Show Notes:
Style Guide: Chapter 1: Parking Areas
- Section 1.2 Covered Parking
Residential Universal Design Specifications Discussed: Chapter 1: Parking Areas
- 1.1.4 Entrance height ≥ 8 feet
- 1.2.1 Covered and enclosed
- 1.2.2 Power door opener
- Additional – keypad entry must not be more than 42″ from the ground.
Transcript:
Sarah: [00:00:00] You’re listening to Good Fit Poor Fit. Our podcast is part of The UD Project, a small business rooted in occupational therapy that looks at how the design of a home environment impacts how well people of different ages and abilities perform everyday activities. We chat about this unique perspective to boost your knowledge and help you consider what can be changed in communities like yours.
Learn more about our work at universaldesign.org.
This episode is part of an ongoing series here on Good Fit Poor Fit. We’re going deep on residential universal design specifications, walking through every major area of the home with an occupational therapy lens. Along the way, you’ll hear stories about real people. Whose lives are shaped by the design choices we discuss.
Whether you are a rehab therapist, a designer, a builder, or someone thinking [00:01:00] ahead about your own home, this series is built for you. Start with episode 107 for the full picture. A good fit doesn’t happen by accident. Let’s get into it.
Sarah: Hi, Good Fit Poor Fit listeners. Rebecca and I are back and continuing to chat about parking specifications and tasks that can be made easier by changing up the design of a space.
Rebecca: That’s right. In our last episode, we talked about the actual space where you park, including the slope and the need for usable barrier-free space around the vehicle. Last time we did touch on the benefits of covered parking, but today we’re discussing more than that, including some often overlooked garage characteristics.
Sarah: If you live in a place that gets cold for the winter, jump into this moment with me. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been out and about running some errands. You get home, you pull into the driveway, and you sit in the car for a second because you know what comes next. [00:02:00] You have to get out, and it’s 22 degrees, and it’s dark, and the wind is doing something unreasonable, and everything you’re carrying is in the wrong hand, and the walk to the door feels very, very cumbersome. Most of us get through that moment, it’s unpleasant, we manage it, and we’re inside in 30 seconds, and we forget about it after we warm up and take off our down jackets and gloves. But for a lot of people, that moment isn’t just unpleasant. It’s a genuine barrier. It’s the thing that determines whether getting inside easily is something you can do on your own or not, whether you can manage the transition from a vehicle to a house safely, whether the errands you ran this morning or this afternoon is worth the cost of what comes after. Today, we’re looking at three things that sit right at that transition point: whether your parking is covered and enclosed, whether your garage door opening is actually tall enough for the vehicle you’re driving, and whether you can get that garage door [00:03:00] open. These sound like small details, yet when you look at all the details, it’s not that small at all.
Rebecca: Definitely not small, Sarah. I think these features, the garage enclosure, the height, and the door opening are ones that are often overlooked in design projects, not details people really drill down into, question, or explore what will really work, unless they have to. For example, could they need an accessible vehicle that’s taller than a standard garage.
It’s easy to think about these aspects of the design as conveniences or secondary features or even upgrades, but what we’re talking about are functional choices that build in flexibility and access into the garage. As we’ve talked about before in this series, and we’ll surely talk about again, the transition from parking to getting into your home can be a task that’s pretty automatic for a lot of people.
If you don’t experience barriers with it, you likely don’t clock just how many steps it involves: getting the car in the right spot, shutting the car down, identifying what things you need to bring [00:04:00] in, locating those things, finding your house key, holding your house key, picking up the things that need to go inside, opening the car door, stepping out of the car.
It goes on and on, and each of those steps, and the ones that come after them, require certain things from the environment. If the environment is not conducive to each one of those teeny steps, the task of getting into the house might not get done at all, or it might not get done safely. This task sequencing is something that we as OTs think about when we do home assessments.
Not just can this person get from the car to the closest, most accessible door, but what are all the steps inside that task, and where does each one create demand? So think about what actually happens between the moment you park and the moment you’re inside your home. There are at least eight or 10 distinct steps, and every one of them is harder, or in some cases impossible, when the environment is working against you.
