Urban 3 car garage, 1915 craftsman house, 1,000 sqft city cap

[Thought Criminal]

My wife and I have lived in a 1915 craftsman house in Tacoma, WA for 5 years now. We've gotten through some priority house upgrades and deferred maintenance - new kitchen, replacing live knob & tube with romex wiring, new roof, exterior paint, new gas insert fireplace. On our house wish list one of the items was "has a multicar garage, or space that allows for one". We have a worn out single car garage, but our 9,000 sqft lot should comfortably allow for a 3 car garage.

Getting my wife comfortable with a 3 car garage has been a process, because she is deeply in love with the exterior of our home and doesn't want something that dwarfs it. I think I have gotten her there, but all we've done is conversations with potential contractors and estimates. No renders or floorplans from a professional yet. Our current favored plan is a 36' wide by 26' deep, 8' high, with a 2' by 14' bump out at the single car bay to allow for a gable facing the front. This should be 964 sqft, under Tacoma's hard limit of no more than 1,000 sqft on garages. 4 by 12 roof slope to keep the overall height lower than main house. 2x6 framing, with insulation, drywall inside. Two 3' by 5' windows, I was leaning towards 2 or more 2' by 4' skylights. I would like a minisplit for HVAC (I work for an electrical distributor and get a discount on the hardware). Leaning towards Racedeck floor tiles - I like the look and think they would look cleaner most of the time. Would still do annual deep clean and pull up tiles for spills. Hose bib on front of garage. Leaning against a sink - my father in law built a garage a few years ago and city inspector made him remove the sink (ridiculous concern about it being living space instead of garage). Our exterior is fully fenced in and we have 13 ring cameras for overlapping coverage, including garage. I asked our contractor if we could do 37' wide, since that should come to 990 - he advised against for fear of hitting the cap by accident.

Tacoma was laid out in late 1800s, so in city garages are located on the alley. We were thinking of placing the front 8 feet back from the alley start, to allow for turn in and the possibility of parallel parking in front for washing or visitors. There is a neighbor down the street sited similarly, I have tested turning in and it worked fine for me. I expect there will be a learning curve for my wife, but she will get it with practice. Our current garage is 20 feet back and to us it's always felt like wasted space. Placed that close to the alley, washing would be less comfortable and require more fiddling to get car placement exactly right, but I feel like gaining extra space at the back is worth it. A few years down the line I would like to build an outdoor sauna with wood fired heater between the house and the garage. Our street is also on a slope, and placing close to the alley will require less excavation and grading work.

Planned uses for the garage are parking for 3 vehicles, oil changes, maybe brake pads or other fluid flushes. Anything more advanced almost certainly goes to my mechanic. I would like to get quick jacks and wall mount them when not in use. Hoping the 26' depth will allow my wife adequate space for furniture restoration projects with careful parking. Would like 2' deep workbench along back with storage underneath. Current fleet is a 2001 A6 4.2 with manual conversion and a 2009 Carolla we want to get rid of. Wife says she thinks she wants a Subaru Forester. I would very much like a 2021-2024 RS5 coupe as a fun car.

Thank you for reading. If you see anything I've overlooked or choices I should reconsider, I'd appreciate your input!

Edit: 18 foot door for the 2 car bay, 10 foot door for the single car bay.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'm in a similar urban environment, an older neighborhood with a 1913 shingle colonial (I don't know if that's a real term but it's about as close as I can get.). I have a 24X40 garage with one single and one double door, and with some maneuvering I can get a 4th car over to the space without a door.

Our setback rule is 20 feet minimum from the front of the garage to the centerline of the alley, and the alley is 20 feet wide, so that works out to a 10 foot driveway. It minimizes the amount of yard that gets used up, it's enough that I can park the car sideways there for washing, and it's good in the winter as I don't have to shovel much snow.

I think your plan looks pretty good. I would recommend matching the roof pitch to the house (check if you have height restrictions) and also match the siding style, soffit depth, and any architectural trims or molding. Also the style of the entry door and any windows.

Tell your wife it will actually help screen in the back yard for more privacy. . You can put a trellis or two on it for some climbing decorative plants or even tomatoes.

Edit: 26 feet deep is nice but I'm comfortable with 24 feet, I have similar size cars as you. If course if you ever decide to buy a full size pickup 24 feet is marginal, but reducing the depth would allow you to make it wider and still stay under the 1000 square foot limit.

