The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

(http://northatlanticgc.com/SNOUT_HOUSE_files/Snout%20House%20Renovation%20Contractor_1.jpg) (http://www.burbed.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/121214-snout-bouveron_small.jpg)

Tulsa has witnessed an invasion of Snout Houses in recent years. Sometimes disguised as McMansions, the most prominent feature of Snout Houses is their 2-, 3- or 4-car garages which project violently from the front of the house and toward the street, assaulting passersby with their ominous blank walls. Often, guests of the Snout Housers (the unfortunate occupants of said homes) have gotten lost trying to find the front door or a sign of human activity. What can we do to prevent this problem that has engulfed much of South Tulsa and the suburbs in a blaze of monotonous tract-home glory from spreading its 40-foot-wide garage tentacles further into midtown? Zoning, my friends.

Ft Worth, one of the originators of the Snout House movement, has turned its back on the monster it helped create. Much like Dr. Frankenstein, the City of Fort Worth realized its grave past mistakes and in 2007 set in place a zoning ordinance which limits the distance a garage is allowed to project in front of the main body of a house to a mere eight ( 8 ) feet (Zoning Code 6.507.D (http://fortworthtexas.gov/zoning/ord/6_500.pdf)).

In this case, cutting off our snouts won't spite our faces - indeed, a snout job may just be what the doctor ordered.

Kidding aside, nothing I've found in the proposed zoning code update addresses this issue. The closest thing I've found is a minimum setback of 20 feet for garages.

If the new zoning code is our blueprint for a better Tulsa, we need to seriously consider eliminating snout houses from our repertoire.


(By the way, Fort Worth, the liberal mecca it is, requires at least 50% of residential walls be masonry, and 100% masonry if that residence is on a minor arterial or wider street.)

What happened to front porches?

They went the way of the dodo bird about 30 years ago. Keep the kids in the back yard and there's no "Stranger Danger".

Forcing home builders to leave enough room for a driveway beside the house would leave access to a garage behind the house.  If you want to reach out and literally touch your neighbor, you should probably have an alley behind your houses for car access.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.935228,-75.326723,3a,75y,69.5h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCn0wIKrZYqx8gCfvJXzszw!2e0 (https://www.google.com/maps/@39.935228,-75.326723,3a,75y,69.5h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCn0wIKrZYqx8gCfvJXzszw!2e0)

We have a requirement for a percentage of masonry around our neighborhood.  Some have "met the requirement" by putting about a foot high brick wall around the perimeter of the house and then putting siding or whatever on all the walls except the front wall. UGLY!

Central air conditioning, home entertainment centers, video games, texting....

It's like using a picture of your naked butt as your head shot. Very backwards and strange. I assume this happens in part to save concrete...ie: short driveways are cheaper than long ones. Of course, narrow driveways are also cheaper than wide ones, and alleyways would be even more affordable, bc the city would provide the access, and you could just build your garage where it belongs, in the back!

Highlight the google maps link, then press the (http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/Themes/tulsanow2015/images/bbc/url.gif) button above the editor :)

That, or just manually type a url tag before and after

Thanks.

I managed to copy the url but it only treated part of it as a url.  The url tag worked.

I fixed my post so the url works now.

Living in a house like that would make me feel depressed and lonely. Its isolating enough to travel down a road not seeing another human being but to then enter a neighborhood and then go live behind a garage like that. egads.

I do not get the attraction.  Those are just awful.

(http://thumbs.gograph.com/gg62512806.jpg)

I guess mine is technically a snout house, although the courtyard is flush with the garage.

(https://s3.amazonaws.com/f.cl.ly/items/042I2Y0z2d3B0Y0m3O3S/HOUSE%20FROM%20STREET.jpg)

It's right there with no basements - it's cheaper for the builder.  He can still sell the house for the same $90 per sq ft, but put less into it.

Our place requires a turn parallel to the street to enter the garage.  Mom and dad would not have bought a house with the garage door facing the street.  They didn't want folks looking in whenever we had the door open.
 
 :D

Not a snout

(http://tulsapreservationcommission.org/images/districts/carltonplace/craftsman.jpg)

If the most prominent feature of the house is the garage, and you need a trained detective to find the front door--congratulations! You have a snout house.  (Snout house motto: "Showing our a$s to the street is just our way of being neighborly!")

I'm glad I don't live in a snout house or I'd be feeling pretty beat up about now. Man. Criticizing the type of home in which people live.  :-\

They know what they've done.

