20x26 workable?

[Jeep07]

OK so I've gone round and round with my restrictions and no matter what direction I go I end up back at a 20' deep x ~26' wide attached garage because of certain rules etc..... So here is what I want from this garage...

I have a 2 post 7k Rotary lift I want to use. Along with this lift I have a 2'x3' rollaround welder, Plasma on a Cart. 5'x5' CNC plasma table, 3'x5' welding table, my toolbox, tube bender, notcher, chop saw etc.

Now I have a buggy that is 152" long so It will fit in on the lift and I can close the door. My wifes car should fit and my truck is very tight but can fit.

I figure the lift might have to go directly in the center to get the height required. So that should leave me 6.5-7' on each side which means it's tight for the CNC table.. I'd like to offset the lift to oneside and leave ~3' and have the other side as more "workshop" area but thats up to the roof guy and how much wall height I can get away with. The trusses will have to run the 26' wide span and be perpendicular to the current roof line and have a design to handle the height needed for the lift.. (truss guy says no problem)


So my question: is 20' deep usable? (I don't wanna drop the coin on building this if It's gonna be useless because I can't get any of the size I need) I do plan on have a 25x26 patio outside the garage door which should be nice for my daughter as she gets older.

My thoughts:
I will not be able to use the wall in front of the lift for tool boxes etc since I will need that as walking room and when pulling motors or using the cherry picker I will have to make sure and back the vehicle in so the engine is facing the garage door.


Looking forward to feedback and does anybody have a 20' deep garage with a lift in it? Pics if ya do?

Thx.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I do not have a lift in my 2 car garage which is either 22 x 22 or 24 x 24 I just do not recall, but it sure sounds like you will have it all jammed in there like sardines in a can to me!

 

[e-tek]

If the question is: Is 20' enough for a lift, then the answer is yes. Here's the measures on a BendPak:

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l54/HIRISC/Specs.jpg

If the question is: Is a 20' garage big enough, the answer, of course, is NO WAY!!!! As if your daughter is going to need her own concrete pad!! She can learn to bike on the street like any other kid!

Best way to estimate the size of your shop - go to the city palnning committee and find out what is the MOST you can cover and the HIGHEST you can go...then do that, plus 1%

 

[Jeep07]

If the question is: Is 20' enough for a lift, then the answer is yes. Here's the measures on a BendPak:

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l54/HIRISC/Specs.jpg

If the question is: Is a 20' garage big enough, the answer, of course, is NO WAY!!!! As if your daughter is going to need her own concrete pad!! She can learn to bike on the street like any other kid!

Best way to estimate the size of your shop - go to the city palnning committee and find out what is the MOST you can cover and the HIGHEST you can go...then do that, plus 1%

Oh if I could do 100'x400' I would but the neighborhood developer was a nazi when he setup the stuff so I'm limited on a billion things. Max detached garage is 600sqft and that has to match the house (brick) and it has to be 30' ft of any lot line including the rear line which makes it impossible on my lot. I also forgot my Lathe and drill press will have to go in the garage.. All of this stuff minus the lift currently lives in my basement with a 1 car bay in it...

 

[FunfDreisig]

...So my question: is 20' deep usable? .....

20x26 makes a nice garage OR workshop but not BOTH at the same time

Seriously, you will need to remove at least the vehicles on the ground to use many of the tools, work benches you list with out damaging the vehicles. So what you are describing is a workshop with occasional vehicle storage.

20" depth is workable IF you have smallish vehicles, live in a temperate climate and don't work in the garage naked. That way you can open the doors and take advantage of the driveway space for mobility (e.g. you position the car so you can walk around it by going "outside") . This is enhanced by having large eves and very large doors.

Also most cars can be parked so that their hood fits underneath cabinets hung on the back wall.

Funf Dreisig

 

[nyjets53]

Have a 21 by 21 garage with a 4 post lift in it. Park my 2 daily drivers in it and the caddy on top of the lift. One wall is the toolboxes, a roll around work bench, the garbage can. I back my car into the side with the tool boxes and have room to get out next to the misses car, my car is right next to the tool boxes etc. The wife also backs in and the wall next to hers is kept clean except for the 50 gal compressor and a another roll around in the rear corner. She has plenty of room to get out and access the back (honda crv) the caddy is above her .