Edit x2: my garage is on a slab, and there's also one course of concrete block around the perimeter. That keeps the wood up away from ground level, minimizing rot potential or water intrusion. I also used full 8 foot studs rather than the 92 5/8" variety. It didn't cost much more, and those two things gives me a lot more headroom. I have a four post lift, and while it's a tight fit I can stack two low cars in there.

 

[Joe Reed]

Although my house is 88 years newer than yours many of the houses in this subdivision have rear entry garages off an alley....mine is one of them. Many of the others have the garages only 10 feet or so off the alley. Mine is 70 feet (my lot is much longer than the others).
Having seen issues other neighbors have with the very short driveways I would never be OK with that setup. It doesn't have to be 70 feet long, but at least long enough to be able to park a car normally. My garage is a 2-car with the usual 16' wide driveway. I have 3 cars, so one is always parked outside. I had 4 for a while, and that was no problem. That wouldn't work with a 10 foot driveway. When I'm working on a project in my garage I can easily just part all three cars in the drive and not park any in the street in front of the house or inconvenience any neighbors by blocking mailboxes.

I fully understand the attraction of expanding your back yard, but at least consider the potential inconveniences that will cause.

 

[Stuart in MN]

As long as you don't have more cars than garage spaces, a short driveway shouldn't be an issue. I've had no problems in the 30 years or so since I built mine. As the original poster said he doesn't plan on major repairs that would require more space inside the garage.

 

[Skyman]

A few suggestions:

1. Consider a mid-rise scissor lift that's set flush into the slab, instead of quick jacks. If planned for in advance, it will be simple to incorporate the necessary elements into the concrete work. Or go with a four-post lift if you'll have the ceiling height to make use of one.

2. You didn't mention your plan for garage doors, but go with doors that are wider than 8 feet for single, 16 for double. Go with 10 feet or 20.

3. Epoxy coat the floor before you move anything into the garage. Also finish and paint the drywall first. Doing either in an occupied garage is a giant PITA, and might keep you from ever getting around to doing it.

 

[Model A Fan]

I too am having garage dreams here in WA State. Its hard weighing the desire to improve my property with the impending increased cost of taxes and whether or not I'm even going to stay long term.

In your case, is there a height limitation? I would not go under 10' if I were to build new for a few reasons. 8' ceilings will feel short to me once you drywall and hang lights. If you went with taller sidewalls, you'd be able to accommodate projects easier and just have a less claustrophobic feeling workspace. I understand you don't want to dwarf your current home, but this is Garage Journal...not Home Journal, we're going to advise bigger!

Are you planning on any internal framing for a separate room for clean projects? I wish I had a separate room for smaller projects or intricate projects where cleanliness or being able to keep my kids out were possible. I'll be building a motor and need to lay out all the parts but don't want to do that in my garage or barn at this juncture because of dust or little fingers picking up and taking pieces away.

 

[twistedstang]

Be sympathetic with architecture of the house. Match details like overhang, roof pitch and dormer. 2 regular size doors vs a big pole barn door. Itll look like a carriage house that's always been there.

 

[Thought Criminal]

Wow, thanks everyone for the very thoughtful replies! I felt like my original post was too long, but I do have some details to fill in on some of the suggestions:

We have discussed aligning visual styling to our primary residence. Our house has cedar shingle, which we were told would be pretty expensive to put on a garage. My wife didn't think same siding was necessary, and liked the idea of thinner horizontal siding (4-5 inches tall) because she likes how that looks on other craftsman homes and thought it would complement. We're doing the bump out to add a gable on the one car bay for this reason - while our house doesn't have any dormers my wife loves them, and a gable in front will make a prettier garage that aligns with her aesthetic. We also discussed aligning soffit depth, barge board and fascia trim. Our existing roof slope is 5 to 12, and my wife likes the idea of the garage having a slightly lower slope, I think to keep garage building height lower, which is why we're thinking 4 to 12 slope. We did not discuss matching windows, which might be tough because we have original wood framed wavy glass windows on our house. But maybe we could find similar windows in a salvage store and use those instead of new, I think my wife would be excited about that.

On width vs depth, I have some limiting factors. First is there is a utility pole about in the middle of my parcel. Local utility has said they would like 5 foot setback from it. My wife also starts to clam up when we discuss making the garage any wider, as she thinks it would visually dwarf the house. I definitely have tried to sell it as privacy screening the house from the alley . But with the utility pole a 4 car garage will not work in the parcel even if my wife would go for it, so we started thinking 3 car slightly deeper. I am not into trucks even in the slightest, and have never felt the desire for one. My 2001 A6 has hauled some loads of fence posts and millwork with the back seats down, any loads bigger than that I'd want someone else to manage.