Let’s think about a surface that’s icy or uneven, or temperature extremes for hot and cold that affect [00:05:00] stamina, or rain coming down making you wet and making mobility equipment slick. No place to set things down as you’re coming inside. Hands that aren’t free when you need them to be. Covered and enclosed parking removes some amount of environmental load from almost every step of that sequence, and for people managing mobility equipment, that distinction between covered and uncovered parking is particularly meaningful.
Sarah: And for some people, the transition from vehicle to entrance involves transferring into or with a mobility device or exiting a vehicle via a ramp or lift. Sometimes people store their mobility equipment on a hitch-mounted carrier. It’s on the back of their car, like scooters. The time and space those things require is real, and the environment either supports that or it doesn’t. you imagine Grandpa Fred getting out of his truck, then holding onto the side cab of the truck to walk to the back to [00:06:00] then lift his walker out of the bed of the truck? He’s most likely going at a slower pace and may dread the task when the weather is bad. The inconvenience can be solved by changing the location under cover. It’s not a disability problem. It’s just adjusting the environment.
Rebecca: Sarah, you also mentioned that it’s ideal for parking to be enclosed, and I think this is an important piece to call out specifically. Having a parking area that’s enclosed enables you to keep your things safe from the weather. For example, if you have a set of forearm crutches that you specifically use when you’re out for a day trip, having an enclosed garage would enable you to store those in there where they’re safe and where you don’t have to worry about bringing them all the way into the house each time you use them.
There’s also the obvious benefit of security when you can park in a fully enclosed garage. I also do wanna highlight here, though, that we know this isn’t possible for everyone. There’s a certain amount of privilege that you need to even have a choice as to whether your garage is enclosed or not, or whether you have a garage at [00:07:00] all.
And later on in this episode, we’ll talk more about other options at all different tiers of the price spectrum to ensure that you can create the safest, most barrier-free route from the car into your home
Sarah: That’s very true. And while we’re chatting about covered and enclosed parking, let’s talk about the height clearance, because this is where a lot of people get surprised. Most people assume that if they have a garage, it fits the vehicle that they have. But that assumption breaks down pretty quickly when you look at what space vehicles actually need. The specification calls for a minimum height entrance of eight feet. I do want to hold the specification lightly and keep listening to see why I’m saying this is definitely a minimum . Standard residential garage doors typically run seven to seven and a half feet. That gap matters the moment you add roof-mounted equipment for sports and leisure, like if you want to carry bikes and kayaks. There’s also luggage carriers that often sit on cars a bit [00:08:00] before and after vacations. You may or may not have seen wheelchair carriers. They mount on the roof of a car, and the chair nestles right on top of that carrier and then can be, electronically folded down, and those are more permanent solutions for some people to use their vehicle independently.
The vehicle that clears the garage fine without any add-ons suddenly must sit outside once equipment like these comes into the picture. When looking at different types of vehicles that become modified for accessibility, there are a wide variety of options. Some families choose larger vans that are taller vehicles.
Sometimes trucks are modified as well as SUVs. These are a tight fit with standard garage heights. Another scenario, if you have a large van to transport a lot of family members, you could be looking at a roof of over nine feet in height, like a Sprinter van. That would mean a ten-foot [00:09:00] opening, then twelve feet of ceiling height for more headroom for the garage door track and the motor above. It all of course depends on the height of the vehicle going into the garage and what you wanna put on top of it. That’s where you really need to consider the specification. And then there’s the garage door opener. The goal this spec is pointing toward is that you should be able to get your garage door open, the vehicle in, and push a button to close. Many garage doors are automatic these days, but there could be some manual options out there that require people to do an extra step of getting out of the vehicle, pulling open the door, getting back in the vehicle, and pulling it into the garage, and then getting out of the vehicle again to shut the door. Besides the traditional garage door button that you clip to a visor, there are even more smart options available, which we’ll get into a bit later.
Rebecca: That’s right. And so I know we wanna get into an example here, but before we do, I think it’s worth reiterating all the [00:10:00] things that we’re talking about here and everywhere else in this series is really to highlight the places where our environments could be working better for us. We’re not talking about challenges that individual people have completing certain tasks.
