HOUSE AND GARDEN 
94 
March, 1910 
Regulations as to construc¬ 
tion materials and arrange¬ 
ment of the garage vary con¬ 
siderably in various localities. 
Outside of the city limits of 
the more important centers, 
there are few restrictions, 
except those imposed by the 
Board of Fire Underwriters 
and the owner’s own desire 
for security. It naturally 
follows, however, that the 
building should be constructed 
in the safest manner, both to 
secure the best insurance rates 
and to anticipate more strict 
regulations for house and ma¬ 
chine which will undoubtedly 
come in the future. The floor should be of concrete, the 
walls of brick, concrete or porous tile plastered upon the 
outside. If the walls are of wood the studs should be dressed 
and exposed on the inside. If the floor alone is of wood the 
ceiling should be constructed of sheet metal of the simplest design. 
A better floor than this, particularly if there are living apartments 
above, is of reinforced concrete of one of the approved systems. 
The regulations for the garage built within the city limits of 
New York are strict and somewhat complicated. Some slight 
modification is allowed for the private garage where no gasoline 
is kept in storage and where the fuel tanks of motors are neither 
filled nor emptied, but this is only allowed on special permit from 
the Fire Commissioner. The architect planning a garage within 
the city limits should have these garage regulations at hand. 
They are easily procurable at the Fire Department headquarters 
and the writer is of the opinion that they should serve as a guide 
in planning a garage to be built at more remote points. 
The heating of the garage should be of steam or hot water 
preferably, brought from the dwelling in pipes laid in a trench. 
When this is not possible the heating 
room should be kept entirely separate 
from the rest of the building. A small 
coil can be put in to supply the hot water 
to the wash stand and sink and to the 
living apartment if there be one. 
Only incandescent electric lighting 
should be installed. 
Gasoline should always be stored in a 
tank underground and at least 10 ft. 
away from the walls of the garage. The 
New York City regulations require the 
tanks to be embedded in 12 in. 
of concrete. A suction pump 
fitted with hose connection 
and gauge are inside the 
building; vent, convenient 
syphon filler and a device 
for keeping the tank filled by 
water flowing in automatically 
as fast as the gasoline is 
pumped out are other practical 
accessories of a good storage 
tank. This latter device is 
particularly advantageous; it 
leaves no unfilled space at 
the top of the tank just above 
the liquid to become filled with 
inflammable and explosive 
gas. The arrangement of 
having two tanks of equal capacity is also good. The owner is 
then automatically notified to replenish his supply of gasoline 
long before it has run short. 
As to the cost: it is difficult to advise or suggest in an 
article of this sort. The prices of labor and building material 
vary so in different localities and at different times that esti¬ 
mates here would not be of particular value and might even 
be misleading. And then again the cost increases as the fire¬ 
proof qualities of the structure improve. The simplest form 
of a shelter for the motor, just large enough to house one machine, 
built upon brick piers with frame walls, shingle roof, wood floor, 
glass in the doors, no heating nor plumbing, costs about $250 in 
the vicinity of New York, and less in most more distant points. 
From this the price runs up. The so-called portable garages are 
not bad looking, but they seldom harmonize with the style of 
the house, are not inexpensive and their very name tells of their 
appearance of instability and their temporality. 
In conclusion the writer would suggest to the man who is 
building a new place, that he build a garage with a capacity of at 
least two cars. You may not own a motor, 
you may even dislike automobiles, but 
the time may come when you will acquire 
one, or if you sell the place its value 
is greatly increased over the additional 
first cost. In the meantime use the gar¬ 
age for something else. The vines and 
planting would have a fine chance to 
grow and mature around it. And you 
can secure a better contract price if the 
builder of your house puts up the garage 
at the same time. 
A garage at Chestnut Hill, Mass., with wash-room and repair room back 
of the car room on the central axis, permitting easy handling of the cars 
entirely under shelter 
Where a repair pit is planned it should have 
an outside escape 
The folding door is an ingenious feature of this Western garage, 
designed by Tallmadge & Watson, architects 
p? 
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> 
An abundance of windows make the interior of this Syracuse garage 
a convenient repair room. Alfred T. Taylor, architect 
