How essential is a door from the house to the garage??

[TheSortingCat]

We are just starting to redesign our kitchen at the moment, and were wondering about bricking up the internal door which connects the house to the garage. The garage would still have the up and over door at the front, and then a door which accesses the garden at the back. It would make the 'flow' of the kitchen much better, and obviously give us more counter/cupboard space.

But I am worried about whether this would be a problem for potential buyers in the future? Would it put you off from buying a house if you had to go outside to get into the garage?

[LoveVintage]

No, personally I think it's a bit weird accessing your garage from the kitchen. Much better to improve the flow of the kitchen.

[yomellamoHelly]

Lots of people I know have their machines / extra freezer out there. We had to put one in when we converted our garage which was an expense it would have been nice to avoid. But if you're using it as a garage it would not put me off.

[GraceGrape]

I think it depends how much you use your garage. If you don't have a separate utility room it could be useful to keep a tumble drier/freezer in the garage which would need regular access. If you only keep stuff in there that you don't use a lot it would be ok. Unless you're planning on selling soon,do whatever works best for you.

We actually just had a door put in from the house to the garage and it's made a big difference to us because we use the garage a lot. The fact that it didn't have one before didn't stop us from buying the house.

[TheSortingCat]

Yes, that was something which had occurred to me - I think we will have to put the tumble out there when we have re-done the kitchen. We rarely use it, so it doesn't particularly bother me, but it might be more of a problem for people who use it more.

[cashewnutty]

In our current house you need to come out the house to access the garage. It doesn't stop me going out in the dark, cold, rain to get another bottle of wine! I have had a house where the garage was accessed from the house. it was good but not being able to do so isn't a deal breaker. Our previous house had the garage at the end of the long garden and i still went out in the dark, cold, rain to get more wine!

[TheSortingCat]

We will have room in the kitchen for a american style fridge freezer, so we won't need to have another freezer in the garage. It would really only be the tumble drier.

[TheSortingCat]

You're all making me think we should go ahead and brick it up.

One other question is whether or not you use your tumble drier more when you have a baby? We are ttc at the moment, and it would be annoying to brick up the door, thinking that we won't need to use the tumble drier much, then have a baby, and find that all the extra laundry means that we wish we had easier access to the drier!

[Adarajames]

It'll be one less door to defend when the zombies come out to get you! overactive imagination you say?? Noooo not me!!

[Finola1step]

Door to garage not essential but definitely preferred.

Tumble drier used more with a baby - absolutely, without a doubt. And the some during the toddler, potty years. Not to mention to school uniform, sports wear years.

Keep the door.

[Looserella]

We don't have a door into the garage. It means more usable wall space in the utility room and a nice long shelving unit at the back of the garage for man stuff. It's fine, I never really go in the garage but if my tumble drier or extra freezer (have you seen how tiny the American fridge freezer ones are?), it would drive me nuts having no internal access.

[shinysparklythings]

Door to the garage a huge bonus! I love it in our house and I don't understand why more houses don't have it. Our washing machine, tumble dryer and spare fridge freezer are in it and that internal door is a god send.

[PlainHunting]

Unless you have something vital in your garage - tumble drier, fridge etc - I can't see that it is essential.

We moved from a house with a door from the kitchen to the garage to one where you have to go outside and I haven't found it to be an issue.

[VulcanWoman]

It's handy.

[PlainHunting]

Sorry just spotted you will use the tumble drier there. In which case I'm in the essential camp.

I didn't use ours so much at the baby stage but is used all the time, and often in a tight time frame, once they're at school - uniforms, Sports kit, swimming stuff needing washing overnight etc.

[Snozwanger]

Our garage is not connected to the house and we don't have space for a freezer in the kitchen so have one in the garage. This was fine before I had my son but he cries if I leave him to go outside. I usually have to remember to get stuff out to defrost while he naps or DH is around. It's a pita. We couldn't afford to refit the kitchen to fit in a freezer.

[Viviennemary]

Our garage is detached but I would much prefer to be able to access it from the house. And if you have your tumble drier there I'd say the door was an essential. Going out in the rain or snow with washing would be awful.

[Kitsmummy]

I wouldn't compromise the flow of the kitchen to keep the door

[TheSortingCat]

Hmm, I'm not sure now. I might have another look at the plans and see if we can fit the tumble drier into the kitchen. That way, we wouldn't need to use the garage as frequently and getting rid of the door wouldn't matter so much.

[mandy214]

It depends. I agree that you will probably use your tumble dryer more with children but the decision for me would be based solely on what you'll be left with in the kitchen. If you can make the kitchen work, have enough storage and counter space, the flow of the kitchen works etc with the door in situ I would keep it.

If however you are compromising on the kitchen to keep the door, then I would brick it up. IMO, people would be more inclined to reject a house because the kitchen didn't work / have enough storage etc than the lack of access to the garage from the kitchen.

FWIW, I have always had washing machine / tumble dryer in a garage / utility room that cannot be accessed from the house. I actually prefer this - means we keep the windows open in the utility space come rain or shine to air clothes etc, and certainly when we had the garage, it felt safer (always think garage locks are nowhere near as secure as locks on a front / back door). So its not a security risk because there is no access from garage / utility into house.

[PigletJohn]

Your house will be more secure without it. Garage doors are notoriously easy to force open, and once out of sight in the garage, an intruder has access to tools and can enter the house with any noise muffled. Even a garden spade will take a door off its hinges in less than a minute.

[ClaudiaNaughton]

Really handy if you are loading up car in the rain and bringing in shopping.

[QforCucumber]

We have recently bought a new build house and the only thing we paid extra (£325) for is the integral garage door, however ours is at the back of the garage, which opens to the hallway at the bottom of our stairs.

Neighbour in the same style house didn't but has seen ours and wishes she had.
Our garage is used less as a garage and more as storage though, everything gets thrown in there and the internal access is a godsend.

Dp's brother is currently wanting to get internal access put into their house and it's costing a fortune as it has to be a fire door with specific locks and building regulations.

[PosterEh]

We have the same set up as you propose (garage as storage and tumble drier with no internal door). In our case there is a kitchen door then 2m further along the garden there is a door into the garage. It's really not a big deal to go between the two and I wouldn't let it ruin your plans for the kitchen.

[PosterEh]

Ps I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and still hang most washing up. Only use the td if the weather is terrible and I've got lots of loads to do at once.