Yes I have a garage

[Scottpat]

Yes, I have a garage. You just can't see it from the driveway!

You just have to wonder sometimes what folks are thinking. This was today's little shack of an inspection. The buyers asked me what would be involved in making a driveway to the garage. The owner said it would take only a few thousand dollars! And did I fail to mention that all driveways must be made from concrete in this subdivision!

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The big view! The driveway or parking pad is at the top right in front of the house!

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[kurt]

Those are some teeny tiny windows on a very large expanse of wall. Pretty ugly.

And, that would be about a $20,000 driveway, wouldn't it?

[Bain]

Scott,

Is that the primary garage? Or is it the golf-cart/riding-mower garage? Around here, the secondary garages seldom have an actual driveway.

[Scottpat]

That was the only garage! I thought the same when I pulled up to the house. They had a huge I mean huge parking pad and circular drive near the front door. It almost looked like they were going to put in a detached garage. The owner is the builder and this was his first house, he said his wife was the architect. Her diploma said she graduated with a Civil Engineering degree from Duke in 2002.

I think that they are in debit to their eyeballs and ran out of money to finish the house. The basement was unfinished, most windows had no blinds or curtains. It also had really low grade appliances in it.

[kurt]

I think these sorts of problems are epidemic w/the current (or actually, past) building boom. Folks w/no idea of anything related to design or construction start imagining they're architects.

I bet that somewhere in that house is a defining feature or moment, like a massive entry hall w/chandelier, or a MBR extravaganza but w/cheap fixtures because they ran out of money. Given the look of that house, I'll bet the defining feature was simple cubic volume, and nothing else.

The sure as heck didn't think about glazing, orientation, or views, that's for sure. One can always tell the newbies; they build these whacko huge houses, but scrimp on windows.

[hausdok]

Hi Kurt,

I agree with everything you were saying but I bet that she painted herself into a corner with the size of that house because energy codes limit the amount of glazing that you're allowed to have. I'm guessing that the original "vision" had larger, grander windows and then the municipalit snapped them back to reality. She could have gone back to redesign, but she was married to her original design, thus the dinky windows.

That's my uninformed theory and I'm stickin' to it dammit!

Next: My theory on why McDonalds lost the bid to build the other half of the St. Louis arches.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

Mr. O', you're probably right.

Here in energy wasting Chicago, things like energy codes take a complete backseat (we didn't even have any until about 2 years ago) to things like massive kitchen ranges, or how many spray heads can one jam into a MBR shower.

Didn't they hear? Less Is the New More.

Folks should get on the bandwagon.....

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by kurt

. . . One can always tell the newbies; they build these whacko huge houses, but scrimp on windows.

Perhaps that's what happened here.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

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[kurt]

They've probably got the interior covered w/aluminum foil to prevent the brain police from listening in....

[Jim Baird]

Scott,

That gives a new definition of "starter home".

I have to agree with Kurt on the looks rating.

Looks like something a civil engineer would design, more like a bridge or a bomb shelter. It reminds me of a Civil War fort I saw on the Outer Banks last year built in 1830 that contained 3 million bricks. The brochure described it as "a good example of a brick fort".

The fort was seized by the Confederates at the outbreak of war and retaken a cpl of yrs later by a single emplacement of a mortar out on the beach. The rebel fort commander who surrendered was all of 26 yrs. old.

By the way, those deck columns look close to violating the 10 to 1 limit on height to least width dimension.

[hausdok]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

Originally posted by kurt

. . . One can always tell the newbies; they build these whacko huge houses, but scrimp on windows.

Perhaps that's what happened here.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

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Hmmm,

Speaking of a fort. Those are nice looking sally ports up there in the front of that bunker, Jim. Bet with the right weaponry, they can hold off a whole hord of Watchtower totin' LDS missionaries, magazine contest kids, cookie-sellin' brownies and FBI agents. [:-eyebrow

OT - OF!!!

M.

[bandag]

And wouldn't you think that a heavy rain would send a lot of water down that hill towards the garage door? They are going to have to get that fixed before they ever sell that house. build a driveway and possibly a retaining wall next to it.

[Terence McCann]

Originally posted by kurt

Those are some teeny tiny windows on a very large expanse of wall. Pretty ugly.

Your're right. I couldn't put my finger on what looked so strange until I read your post and looked at the picture again.