On scissor lift - I did consider, and am leaning against. My father in law did one in his garage he built 3 years ago, and it was about $7K all in, and he 2-3 issues he worked through before getting it working correctly. It was slick to look at, but slow raising. I liked the thought that quick jacks could be used anywhere in the garage, hung up when not in use, and sold off if I don't feel value from them. Also I have a mechanic buddy from age 13 who I worked with converting my 2001 A6 to manual - I really like the ritual of taking my car into his shop, doing simpler tasks to help if I can, and BSing and catching up.

I do want to do wider doors - we've been talking 18 foot wide for the 2 car bay and 10 foot wide for the single car bay. I am not sure if we can get the 2 car door to 20 foot without making the building wider, but I will ask the garage company estimator. As stated above, I think we have close to a hard limit on the 36 foot width because of utility pole location and wife visual preferences.

Skyman, I did some research on flooring options and am leaning towards Racedeck free flow over epoxy. I am more excited about the way it looks and the functionality of water and small debris falling into the grid pattern to evaporate / be cleaned out annually. I also like the modularity and ability to replace individual tiles if they take damage. I do want to do probably 36" wide of solid tiles under the centerline of our vehicles to help catch any future leaks from engine or transmission areas.

Model A Fan - I had not thought about any internal rooms. My wife does want to use the garage for furniture restoration - I was kind of resigned to having to vacuum out sanding dust when she's working on a project. I think this is something she'd do a handful of times total rather than monthly or every other month. I'll talk with her and try to get a better understanding. Even then though I don't know if I have the space to close off a room, given the external dimension limits I have.

I am also very unhappy with the direction of politics in Washington state. I have friends I want to stay in the area for, and really like the local businesses and community Tacoma offers. Even if they go to adding an income tax on top of our sales tax in the next 5 years, I am not sure that would cause me to move to another state. I only get to be alive once, as far as any of us know, and I love my house very much and would really like to give it the garage I think it deserves. I've made some decisions that worked out well financially (bought rental properties before COVID inflation), and can afford it if I spend some money on getting the house I want and don't get all of that investment back out on sale. I'm really hoping to be in our house another 25-30 years because it's special to me and I love it.

 

[CraigStu]

There will be limits dictated by building code on your door widths. Getting a 20 and a 10 on a 36' wall may not be doable. I would have your wife work in the dormer area. In good weather just open the door and back out the car when sanding. You could hang a tarp as a divider wall between the two doors. You could get fancy and use a long pipe to hang it from like a shower curtain so you could minimize it's width when not in use. Or move the man door over to the back of that single long bay and use it to push dust out while she works in that right rear corner. Brother and I once bought 3 of the 20" box fans, bracketed them together one on top of the other, put them in the doorway blowing outward to get rid of dust. I have also seen posts here about getting a 4" thick 20x20 AC filter and strapping that to a box fan. Just **** air through the filter and recirculate it in the room. BTW I think you will do fine w/ this garage cost over the years. In 2014 we spent $35k on a garage addition. In 2019 we got all but $5k back when we sold the house. I thought that had been a great deal giving me a dedicated 16x22 work bay attached to a 20x25 double car garage for $1k per year.

 

[Stuart in MN]

My 1913 house has cedar shingle siding, and I went for shingles on the garage too when I built it. I think it was worth it. It does cost more but I'd at least explore the possibility, I don't know what current pricing is but it may not be enough to be a deal breaker.

 

[carlaisle]

Racedeck and sawdust sounds like a nightmare best avoided if possible. Polished concrete, epoxy, porcelain, etc. are all superior options for a space that that will house autos and woodwork, even if their cohabitation is infrequent.

Most power companies are perfectly willing to relocate a pole at your expense. The expense will not be cheap, but that obstacle will then be forever out of your way.

I would encourage you to reconsider the 8' ceiling height. The garage door/tracks will reduce your effective ceiling height by a foot. Even when closed those tracks are still in the way. You'll hit them just trying to walk across the floor with a rake in your hand.

 

[JuncleJohn]

36x26’ is a nice size. The extra depth is always a good thing. Especially when loading or unloading from the rear if you have a workbench in front. It also makes it easier when using a floor jack as the handle needs room while lifting a vehicle.

The only thing I’d reconsider, I wouldn’t have any less than an 9’ high ceiling.

