Customer Reviews

Homebrite 77102 Park N Place

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The title says it all. Personally, I hate hanging things from the ceiling in my garage. Whenever you take the cars out, they end up getting in the way and being a real annoyance if you are trying to do other work in the garage.

This items is relatively inexpensive and does exactly what I needed it to. I bought two of these to allow my wife and I to maximize the amount of space of our garage, while still comfortably parking our cars in it.

I tried several other items, which all were fairly unreliable. I even tried the "stop light" one, just to see if I could have something on the wall in front to do the trick. No dice. It was unreliable too. This item is 100% reliable. You can always see the sign move when you hit it, even if the lights don't blink. Plus, the base doesn't move or slide, so you don't have to worry about it moving and messing up your parking spot. At the same time, you can pick it up and easily move it out of the way if needed.

I have a tight fitting garage. I have to park my riding lawnmower in front of my SUV. I need to pull up pretty close to the mower so that the garage door will come down without hitting the car.

The first things I tried were the tire stop parking mats. I wanted to be able to move them when I need to get the mower out, so I didn't stick them to the floor with tape. They tended to slide around on the garage floor or be bumped by one of the kids while I was out. To make matters worse, I couldn't really trust them because I couldn't tell from the driver's seat if they were positioned properly. Being off by 2-3 inches might mean hitting into the mower.

The Park n' Place is really a simple solution. It sits right beside my mower. I can tell from the driver's seat if the sign looks out of place as I am entering the garage. Just pull up until the sign moves a little. The sign is easily visible about the hoods of our Honda Pilot and Honda Odyssey. Also, I can easily move it out of the way each week to get the mower out.

The sign is supposed to flash lights when it gets bumped. I am rating it at 4 stars because the lights are unreliable. They may or may not flash depending on how hard you bump the pole. If your bumper just gently touches the pole, they may not light up, but a harder bump will set them off. It serves the purpose even without the lights. You can see the sign move and that is enough to know that you are in the right place.

I bought this item so I could easily move it out of the way when necessary and it wouldn't sllip on the surface as I had read the drive-over bumpers would. For me the lights seem pointless since it sways when you bonk it, but that wouldn't alter my reccomending it to others. It works as advertised and assembles quickly and easily.

This is a really neat, cute gismo that works well with a few modifications. I have a large 2 car garage with only one car in it, the rest is used for lawn stuff and storage since I have no basement and little room in the attic. There was generally no problem with the side room when parked. But even than on occasion I had to move my vehicle for extra door clearance. My main problem was my SUV is fairly long, which does not leave much room in the front and rear when parked. My main concern was the back since I have a automatic garage door. But since I got this set up, there is no need to walk back to make sure the garage door is going to close without hitting my vehicle.

There where two things that had to be corrected on the Park N Place. One was where the antenna pole goes into the base. There fit was loose and the pole would lean to one side or another. I wrapped a piece of a paper hand towel around the lower part of the pole and shoved it into the hole. Just like magic the pole stood up straight and erect. " No Viagra Needed Here ".

The other problem is the base is to light and tends to move when you bump the pole a little harder than a slight nudge. I pretty much cured that by placing three round cement sprinkler head rings over the pole and resting on the base. These rings weigh about a pound and 1/2 or so each, and can be bought for a $1 or $2 at Home Depot. Of course you can use anything heavy, like bricks or a cinder block. These rings just happen to look nice and neat. ( Check out my photo under customer images on the product page )

After the adjustments that I made this thing works great. I would have given this 5 stars if it was not for these two problems. When driving into the garage I now aim my approach to the pole with the window washer squirter on the hood, for pin point accuracy. The light works with the slightest touch, and I can see it day and night. My wife thinks it's the cutest thing in the garage, and it IS if she says so. Funny; I always thought my generator was the cutest, oh well.

So far, everything about this is great. Set up took all of 30 seconds. You choose the height. It comes with four 12-inch segments. I suppose you could use 2 if you have a sports car or all 4 if you have an SUV. For my car I only used 3. It works fantastic. In fact, it's almost too sensitive. My only concern at this point is how long the little button cell batteries will last. The lights are LED, so the batteries should last a while as should the light bulbs themselves. While the LEDs are not replaceable, the batteries are. You can find these at many places costing anywhere from $20-$35. I got mine for $20 @ Bed Bath & Beyond before Xmas and was able to use one of their many 20% off coupons, so shop around.

This product is perfect. It works exactly as advertised. The lights blink every time, you do not need to bend the pole, any pole movement causes the light to blink, when to pole stops moving, the lights go off.
This is just what I needed and I am very happy. Totally beats a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling.

I probably would have given this a higher rating, but for two things:
1. The lights don't always flash or cannot be seen during daylight ... but you can see the sign move, so I probably just won't replace the battery when it eventually needs it.
2. Not tall enough if you are reversing an SUV. I cannot see it through the back window of my Durango (large SUV), nor my Escape (small SUV) until I raised the whole thing using a few bricks. So my feedback to the manufacturers is that they need a taller stick.

If you always drive in forward or always reverse into the garage, I recommend the tennis ball on a string method instead. However, if like us, you park both ways depending on the situation, this is an excellent solution. I've bought two and with the above caveats would recommend to friends.

We happily embrace the convenience of Park 'N place, and have been satisfied with our two right out of the box. We had used the ball and string suspended from the ceiling for many years, until we starting using Park 'N Place two years ago. We are military, and have had 13 addresses in 20 years, so you can imagine what an inconvenience that technique was. Also, if you need to park different vehicles in the garage, Park 'N Place is fast and easy to change.

Or, as with our pickup truck, the ball needed to be oriented differently depending on whether we pulled in front first or backed in (the ball was suspended to strike the windshield when pulled in, but had to be moved to a different location on the ceiling if we wanted to back in, as it needed to hit the rear of the cab, a very different spot on the ceiling).

We have made one cross country move with these two units unlovingly packed, and there has been no effect on their sensitivity to light up when contacted.

We like them so well we have given them as gifts, and everyone enjoys them. They have even stood up to the rigors of a toddler infatuated with using them to park his tricycle; one year of child driving and still going strong.

Purchased two of these for my garage. I was not too concerned about the lights not flashing as some owners indicate. But I have had these "stoppers" for several months and the lights work whenever I bump into them, so I am not experiencing any problems.

They help my wife put her vehicle in the same place and do the same for me. The product does what it is supposed to do and I am happy with the purchase.

I have a large car and a small garage. I have hit the wall so many times I am going to have to fit it before I can sell the house. I wish I had this simple thing from day one. It was nothing to put together and a great price. A lot cheaper that replacing sheet rock.