or I could just use both bays and it won't cost anything:D

Jim

[Michael Stafford]

Jim Ketron, Is that how you got your new shop? Putting your foot down works every time. Last time I tried it I had to have mine removed from my mouth and hers removed from somewhere else. At my house I get to make all the important decisions, she just tells me which ones are important. The car is in the garage and I'm in my doghouse, er, shop.

[Mathew Nedeljko]

Being originally from Canada, I guess the thought of having the shop out in the garage during the winter was never seriously considered as an option. I've been in the basement since I started, and SWMBO has been very patient with me, especially in the beginning before the dust collector!

Now that I'm in balmy Cincinnati, I guess I could have set up in the 3 car garage, but hey, why would I give up the air conditioning in the summer and the heat in the winter? :)

Now if only I could only have found a house with a walkout basement, I woudn't have to struggle nearly as much with getting those 4x8 sheets down the stairs!:eek:

[Kelly C. Hanna]

My wife said, as long as my car gets inside when it hails, you can have the garage for anything you want. http://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gifhttp://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gifhttp://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gifhttp://sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[markgoodall]

Yup, I've got a white 2001 Honda Odyssey, parked next to my blue 2001 EZ-GO golfcart in my 2 car garage. My silver 2004 Camry Solera must park outside.

The van and cart share the garage with a Unisaw, DJ20, 60-gallon compressor, lathe, CMS station, 14" bandsaw, DeWalt planer, DeWalt scroll saw, Newton belt sander, router cabinet, 18"-36" drum sander, pneu.sleeve sander..... and those are only the machines on stands/cabinets...... oh, plus 3 benches and the DC.... oh and the water heater. Every sqaure inch of floor space is accounted for in there.

Needless to say, if I need anything more than a screwdriver, I need to drive the van or cart out. There's only a foot or two of space around each vehicle.

Hey, that odyclub.com is yours! Very cool! I LOVE that place. I found it last year when I was looking to get a trailer hitch for the Odyssey. Was going to spend $425 at the dealer when I discovered I could get it online for $99 with free shipping. Ya, that OdyClub.org is great.

[Jim Fancher]

Glad to hear that the site helped. :) I sent you a PM.

Happywoodworking.com is great! I was just on there Monday.

[Glenn Clabo]

Dr. LOML = "YOU have a better chance of being pregnant!" And she's a nurse who knows a whole lot about how impossible that is.

And Jim...a nice new Volvo with heated seats only made it worse. I'm in the basement for life.

[Mark J Bachler]

She went to work in the morning.

The delivery truck came at 1 pm.

She came home at 5 pm.

1400 pound saw sitting in the place where the car was.

Too heavy for her to lift, I guess it stays then.

[Dan Stuewe]

We started with a three-car garage with the small bay for my shop. We put LOML's Camry and the '71 Vette on the other side (my car in the driveway). A couple years ago when we redecorated all that moulding and wood for the wainscoting had to go somewhere...so the Camry is in the driveway and the Vette is still inside. My shop is still on the small side, but to do most anything I have to move things to the driveway or to the other side.