24x14 vs (2) 14x14 doors

[Supergumby5000]

Big shop guys - What say you on door(s) for RVs and equipment trailers?

Working on budgeting a property we're developing next year. House layout/location is pretty much final'd so now time to final the shop.

Shop will be 48x64 or 48x72. 4 bays. (2) 12x10 doors on the "working" shop half. The other half will be used for heavy equipment with equipment trailer and a toy hauler/camper

If you had to park trailers side by side in a shop, would you rather have two individual 14ft wide doors, or one BIG 24ft wide door? trailers will be backed in with a *mostly* a straight approach. Based on my research, anything wider than 24ft for a single door gets expensive QUICK so that is the line in the sand.

 

[Jmonnty]

What is the largest item you intend to bring in? I'd rather have separate doors, for when you need to replace wheel bearings you have plenty of room to work.

 

[CraigStu]

I have never had doors or equipment in those sizes. My experience is a 5.5x10 utility trailer (7ft overall width) and two 8ft doors vs one 16ft door. The 16 is so much easier to back into there is no comparison.

 

[ipgenie]

Either will work but I would do separate doors so there is a little more room between trailers. Of course, if the building will ever house larger farm equipment, the 24' might be a better fit.

 

[38Chevy454]

14 ft wide should accommodate anything you are storing at your place. I vote for two 14x14 doors. Although that means (potentially) two openers vs one, those two can be homeowner style, like the Lliftmaster jackshaft type. Instead of the 24x14 which will require a commercial large door opener. That may be close to an even trade-off in cost, although i don't have any specific numbers.

I have a 12 ft wide x 14 door for my RV door in my detached garage. It is fine getting in and out, but 14 wide would be nicer. Definitely 14 ft height, as taller RVs are little over 13 ft height.

 

[zkdiesel]

Two 14x14. Way better. Items parked less close to each other so you don’t have to angle them through doors in and out

 

[u2slow]

12' wide is fairly standard here with suppliers. Wider gets pricey. I would do two of those, and space them appropriately for working/access room once the vehicle is inside.

My shop is smaller. I put in a 12' but in hindsight 10' wide would have been enough. I have lots of room outside to get a straight shot at driving in.

 

[Steve from Socal]

I have a 16X24 door and IF I could have a couple 14 wide doors would have been a better choice. The door is great when it is calm and nice weather. In windy, cold weather it is not so great.

By the way, if you are going to park heavy equipment is 14' high enough? I would go at least 72 to park a truck/trailer in

 

[Supergumby5000]

I just need the trailer in, not truck and trailer in the same bay. Building to accomodate a 25+5 (38ft overall) length gooseneck trailer. Equipment consists of a track loader and mini excavator. 14ft height will be plenty.

We also currently have a 38ft (total length) tag race trailer but will likely upgrade to a gooseneck with living quarters so we're building the length to accomodate (48ft depth).

I like the idea of the 24ft door because it kind of forces me to be responsible with parking the trailers a little tighter. side by side 14ft doors will spread them out and will limit how tight/close I can actually get them to maximize the portion of the shop that will be used for misc use rather than just storage. I'm convincing myself of that now but im concerned I'll be annoyed if the 24ft door ever feels like an inconvenience. First world problems for sure.

This property is our "forever" home and its a huge transition for us so I've been analyzing every single parameter trying to make it perfect. I cant make up my mind on these friggin doors.

 

[kwb]

I wouldn't want a 24' wide door. Structurally that is just a lot of span to get something that should be fairly thin. That translates to a lot of stress on the hardware. Deflection of the door is a cubic function of the span. Going from 16'-18' (typical span) to 24' is huge.

Someone else mentioned wind - that could be a real factor depending on exactly where you are. I would be inclined to do a 12' and a 16' Even with a 8.5' wide trailer you should be able to get two of them parked through the 16' door with not much trouble.

I will also say when you get into a space like one being proposed - it is a lot easier to bite the bullet and get a forklift. Parking even large trailers gets so much easier when you have that sort of maneuverability v. a typical 1T pickup. Just drop the trailer somewhere out in front of the shop and position it in the parking spot with the lift.

 

[Steve from Socal]

I just need the trailer in, not truck and trailer in the same bay. Building to accomodate a 25+5 (38ft overall) length gooseneck trailer. Equipment consists of a track loader and mini excavator. 14ft height will be plenty.

We also currently have a 38ft (total length) tag race trailer but will likely upgrade to a gooseneck with living quarters so we're building the length to accomodate (48ft depth).