We’re not talking about challenges that individual people have completing certain tasks. We’re talking about situations where people’s environments haven’t been set up to support them in completing a task successfully, and that environment piece is manipulable.
Sarah: Exactly. People have to consider their own situations, and by providing discussion around these topics, we hope to provide ideas to increase function where it is possible.
We do want to drop in on someone today. You may have visited us in our last episode when we spent some time with Margaret. She’s 58, she has MS, and she’s been living with this diagnosis for about 12 years, and she drives a van with a side entry ramp. In the last episode, we talked about how this van doesn’t fit in her garage [00:11:00] because there’s not enough room for the ramp to fully deploy.
So she did a workaround and parks in the driveway. But today we want to spend a little time with her husband as well. Because his situation is a good reminder that garage height affects people without disabilities and the things they want to do too. So he drives an SUV. He’s active and he has a few friends that, um, does weekend bike rides when the weather cooperates, and he uses a rooftop bike rack to haul everything.
This has worked fine for years. The rack goes on, the bikes go up, and then they head out. But he’s never really thought twice about the garage, unitl Margaret started talking about how when the rack is on, they are both using the driveway as a workaround to bring in the groceries, and yes, taking up her room in the flat portion of the driveway. When they actually measured, the SUV with the rooftop rack, doesn’t even clear the seven-foot door. It [00:12:00] never did. He just didn’t see her perspective until she brought it up. He’d always loaded the bikes in the driveway and left from there. But now they’re having a different conversation about the garage, about what it would take to actually make it work for Margaret’s van and his hobby. Do they want to rethink their garage specifications and invest in a different covered option that’s taller and wider? That’s the thing about this spec. It has benefit for a variety of purposes.
Rebecca: Absolutely. And this point is one of my favorites to talk about when we talk about universal design. It’s not designed for one person who has specific or unique needs. It’s design that works better for everyone by including flexible and intuitive features. Case in point, Margaret and her husband. The garage isn’t really working for either of them right now, but for entirely different reasons and as they’re trying to complete totally different tasks.
Good design can serve both of them without singling either of them out. [00:13:00] So we’re at the point in today’s episode where we’ll talk about solutions for these garage challenges. We’ll talk about it in three layers: what you can do right now with little to no budget, what’s in the mid-range if you’re ready to make some targeted changes, and what does it look like when it’s built from the start or done as a significant renovation?
Let’s start at the beginning. Most people already have the primary tool for this, a remote clipped to the visor of their car, which you can press to open the garage door as you get close. You press it before you stop the car, the door’s open by the time you pull in, and you never have to get out to manage anything.
For many households, that works just fine, and if it’s working fine, there’s nothing to change here. Where it gets more interesting is with newer vehicles. Many cars built in the last decade or so have a built-in system, usually a set of buttons on the rearview mirror or the overhead console, that can be programmed to operate the garage door opener directly.
No separate remote, no visor clip, just a button that’s already in the car. If you have a newer [00:14:00] vehicle and haven’t set that up, it’s definitely worth taking a few minutes to do so.
Sarah: Additionally, it’s also helpful to take note here that the garage button on the inside of the garage most likely near the entrance to the home, is also at a reachable height for people seated or shorter in stature. I alluded to this a little earlier, but if the existing opener is old enough that it doesn’t support smartphone integration or an exterior keypad, a full replacement is a mid-range project if you’re into these technology upgrades. Garage door openers and systems have evolved as well with battery backups, smartphone integration, auto close timers, and keypad compatibility. Units are pricier, plus you would need to consider the cost of installation if you hire that out. It looks like some of these units offer voice activation and the ability to set a timer to make sure all the doors are closed and locked at a certain [00:15:00] time.
Exterior keypads also have a lot of great advantages. Someone arriving at the garage on foot without a remote, maybe a caregiver that’s coming into the house to help someone, family member, or a homeowner entering the code in a situation where a car isn’t involved. Something to consider is to make sure this is mounted at or below forty-two inches and it’s reachable for anyone seated or standing. That height matters as much as whether the keypad exists at all. And if you really want to get crazy, you can monitor and activate it all from your phone to open it even when you’re away from home. I know I have definitely driven away from my home and wondered if I shut the garage door. So some of these things could be helpful. If the garage door height is an issue, that cost depends on where you are in the door’s life if it’s even possible to install a taller door. The significant cost comes when you need to raise the header to accommodate the taller [00:16:00] door, which involves structural work and is definitely more into a project falling in our third tier category.