When it comes time to work, you get to move cars...

I also put a back door in the garage so when I work on the daily drivers I just drive the caddy out the back door and don't have to shuffle the cars too much...

Use lots of overhead storage and pulleys

 

[Foul]

20" depth is workable IF you have smallish vehicles, live in a temperate climate and don't work in the garage naked.

that last bit's always the sticky wicket, innit?

dan

 

[PAToyota]

Max detached garage is 600sqft

Any chance that you can make it attached? A number of people on here have connected the garage to the house with a breezeway of one sort of another to skirt such issues.

My shop is 24' deep by 38' wide. The two "drive-in" bays are 24' deep by 20' wide total. With a workbench across the wall opposite the garage doors, the 24' is still pretty tight. Compared to my drive-in area, you'd have six feet down the side for everything else. That could be made to work, but it would be tight.

 

[PAToyota]

that last bit's always the sticky wicket, innit?

Hey, welding naked lets you work on that all-over tan!

 

[rusty1]

...that doesn't sound like a lot of room but it's still better than NO garage!

 

[mcgyverit]

I would go with 24' deep if you can spare/afford it.

 

[mhm993]

We were limited to 600 square, and came in at 21'5" x 28 ---599 square feet. . Very tight, but what are you going to do?
My pickup is about 19' with the hitch. Knock off inches for the back wall and a bit for the garage doors, and I don't think you fit a full sized pickup in 20'
Personally, I'd build your garage with two bays, put the lift in one bay (put a dormer in the center of the bay to raise the roof where needed), and have the option of storing third car or a decent workshop on the other side. Probably better resale with a full two car garage than a single bay in the middle, too.
Anyway you look at it, you're tight as a sardine, but that's still lots better than no garage and no shop!
Just my 2 cents.

 

[fireball 440]

I would go with 24' deep if you can spare/afford it.

Yeah at least!!!! If it's one thing I absolutely hate, it's being cramped for space while trying to work.

 

[Joe Reed]

Any chance you could fit in something other than a perfectly rectangular garage? Maybe a bump out on the back for a work area for some of the tools?

 

[mikeyr]

Yes, you can have the lift in 20ft. depth and be fine but you will be so tight on space for everything, I doubt it will work in the long run. Put ALL your tools on casters now because you will be moving them in and out all the time.

Or find out the rules !!! I went to tear down my existing garage and build a nice big one since I have the land and the city came back and said NO, my zoning max is 500 sq. ft. garage so forget it. Then one of the very few nice guys behind the counter said you can't build a bigger garage but you can build a workshop

So I ended up with my existing 400sq. ft. garage and a 480sq. ft. workshop, what makes it a workshop ? the fact that I can't get a car into it ! In my case the 9ft. wide door is not for a car but for a riding mower...uh uh...sure it is The city said if I don't pave a driveway to the 9ft. door then its not for a car. There were TONS of loopholes, such as the wall between the garage and new workshop that must be there so I can't drive from one to the other...oops that is really bad termite damage I better put a beam there and some studs to build the wall, studs were nailed with only one nail so they easily came out after the final inspection.

I don't have a 900 sq. ft. garage, I have a 400sq. ft. garage and a 480sq. ft. workshop, just ask the city.

or for the full story http://www.rambour.com/garage/ read the rules, there are usually several ways around them if you really want to go bigger and it sounds to me like you would not be happy with the size you are talking just based on your tools, but you could store the CNC Plasma at my house

 

[twostory]

My pickup is about 19' with the hitch. Knock off inches for the back wall and a bit for the garage doors, and I don't think you fit a full sized pickup in 20'

Since you have to build it small. Frame the rear wall for a 2ft bump out (bay window kinda thing). This way you can back you truck into the garage and put the rear of the truck in the "bump out" area. This will let you fit the 20 ft truck into a 19 ft deep garage.

This picture show the idea. Note the bump out does not require and foundation, it hangs in the air.