John

 

[Stuart in MN]

The only thing I’d reconsider, I wouldn’t have any less than an 9’ high ceiling.

John

My garage has one course of concrete block around the perimeter, and I used full 8 foot studs instead of the 92 5/8 variety. Those things made the ceiling height a little over 9 feet, for little additional cost.

 

[racecougar]

Racedeck and sawdust sounds like a nightmare best avoided if possible. Polished concrete, epoxy, porcelain, etc. are all superior options for a space that that will house autos and woodwork, even if their cohabitation is infrequent.

Most power companies are perfectly willing to relocate a pole at your expense. The expense will not be cheap, but that obstacle will then be forever out of your way.

I would encourage you to reconsider the 8' ceiling height. The garage door/tracks will reduce your effective ceiling height by a foot. Even when closed those tracks are still in the way. You'll hit them just trying to walk across the floor with a rake in your hand.

Man, I was about to post those exact same points.

 

[Thought Criminal]

My 1913 house has cedar shingle siding, and I went for shingles on the garage too when I built it. I think it was worth it. It does cost more but I'd at least explore the possibility, I don't know what current pricing is but it may not be enough to be a deal breaker.

Thank you for the encouragement! I don't actually remember if the thin horizontal siding decision was a aesthetics or budget choice for certain. My wife has very strong opinions about building exterior aesthetics that I do not always fully understand, but I want her to be happy with the building too. When we speak to the contractor next I'll ask if we could look at an alternate to add shingle siding. I personally really like cedar shingles. We might be able to split the difference by doing less expensive siding down on the body and shingles in the gable, which I think is a really beautiful craftsman-y look.

Racedeck and sawdust sounds like a nightmare best avoided if possible. Polished concrete, epoxy, porcelain, etc. are all superior options for a space that that will house autos and woodwork, even if their cohabitation is infrequent.

Most power companies are perfectly willing to relocate a pole at your expense. The expense will not be cheap, but that obstacle will then be forever out of your way.

I would encourage you to reconsider the 8' ceiling height. The garage door/tracks will reduce your effective ceiling height by a foot. Even when closed those tracks are still in the way. You'll hit them just trying to walk across the floor with a rake in your hand.

Messages received, thank you!

When I started researching Racedeck I found a number of people who had it, did occasional woodwork, and said shop vac after a woodwork project was pretty quick and easy to get to clean again. I know my wife likes the look of polished concrete though. I think where I'm hung up is I personally feel Racedeck looks much cooler than epoxy or polished concrete.

Honestly, I do not think I can get my wife to agree to anything wider than 36 feet. I know once it's done it's done and I don't want to have regrets looking back, but it has been an uphill effort getting her to agree to a 3 bay garage. The Tacoma 1,000 sqft hard limit means at 40 feet wide I'd be limited to 24 feet deep, and for our uses I think 36 wide by 26 feet deep would actually function better. My Mom has a 30 foot wide by 22 foot deep 3 car garage in her house, and I could park 3 reasonably sized vehicles in it all day comfortably. No regrets after building also applies to my wife feeling like the garage is too wide and messes up the exterior views of the house. All I can say is it's nearly impossible to understate how important the external look is to her.

Edit x2: my garage is on a slab, and there's also one course of concrete block around the perimeter. That keeps the wood up away from ground level, minimizing rot potential or water intrusion. I also used full 8 foot studs rather than the 92 5/8" variety. It didn't cost much more, and those two things gives me a lot more headroom.

I will also revisit 8 foot height, given the universal advice against it. I like the sound of Stuart's setup, and it would visually align with our house construction which also has concrete foundation a foot up from the ground to get the wood away from the ground. Quickjack 2 feet of lift plus my current A6 or future RS5 should both be comfortably under 7 feet, but the SUV my wife says she wants will not be. With 8-9 inches of ground clearance for most small SUVs, I think I was assuming I may not even spend the time to lift for oil changes on it? Edit: I was not thinking about wheel/tire changes on an SUV. I don't think we will have a set of winter tires for her SUV, but I wouldn't want to be unable to lift enough to swap out wheels on her vehicle.

I've never had Carlaisle's bumping into garage track with a rake scenario happen to me. I'm 5' 8", maybe this is a taller guy thing to worry about? I really appreciate all the helpful advice and ideas, but feel kind of lost on this one. Is it about the space feeling visually open and expansive? Overhead storage for stuff? Lifting clearance for tall vehicles? I'm sorry if I'm missing what seems very obvious to everyone.