Rebecca: I also wanna note here that carports are definitely another option that can be mid-range for certain homes without garages, and I’m not just saying that as a proud carport owner. If this is something that sounds interesting to you, the style guide has examples of carport designs that integrate well aesthetically, so it doesn’t look like an afterthought.
Sarah: Yeah, there are a lot of great options out there. I agree that carports are a really good option when either designing from scratch or purchasing a pre-made structure. I, as a kid, definitely remember our carport and exactly where we kept our trash cans. It kept them in place when the wind was blowing around, and it provided cover from the weather.
We also had a bench to set down items as we were taking them inside and needed our hands to be free. Who knew that my parents were thinking about universal design even back in the ’90s?
Rebecca: That’s awesome. [00:17:00] So when a home has no garage or carport at all, the structural conversation opens up, and the options are wider than most people assume. A detached carport addition is often permitted and can be built in a range of aesthetics. The cost varies significantly by region and material, but a basic carport structure runs somewhere in the five thousand to fifteen thousand dollar range.
That’s a lot of money, but for those who can swing it, it’s also a worthwhile investment instead of continuing to manage the ongoing barriers of an uncovered parking to entrance route over years of living in place. An attached garage addition is also a larger project and a major financial commitment, but it addresses multiple specs at once: covered and enclosed parking, door height, and the protected connection to the home interior that we covered in our last episode.
For new construction and design stage decisions, building a garage with an eight-foot door or more instead of a seven-foot door provides flexibility for a variety of vehicle types [00:18:00] and uses. These decisions made at the design stage are fundamentally different in cost from the same decisions made twenty years later when everything has to be deconstructed and rebuilt around them.
If you’re a builder or designer working with clients right now, the single most useful thing you can do is not let the garage door height default to seven feet. It’s also helpful to be aware of the different types of vehicles that specific families might wanna use now and in the future. This will save a lot of money down the road.
Sarah: And here’s the thing I keep coming back to with covered parking. It’s one of those features that almost everyone can identify a need for with more convenience. But we’re just used to making it work because the design isn’t quite ideal, or that’s the only thing that the place you live offers. And by the time you need it for an accessibility reason, there or it isn’t. You can change a lot of things about a home. You can widen a doorway. You can swap out hardware. You [00:19:00] can put a grab bar in a bathroom that didn’t have one. But the presence or absence of a garage or carport is a structural reality that is generally hard to add on later due to the expense. So the takeaway I’d offer today is, if you are in any stage of thinking about a home, whether you’re building, renovating, buying, or helping a family member evaluate their situation, put the garage on the list, or carport, and make it bigger than you think you’ll need it. Whether it exists, what it connects to, how tall the door is, and how the door can be operated. Four questions that don’t take long to answer, and they’ll tell you a lot about how a home is going to function across a much wider range of situations than the ones you’re in right now.
Rebecca: And for anyone who already has a garage and is wondering whether this is relevant to them today, check whether your existing remote can be programmed into your car’s built controls. If your opener is older and due for replacement, that’s the moment to add a keypad on the outside mounted at the height that actually [00:20:00] works for everyone.
Small decisions like this at the right time make a meaningful difference. Next time we’ll be talking about the surfaces themselves, pathways, driveways, the material under your feet between the car and the door, and why some of the most popular landscaping choices in residential design are also some of the most significant fall risk factors we see.
That’s one worth staying for, but for now, we appreciate you listening, and we’ll be back soon.
Sarah: Thanks for listening to Good Fit Poor Fit. If you want to learn more… first, find more episodes with transcripts and show notes at goodfitpoorfit.com. Don’t forget to subscribe! Second, check out our courses at universaldesign.org.
We cover housing topics like advocacy, collaboration, home modification, universal design and task adaptations. Lastly, if you have questions or topics you’d like us to discuss, email us at [email protected]. Thanks for fitting us into your [00:21:00] day.
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