Is a separate garage cheaper?

At my place, a drink has never frozen nor a tool rusted in the unheated garage.

Maybe the OP should first define what he means by a garage. For me, it is an uninsulated, unheated building where you put cars, two-wheelers, and maybe a lawn mower.

A garage should always be well insulated and also heatable. And actually, my barn is the nicest place for me. You can make it very cozy indeed.

Although a proper garage should also have a refrigerator filled with beer.

Yes, I also agree with some men that they should have their sleeping place in the garage next to the (beloved) car :cool: ;)

For example, we keep our drinks in the garage. Also all the tools. Without the access, I would have to open the garage door every time or go into the garage via the terrace.

Wilder Süden puts it very aptly:

Well planned, you do not necessarily have to take the long way around to get into a garage.

Who really wants to constantly leave the house for a hammer or a bottle?!! Those who plan well have everything in the house and use the garage as intended and do not commit an administrative offense by the undefined use of the garage. If you look at it precisely…

I also find it practical to go directly from the car into the house without having to unlock a door first.

The intermediate door should also be designed to be burglar-resistant… at least it should be locked.

So we use the access to the garage at least as often as the front door.

If you like to do that and find it good as it is for you, then that’s okay.

And I also find the €15,000 a bit exaggerated.

No. On average, it would be about 5 sqm more space needed. Let’s just say roughly, beside the stairs the hallway leads towards the garage door, then it's about 3 sqm that you can’t use otherwise. However, these 3 sqm could be used as a storage room with small tool and bottle storage. Back then, when house designs and floor plans were still being discussed here, almost every floor plan was squeezed and built with this “must-have” in the standard floor plan.

But direct access to the garage with many square meters of additional space :p

The OP who asks here is asking elsewhere about cost savings… he is currently in the adding-up phase. Coming here with an oversized garage under the motto “go big or go home” is not helpful. Because I did not name these costs of the additional space in the garage for movement freedom at all. There was once a thread here where the builder dreamed of a garage almost twice as big as his house as a single person… Yes, I also like the King of Queens series :D

We also have a side door from the utility room, not directly into the garage, but only 1 m away from the garage,

That’s good – not only for a standard floor plan. You have many more planning options. Ideal for you because of your hobby. But to run a household of 4-5 people through a utility room is not ideal at all. Or you plan the front door near the gate – many properties allow this kind of planning. Especially since for most people the fear of rain increases the must-have nature of this passage door. Not the refrigerator ;)

Who wants to constantly leave the house just for a hammer or a bottle?!! Those who plan well have everything in the house and use the garage as intended and do not commit an administrative offense with the undefined use of the garage. If you take it literally…

I also have the mini hammer for a picture nail in the house. But I haven’t needed it for 4 months. And I also have a set of screwdrivers in the utility room. But what else do you constantly need? Right after moving in, I needed tools almost every day, then they stay inside. But now I hardly need the tools inside anymore, I mostly need them outside, so storage in the garden shed is better and there is less dirt in the house.

Power tool batteries and the batteries of the e-bikes have also been stored in the garage for years. I wouldn’t know why I should bring them into the house.

For Li-ion batteries, storage at 10-20 degrees Celsius is generally recommended. Some manufacturers nowadays also specify down to -10 degrees. Personally, I would rather avoid that; extreme temperatures are definitely a strain. And it often gets a bit colder here in winter as well.

Thank you very much for all the tips so far. How can I imagine your garage? Is it separate from the house?

Thank you very much for all the tips so far.
How can I imagine your garage? Is it separate from the house?

Yes, it is separate from the house, there is a gap of almost 1 m. But that just happened because the garage was already there (we had the old house torn down, the garage remained).
I'll attach a picture, the house is in it though