Considering purchasing a house with a 'tiny' 3 car garage. Is this even a thing?

[cdd1]

My wife and I are going to be moving within the next 3-6 months.

First option is a new build with a 2 car garage (27' wide and 20' deep). Nine foot bays with 2 feet between them and some square footage to the left of the two bays, which makes up the rest of the width.

Second option is an old home (built in 1930) that has a three bay garage that is 25' wide and 21' deep. Garage doors are 7' 5" wide with roughly 10 inches between the bays. Right behind the gap between the bays is a vertical support column (like a jack post). The other kicker is that the ceiling is only 8 feet 4 inches tall, so a 4 post lift (I would use lift for storage first, work second) I think is out of the question.

In short, we'd much prefer the older home, but I'm trying to think of some ways to get the most out of the space I'll have. I would imagine that it will be tough to actually get 3 vehicles in the garage and if I did have the three vehicles in there, there wouldn't be any room for anything else.

So I'm coming to the experts here to see what has been done for those of you in older homes with smaller dimensions. Any great ideas? I'm open to considering most anything.

PS, I should have mentioned that the house is fully stone (24 inch deep boulders) so expansion of the garage footprint is only an item of last resort--and would likely be something that only happened in the distant future.

 

[dfiler2]

The new build garage you mentioned is only 15 sq ft bigger than the existing older one.

 

[mharmon]

I have a similar sized three car. 27x22. I manage just fine. Not a ton of room to work on the cars once in there but I manage. I have one double door and one single. Some how I get three cars in there work benches, tool boxes, and a little bit of yard equipment.

Btw you know we need pictures.

 

[boiler7904]

All depends on what you plan to park in there, what else needs to be stored around them, and what you want to be able to do in the space.

I'd love to have a 6' x 20' area down one side of my garage for workbenches, tools, and a little space to work even with 2 cars inside on a cold wet weekend like we're going to have the next couple of days.

In my mind the older garage is a 1 car (center bay) with room for work in one of the sides and storage for a motorcycle or other toys in the other.

 

[Tdoriot]

Keep shopping! You'll HATE that freaking screwed up garage! The posts, goofy small doors and low ceiling are insurmountable. Without all the support posts you might have been able to put a 18' door in or maybe 2 10's, but the posts queer that idea. My 3 car is 39 feet wide and it's about right. If your a garage guy, KEEP SHOPPING !

 

[stikman56]

Unless you're building a shop, pass on it....unless you like being cramped, maneuvering around posts, fighting stuff all the way, every time you're working on something. I hate that kind of stuff myself, and life is too short.

 

[Leaky88]

I didn't know people parked vehicles in garages anymore...just kidding. Leaky

 

[cdd1]

Thanks everyone for your input.

The new build garage you mentioned is only 15 sq ft bigger than the existing older one.

Yes, but I'd prefer two bays with appropriate space to three bays cramped together. With the new build, I can easily get a 4 post lift in there to make it accept three vehicles and still have plenty of space for cabinets, work benches, etc.

I have a similar sized three car. 27x22. I manage just fine. Not a ton of room to work on the cars once in there but I manage. I have one double door and one single. Some how I get three cars in there work benches, tool boxes, and a little bit of yard equipment.

Btw you know we need pictures.

Yes, I can run over there and take pics of the older home. New build isn't constructed yet.

Unless you're building a shop, pass on it....unless you like being cramped, maneuvering around posts, fighting stuff all the way, every time you're working on something. I hate that kind of stuff myself, and life is too short.

Agreed. House is beautiful, though. In case my description wasn't clear, the posts aren't in the middle of the garage. They are right up against the front in between the bay doors.

 

[venturesomerite]

I looked at a house about 3 months ago that was an old house with a 3 car garage with a pit in the middle bay. Sounds like it was alot like what you saw. I passed on the house simply because of the garage. There was no easy way to gain any ceiling height, and NOWHERE for anything besides the cars. I have 3 cars, so once they are in, no where for anything else like motorcycle or tools.

I'm not flippin rich, so all my money would be ******* buying the house and what's left would be fixing it up, so I would be unhappy for a long time untill I could do something about it.

 

[ambenz]

My garage is 30X22 and I has some of the same issues except for height, my ceiling is 10 foot and I have 9 foot doors.
I park in all the bays during snow season and it's pretty cramped in there so anytime it is not snow season, I'll park my winter beater underneath a tarp pole garage I erect in the driveway since I have a two exit driveway.
I have my table saw, belt sander, and other bulky equipment on wheels so when I can free up one bay, I can set up shop in the third bay.
I sometimes will leave a vehicle out for a few weeks in the winter if I have a project going...it's a motivator to get the project finished, keep the garage clean, and organized...everything has a place.
I'm basically "Landlocked" and can't expand either due to permeability issue the village has imposed on properties in my town.
Shown here, my thrid bay is free and I have the tarp pole garage up.

It's an option to make it all work for me.
See this thread for tarped pole garages..... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274277

Now, adding height to an existing structure, you can jack up the whole place and add extensions to the footers...it's been done by a few of us members here.
Hope they add their 2 cents for you...good luck on your tough decision!

 

[cdd1]

Here are pics. The home is being renovated now, so all the **** in the garage bays will be gone, of course.

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[hoyt]

My dream house is essentially a one-bedroom efficiency with an attached 10-car garage.

 

[Moose02]

just built a house with a 44 x 33 ft garage and 14 ft ceilings and a full 10 ft high loft above and i should have gone bigger oh well

told wife i wanted a oversized 3 car garage with an attached house

go big or don't go home

 

[kbs2244]

SWMBO comes first.
Everything else can be worked around.
"Remembrer when......."