I like the idea of the 24ft door because it kind of forces me to be responsible with parking the trailers a little tighter. side by side 14ft doors will spread them out and will limit how tight/close I can actually get them to maximize the portion of the shop that will be used for misc use rather than just storage. I'm convincing myself of that now but im concerned I'll be annoyed if the 24ft door ever feels like an inconvenience. First world problems for sure.

This property is our "forever" home and its a huge transition for us so I've been analyzing every single parameter trying to make it perfect. I cant make up my mind on these friggin doors.

I hear what you are saying, just as well consider a building long enough to park truck/trailer in. When somebody sez heavy equipment I think RGN/heavy haul!

The bay my 24' door is in is about 40 wide to columns. I have parked two semi tractor/trailers side by side with plenty of room and, that bay has a steel rack that is just about even with the edge of the door. As mentioned 24 wide doors are heavy, the stiffining spars add a lot of weight in addition to the door. The way my shop is layed out the 24 door is about the most practical, there is equipment to one side on a curb and, the bay columns on the other.

If you have the frontage to site two 14's with good spacing they will add flexibility to the space. If you put them to the outside of each corner the whold center is free but, accessabe from either side. I have several forklifts and being able to get into most places in the shop is a real pleasure. Also on a tall building you are likely to want a scissor lift to do work up high.

 

[Supergumby5000]

I hear what you are saying, just as well consider a building long enough to park truck/trailer in. When somebody sez heavy equipment I think RGN/heavy haul!

The bay my 24' door is in is about 40 wide to columns. I have parked two semi tractor/trailers side by side with plenty of room and, that bay has a steel rack that is just about even with the edge of the door. As mentioned 24 wide doors are heavy, the stiffining spars add a lot of weight in addition to the door. The way my shop is layed out the 24 door is about the most practical, there is equipment to one side on a curb and, the bay columns on the other.

If you have the frontage to site two 14's with good spacing they will add flexibility to the space. If you put them to the outside of each corner the whold center is free but, accessabe from either side. I have several forklifts and being able to get into most places in the shop is a real pleasure. Also on a tall building you are likely to want a scissor lift to do work up high.

Depth is my biggest challenge so I'm pretty much capped at the 48-50ft mark to make this feasible. This is a hillside lot with some extreme slopes so thats all I have without making the sitework unreasonably expensive.

I found a pretty trick layout software where you could test fit everything in the shop footprint. As reccomended here, I think the two 14ft doors and either a skid steer with a ball mount or a forklift is going to be the ticket.

Thanks GJ brain trust. I'll make sure to post a build log when we get started, still probably 6-8 months out.

 

[Jesse69]

I went 12x14 keeped them big so no matter what garage door or item you drive in it wont hang to low. My dad has 1 single door and large RV and tries to swing it in and makes it difficult and time consuming.

 

[Supergumby5000]

I went 12x14 keeped them big so no matter what garage door or item you drive in it wont hang to low. My dad has 1 single door and large RV and tries to swing it in and makes it difficult and time consuming.

I see you're in nevada. Who did you get your building materials from? Kind of looks like a Cleary logo on the end of the building but I thought i'de ask.

We'll likely put the building up ourselves but a lot of the well known online suppliers wont work in Nevada. I may need to piece order my own stuff.

 

[Jesse69]

It is a cleary, they just move to our area they did drive from elko. They built the shell i been contracting and doing everything else my self. What’s your location? I have learned much from this build out the things i would do different and also about who to hire and not hire.

 

[Steve from Socal]

I was under the impression the doors would be on the gable ends, the layout is doors on the long axis. That said, 48' for a 48 trailer is going to ****. Even at 50 the space inside the walls will only give you inches front to back. Your site precludes doors on the gables?

 

[Supergumby5000]

It is a cleary, they just move to our area they did drive from elko. They built the shell i been contracting and doing everything else my self. What’s your location? I have learned much from this build out the things i would do different and also about who to hire and not hire.

Reno. Galena Forest area on the way to Mt Rose. I'll shoot you a PM.

I was under the impression the doors would be on the gable ends, the layout is doors on the long axis. That said, 48' for a 48 trailer is going to ****. Even at 50 the space inside the walls will only give you inches front to back. Your site precludes doors on the gables?

Not sure if I mistyped something above, but my trailers aren't 48ft long.

Race trailer is 38ft gate to the hitch. I just sold my tag equipment trailer and am in the market for a 25+5 gooseneck (which will also be about 38ft total length).

We've kicked around upgrading to a gooseneck race trailer but that will be a ways out and it will still fit in the shop (longest gooseneck I can legally tow without permit with my truck is 44ft)