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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DH and the bloody sodding double garage!!!

104 replies

Pumpertrumper · 23/12/2020 06:54

DH and I had a bit of a set to yesterday.
We rarely argue but he drives me mental over the double garage!

When we bought the house we were so excited about the amazing storage space. We don’t keep cars in it as have a large private drive.

But EVERY.SINGLE.TIME I suggest we put something in the garage DH reacts like I’m asking him to drop it directly on his testicles.
Moaning, groaning, eye rolling and complaining. Muttering under his breath and claiming there’s ‘no room’ and he’s ‘fed up’ with it being such a mess.

There is plenty of room. Lots of floor space and easy to walk around in.

It’s a mess because DH uses it for all his stuff and doesn’t tidy it but it’s nowhere near ‘full’ or even ‘cluttered’.

There are several piles of things that need taking to the tip. I’m pregnant and they’re too much for me to move alone but DH never gets around to it and just seems to enjoy complaining.

I’ve suggested he get a skip in (there’s not enough to justify it- but the way he talks you’d think he’d fill 15) but again he’s not organising it- just complaining.

Does anyone else’s DH get this possessive over the blooming garage?

OP posts:
Neenan · 23/12/2020 09:27

Shut equals shit

Pyewhacket · 23/12/2020 09:29

The other half has the freezer, lawnmower, barrow and gardening tools, plus the hoover and a box of cleaning products.

Jeeze, try and put that in our garage and you'd find it all piled-high in a skip the very next day, with no excuse or apology.

Dumbie · 23/12/2020 09:51

This is my DH to. Moaning about how full it is all the time (it isn't)

But dare I suggest we ditch the precious boxes for the TV, monitor or other electrical item. The death stares!!

5zeds · 23/12/2020 10:02

Just take the things out yourself and store them where you like. There can’t be that many things you can’t carry when pregnant and even if there are pregnancy isn’t going to last forever. I think the problem here is more an expectation that he should do the heaving.

Fbtw · 23/12/2020 10:08

To be fair I don’t know why you can’t lift a snuzpod yourself. It doesn’t look that substantial and if you’ve another child you’re already going to be lifting things of that weight and awkwardness.

caringcarer · 23/12/2020 10:16

If double garage surely half each. My dh is very possessive of the garage and has it filled with his tools and ladders and stuff. I would not mind if he used the bloody tools to get little jobs finished. Every time I mention a little job he says 'it's on my
list'. The problem is nothing ever gets done from his bloody list.

RedToothBrush · 23/12/2020 10:18

I find that tidying gets done rapidly, when I say I'm going to tidy DH's stuff...

Charlie63849 · 23/12/2020 10:21

Get a skip and just chuck the crap in there yourself. Job done.

TheDogsMother · 23/12/2020 11:06

Mine is like this about the garage too ! During lock down I took the opportunity to declutter and put various bags in there (one for charity shop, one for tip etc) and I thought he might actually weep. I still don't know the full extent of all the tools and gadgets he owns and stores in there but he could pretty much stock Halfords and Homebase. He also has form for taking over other spaces including an open outbuilding which I came home to find doors had been fitted to it and it had been filled with more tools and stuff.

MrsExpo · 23/12/2020 11:17

Are you me OP???? Ours is integral to the house, so very easy to nip though the door from the kitchen and get in there, but the drama it creates when I put something in "his" garage has to be witnessed!! Like pp's it is partly carpeted too, with our old lounge carpet, but I issued death threats when he suggested I might "like to run the hoover over it now and again"

Like you, we don't keep cars in it, so it's a big open space, with shelves along the sides and wall cupboards, so it's where all the junk goes. It also has a radiator so I've taken to standing a clothes airer in there as well.

I've taken to ignoring his nonsense and pointing out that the house is "ours" (jointly owned) so I own half the garage and can do with it what I wish. Smile

2020iscancelled · 23/12/2020 11:26

Yes - but it’s the shed not the garage.

We actually converted our garage so our storage space is even more limited now.

Any time I say “oh we can pop that in the shed” it’s THERES NO BLOODY ROOM THE SHED IS FULL

It’s not sodding full it is just messy and hasn’t been organised nicely, also there are no shelves or hooks so everything takes up floor space.

Luckily we have a massive loft, so I just put all the random odds and sods up there.

Men are strange about this sort of thing.

AlanThePig · 23/12/2020 11:29

You think you've got it bad, do you know what DH has in his garage?

Another garage....