At least us snouts don't live in those flat-roof monstrosities. :)

I have a pug-nosed snout house.  The next one will have detached garage in back and the equivalent of an alley for access.  And gravel drive!!

It really does make a difference on how a neighborhood feels, how it "lives".  May seem like a small thing, but it really does impact the sense of community in a negative way.  If people don't care about others and their community like that, well, it's like if I walked up to you and slapped you then you reached up to slap me and I then said "Hey, it's wrong to hit people!".  If someone does something crappy to others, it shouldn't be such a leap of imagination to think those others, might then have at least some justification in being negatively critical about it.

But to be fair, I just don't think a lot of people realize or have even thought about snout houses and how they can change the dynamic of a neighborhood thats full of them versus how a neighborhood looks and feels and "lives" when the front doors and front porches are, well, to the front. Much more neighborly and more easily active with people out on those porches and neighbors seeing others on their porches, seeing neighbors in their yards (can't if the garage is blocking everyones view of everyone else).  I remember walking through Brady Heights a while back and seeing so many people out on their porches, created a different vibe.  Heck we even stopped and chatted with a few.  Feels more comfortable walking through those neighborhoods than the ones that are all snout houses.  Completely different.

That is no excuse for making fun of the type of home in which I'm sure many on this forum probably live. It is the utmost in snobbery. I don't live in a snout house, but would you care to see my piece of crap detached garage? It's 80 years old and feeling it.

That's what I am building.  You can do some simple reinforcement/stabilization with some plywood and a few nails/screws.  You can do this....

(http://cdn2.scratch.mit.edu/get_image/gallery/217499_170x100.png?v=1370994073.83)

Sad to say many homes in my hood have given up on their garages and tore them down without replacing them. They overestimated the work and skills required to save them and in so doing it cost them more in lost home value. Mine had some termite damage on one side (sill plate), needed some bracing and updated electrical but it had a good stem wall. I did it all myself and found what I needed at Home Depot.

Now, that damn front porch floor....

Treated lumber - ground contact grade - for sills is your friend!!  Use appropriate fasteners for treated lumber - usually stainless steel.  

Google is your friend!!

But it is NOT a "watch one and done" - you might be watching the village idiot who does it all wrong - there are many of those out there.  Shoot...we have some here!!  If it doesn't look like you can do this with a few simple tools, then they are doing it wrong.  We are talking hammer, saw, level, some nails/screws.  A drill is great for installing screws.  A "sawzall" is a great tool that can really help speed things up, and I think they can be rented reasonably at Lowe's and Home Depot.  Or do like I do and use the 'project' as your rationalization for buying a new tool.  If it would cost me $1,000 plus $200 parts to have someone do the job, then anything I spend on tools under that $1,000 means I get them for free!!!

Plywood is good for bracing.  Can use nails, but I like screws for just about everything.  NOT deck screws!!  NOT wood screws!!  Use ONLY sheet metal screws - plywood to wall stud for bracing - a number 10 screw is good.  There are places that tell you how to determine length - some of those videos.  My rule of thumb is for every one unit thickness of the thing I am bolting to something else, use twice as much length for the part it is anchoring into - 3 times the first thickness.  Example - 3/4" plywood - use 3/4 X 3, or at least 2 1/4" long sheet metal screw.  Longer won't hurt, up to 3".   Use pan head, flat head - ALWAYS Phillips head....NEVER slotted !!!   Pre-drill smaller holes than the screw size for old wood - it is hard!!

1/4" plywood to wall - at least 3/4" screw, and 1" is better.

Nails - anything involving 2 X 4 wall stud lumber - 16 penny nails only.

Watch home improvement shows.  Google.  Read books.

Easy, peasy....  Some good teak 1 X 4"  or  1 X 6" and you are good to go....

Going back to the snout house topic...

it's not just "snout houses" that kill a neighborhood vibe.  It's basically any house with little/no front porch and/or a usable front porch that is not immediately facing the street, with a good view.  You CAN build a front-facing garage and still have a usable front porch, but for whatever reason a usable front porch (as a place to sit and hang out and watch the street, etc..) is just not something that is normally done anymore.  When I built my home in Owasso 10 years ago, I was adamant that it would have a large, usable front porch.  It took quite a while to find a builder with a plan that was already fairly close so that I didn't have to go full-custom.  I ended up with a porch that was about thirty feet wide, with a big swing and plenty of room to park bikes, etc.  We used it all the time, and people would stop and chat or at least wave as they drove by. 

TL/DR:  It's not the snout, but the lack of a usable porch, that kills neighborhoods.