Can You Park in Your Garage? How to Get Your Car Back Inside Before the Rainy Season
If your garage has turned into storage, the car is the first thing to lose. Here is how to measure, clear and keep a car-sized space, and where the rest goes.
The fastest way to know how much needs to go is to mark out where the car will sit and clear everything inside that outline first. That turns “clean the garage” into one clear goal: a space where a car fits and the doors open. This guide is about reclaiming parking. If your main worry is protecting stored items from water, see our guide to getting your LA garage and yard ready before the rain.
Why it is worth doing now
A car parked outside spends the winter in rain, wind-blown leaves and whatever the trees above it drop. Getting it back under a roof also makes your garage useful again: loading groceries, opening the doors fully, and not having to pick a path through boxes. Late fall, before the wet season, is an easy time to do it, because you can open the garage door, spread things out on the driveway and work in dry weather.
Step 1: mark the car’s footprint
Park the car where it would normally sit, or measure it, and use painter’s tape to mark the outline on the floor. Leave enough room beside it to open the doors fully and walk around. Everything inside that outline has to leave the floor. Everything outside it can stay for now.
Step 2: clear the footprint first
- Move the loose items out to the driveway. You cannot make decisions about things you cannot see.
- Sort quickly: obvious junk, obvious keep, and needs a decision. Our garage cleanout guide explains why this order works better than sorting by category.
- Put the junk straight into a pile for pickup, not back on a shelf.
Step 3: move what is staying off the floor
What you are keeping needs a home that is not the car’s space: wall shelving, overhead racks, hooks for bikes and ladders, and sealed totes stacked along the back wall. A good rule once the space is clear is “one in, one out” — if something new comes in, something old goes.
What has to leave, and where it goes
- Paint, oil, solvents and similar chemicals: these are household hazardous waste and cannot go in a junk removal truck. LA Sanitation’s S.A.F.E. Centers take household hazardous waste and e-waste from City of Los Angeles and LA County residents at no charge.
- Old furniture, mattresses and e-waste: LA Sanitation’s bulky item pickup is free for homes it serves and is scheduled on your regular trash day. We explain how it works, and its catches, in our LA bulky item pickup guide.
- Usable items: tools, bikes and sports gear are often worth donating or selling before you decide to throw them away.
When it makes sense to call us
If the footprint is clear but the pile is bigger than a few trips, if there are heavy items like exercise equipment or old appliances, or if you do not want to wait for your trash day, one pickup clears everything out together. We book same-day in most of Los Angeles, and you get a firm price on site before anything is loaded. Texting a photo ahead of time is the fastest way to get a number.
Keep it that way
Do a ten-minute check once a month. Anything that has drifted into the car’s space goes back to its shelf or goes out. A garage that stays clear takes minutes to maintain and weeks to clear again.
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