There is no room in there, he's now had to buy a shed. He has all sorts of alarms in said garage so knows when I'm in there and immediately texts to ask what I'm doing. In the end I bought my own tool box and store it in my craft room (which he never ventures inside).

I think the worst thing he did was put some nice little pull down steps into the loft so I can now put things up there myself.

Thewithesarehere · 23/12/2020 11:32

@frumpety

Skips are really expensive, what about one of those big rubbish bag things that they collect for you ? Or is DH one of those doesn't want to do it himself and doesn't want to pay someone else to do it types ?
What is that big bag thing? Please tell me. I have stuff to get rid of!
Wingedharpy · 23/12/2020 11:37

I hear you loud and clear OP.

My DH is also like this about the garage....and the washing machine......and the freezers - and don't get me started on the wheelie bins.

I've come to the conclusion that it's a bit like an animal scent marking.
It's a way of marking "his" territory.

I now just dump things in these areas and leave him to sort and assimilate said dumpings into whatever warped system he has going on.

FlippinNoah · 23/12/2020 11:45

So glad I'm single and can chuck my stuff with gay abandon anywhere I like!

SimplySusanna · 23/12/2020 11:50

We have a single garage that's crammed but organised -freezer, bike area, dh's work bench and tools, gardening stuff, recycling, outside toys etc.

It is wholly and completely dh's space to arrange and I wouldn't dare try to reorganise anything as he's very possessive over it. Which suits me just fine, I have no desire to go in there 😂

wink1970 · 23/12/2020 12:34

What on earth have you got in there?

We garage both our cars, and still fit in the usual workbench, freezer, camping stuff, tools etc. Mind you it is racked out - DH was doing that as we moved in, before we even unpacked!

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 23/12/2020 12:40

I would love to have my car in the garage. This is the stuff of dreams.,

FraughtwithGin · 23/12/2020 13:18

YABVU to have a double garage and not keep your cars in it.
If you have so much "stuff" that you need, essentially, 2 additional rooms to store it, I would seriously consider a major de-clutter.

Letsnotargue · 23/12/2020 16:46

My DP cleaned the garage out today. He moved the broken (by him) coffee table into the dining room ‘because it’s clogging up the garage’. He expected it to stay there over Christmas so his garage stayed tidy and was most upset when he got out of the shower and found it back where it belongs. Well, it actually belongs in the bin but one step at a time.

SimplySusanna · 23/12/2020 19:06

YABVU to have a double garage and not keep your cars in it. If you have so much "stuff" that you need, essentially, 2 additional rooms to store it, I would seriously consider a major de-clutter

Why on earth is that bu? Personal preference surely Confused

As for having too much stuff, that's seriously lacking in imagination. We could easily fill a double garage. We have 5 bikes in ours (4 adult size) which is a good start! 3 surfboards, 2 body boards, mower, Strimmer, freezer, a multitude of outdoor toys, camping stuff, large double work bench, tools, a recycling area etc. It's not hard to imagine.

ScarletORyan · 23/12/2020 19:10

I'm not allowed to keep anything in the double garage! The loft is also mostly occupied by DH's stuff. He has a hoarding problem 🙁

CardoMondo · 23/12/2020 19:31

I could have wrote this. We were excited to move to a house with a double garage and large driveway and had all sorts of plans for it ... yet as soon as we moved in DH put all his shit in there and it had become “DH’s storage space”. I’m not even allowed in there without permission

RickJames · 23/12/2020 20:23

It's like a special storage sickness. My DH converted our double garage - it's under the house - into a gym/ yoga space. Lovely, no grumbles from me. But now he spends time getting really wound up about the winter/summer tyres and moving his tools and junk between the storage rooms. I asked him what his plans were for Christmas, expecting something along the lines of food, sports, play with DC.. no, he got a fanatical look in his eyes and said he was going to fix up the storage rooms. He keeps muttering about me taking up space with seasonal decorations, DC's toys, and our sports/ seasonal clothing. I just ignore it now, it's just too strange and pointless to award mental space/ time to. It's a genuine source of anxiety to him, yet he preserves the most useless things and thinks up fantastical plans to deal with it all. Otherwise he's okay/ normal.. I just remember when we lived in a flat and had a small cage in the basement to keep bikes in. He was a lot happier then. Never buy a house with a full basement or significant outhouses unless you are willing to risk your husband turning into Storage Gollum.

dontlikebeards · 23/12/2020 20:37

I think you are married to my husband 😂