 

[ScottsGT]

Keep shopping! You'll HATE that freaking screwed up garage! The posts, goofy small doors and low ceiling are insurmountable. Without all the support posts you might have been able to put a 18' door in or maybe 2 10's, but the posts queer that idea. My 3 car is 39 feet wide and it's about right. If your a garage guy, KEEP SHOPPING !

What he said. I have almost the same setup. I thought I was in Heavin when we bought the place, but I have learned quickly that the low ceilings really ****, the posts **** and the close proximity between cars ****.
Keep shopping or build.

 

[404]

Suddenly, everything seems upside down.

 

[mark883]

Mein Gott, the house is in Australia.

But the place exudes coolness, with the rock construction. See if you can find some way to make that work. Its got class.

 

[404]

Mein Gott, the house is in Australia.

But the place exudes coolness, with the rock construction. See if you can find some way to make that work. Its got class.

Thank you. That explains everything.

 

[David C]

Rain water leaders discharging directly over the garage doors!

 

[blazentrout]

Two questions,
1.can you live with out a hoist?
2.can you live with only SWMBO parking in the garage?

If no move on
If you answered yes to both of those questions then you need to find out what is being used for a header over those doors. As i see it it may be possible to rework the current setup in to two 9'/10' doors but it will cost some $$

 

[Norm01]

Personally, if you like the house I would buy it however I would consider I bought a two car garage. What is above the garage, is it living space communicating to the second floor of the house. New construction houses these days are no better, double garages are often less than 400 sq.ft. I would consider condemning one door and making that area a work area, a low rise lift could be installed for working on cars. Take a look at Jack's threads, very nice things can be done with small spaces. I often see large garages just packed with junk and cluttered and no better off. As someone posted, the house has class.

 

[cdd1]

My dream house is essentially a one-bedroom efficiency with an attached 10-car garage.

Mine is a 5 bad house with an attached 5 car garage...

SWMBO comes first.
Everything else can be worked around.
"Remembrer when......."

The good news is that SWMBO and I often think alike. She was actually working the builder over on the new construction to see if he could make it a three bay garage. She's a good one, for sure!

Rain water leaders discharging directly over the garage doors!

Let me know if that's something I should be concerned about. If it's not clear in the picture, there is a gutter below the leaders on the small roofline right above the bays.

Two questions,
1.can you live with out a hoist?
2.can you live with only SWMBO parking in the garage?

If no move on
If you answered yes to both of those questions then you need to find out what is being used for a header over those doors. As i see it it may be possible to rework the current setup in to two 9'/10' doors but it will cost some $$

My wife actually offered to park outside--and no, she's not trying to trick me. So if we do select this house, then I'll get two bays, have a third bay for 'stuff' and she'll park her car in the driveway.

Personally, if you like the house I would buy it however I would consider I bought a two car garage. What is above the garage, is it living space communicating to the second floor of the house. New construction houses these days are no better, double garages are often less than 400 sq.ft. I would consider condemning one door and making that area a work area, a low rise lift could be installed for working on cars. Take a look at Jack's threads, very nice things can be done with small spaces. I often see large garages just packed with junk and cluttered and no better off. As someone posted, the house has class.

Thanks for the compliments (you and mark883) and that's exactly how I will think about it--a 2 car garage that can fit a third vehicle in a pinch.

If the financial gods smile on me, then maybe some time down the road, I'll reduce the size of the bedroom above it, and make the bay toward the exterior of the house double height and throw in the lift. Dare to dream.

 

[nolimits76]

I do like the charm of the older house you posted. However, I don't think you will be happy with a 3 car bay that is only 25' wide.

I say this based on my own experiences. We moved into a new place about 1.5 years ago. It's a newer development and as others noted, new garages just aren't as spacious as older ones. While building was a consideration and option for us, ultimately finding a good deal on an existing property was more appealing to us.

Anyhow, my 2 car bay is roughly 20'x20' inside dimensions. My 3rd car bay recesses back (into the house if you will) a good 7'+. While this may sound like I have a really deep 3rd car bay that isn't true. They started the entry to that bay about the same distance. So my 3rd car bay ends up about 12' wide x 18' deep.

The 2 car bay is used for parking our daily drivers -- a full sized Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup and Dodge Charger. Prior to the Ram, I had a Dodge Challenger. My point being, these are wide vehicles and the truck just barely fits length wise (about 12" clearance between front & rear bumpers). Also I park on the right and hug that wall to allow more space to exit the truck and enter the passenger side of the car. It's tight getting in/out of vehicles, but we manage okay. If we had smaller vehicles, the task wouldn't be that much of an issue.

The 3rd car bay I use as a storage and work area, which works out pretty great actually. At some point in the future I plan on adding a Wrangler or maybe an old Bronco which would fit nicely in the small space, but would cut down on a work area.

All in all, I'm about 32' wide for a 3 car bay and think that's tight. Parking 3 cars in a 25' bay seems miserable to me. My prior house I had an oversized 25'x25' 2 car garage and that worked nicely -- plenty of room to park 2 vehicles and space for benches and to work.

If you readjust your expectations of the older garage to a decent sized 2 car unit w/ some work space it may work for you. But if you need to house 3 vehicles I just don't see it being a long term win. If you decide to go w/ the older house, I'd leave the 3rd door in-place for aesthetics, plus it's nice to have a bigger door for large items.

All that being said, you should buy what makes you most happy in the end. When I was looking, it came down to the house I bought or a really nice house on the golf course. We really preferred the other house (for every reason except the small 2 car garage and restrictions) but it didn't work out during negotiations. Looking back, I know the other house would have never worked for us properly -- the garage was just too small (only about 19'x19' or so) and there was no room for expansion.