Garage size opinions wanted

[crooklyn]

Hey,
I'm building a garage / shop finally!! The end plan is to eventually put a two post lift in to work on cars for fun.

I have a small lot and the wife wants to keep some of the back yard.
My original plan has changed as I could only find one property line and to get a survey would cost almost $2000 due to having to replace the pins and paper work back to the city. So if I build 6ft off the property lines (aka fence) then no survey is required.

I was originally planning on 22x26 then came the 6ft issue so I changed it to 20x28 and then I started thinking of doing 18x32 which would give me almost max size when doing a slab.

So from your experience, what should I do?
20x28
or
18x32

 

[CNGsaves]

Depends on orientation to lot . . . . which way will cars go ?? Where will lift go ??

Have you played around with free Sketch-Up software to layout potential future garage so you'll know where all these go ???
. . . . vehicles, bench, tool boxes, compressor, lift, storage, etc??

What size are your vehicles ?? Also, what is largest vehicle to go on lift ??

 

[zkling]

20x28 If the garage doors are on the 28' wall.

 

[crooklyn]

Skinny and narrow.
With garage door on the 20 or 18 foot side
And a 10x10 door

Small cars mustang and wife's mazda

 

[barnjunkie]

Build what you want, then at the ed , tell your wife you should have went with her idea to make her feel better.

: )

 

[Jlbc212]

If you need to park both cars in the garage at the same time, do the 18 x 32. You might have just enough room to get them in, one behind the other. Also get a twelve foot wide door, for when you get your truck.

 

[jimindm]

Before I would let 6 ft of yard go, i would at least investigate that. Is your house in a neighborhood of homes? Our assessment department is all online. Most neighborhoods are platted out on 30 ft or 40 ft, or a set number of feet for a lot. Get a long tape measure and just start measuring.

A city sidewalk is a good starting point. You know the city had them located on their right of way. Likely your property starts there. If there is a sidewalk that parallels your house close, start from there. Most lots are uniform in that they are all a certain measurement wide.

Our neighborhood they are forty foot wide lots. You can start at the sidewalk on each end and it comes out to 40 ft segments. Two properties at one time split a lot so they are sixty wide. Two properties are also two lot wide so they are eighty wide.

If nothing else it will give you an idea the lay out of what is yours, before paying for a survey.

If the twelve feet of no build zone means anything to you as far as garage placement, get a survey.

I like the garage doors on the long side of my garage. One reason is when using a 16 ft door you need to kind of fan out the parking once inside. Getting two cars in a sixteen foot footprint is very tight for opening doors. You mention a wife, but no kids. Getting a kid in a car seat requires most doors to be wide open. Also keep in mind that you may not always be driving that little puddle jumper, that may fit nicely. Some day it may be a pick up, or mid size suv.

IMO your choice is a large one car garage. Eighteen or twenty foot just is not deep enough for a garage for an overhead door on the long side. It also is very narrow for two cars if the door is on the short side.

I have a 24x30 that I work in, and a 14x20 for a classic car. The small one is used primarily for winter storage, simply because the mower and other summer garage stuff would be to tight to comfortable use it year round. As it is when winter comes, it get put on dollies and moved within inches of two walls, so there is room for snowblowers and other winter storage stuff.

The larger one that I work in has the door on the large side. With a ignition cabinet on the wall it gets tight on some vehicles just to stand in front or back. Let alone work very comfortably on them. There are some that simply will not fit.

A garage is a large expense any more. How ever four more feet in any direction for you would do wonders. That will not cost much more. Get the survey, save another year, and build a garage that will work better for you.

 

[rburke65]

I would be of the mind set with the 20x28'. But would also try and stake out the garage and doors and try to park both cars within the layout, be aware of the wall thickness takes up some of your length and width. Good luck.

 

[astroracer]

Like rburke65 said. Lay it out. Subtract one foot from all of your outside dimensions for wall thickness. And also subtract about 4" for the inside of the over head doors. See if your cars will fit.
Mark

 

[Kevin54]

If it were me, and I was limited to a 20' x 28', I would go 28' deep. That way you have room at the head of the garage for your workbench, plus still pull in a fullsize extended cab truck with an 8' bed. At 20' deep, your basically screwed. You always want deeper than wider.

 

[Iroc-Z]

20 Foot deep is a waste. Mine is 25 feet deep on my house and with a work bench up front you cant fit anything in there but a mid sized suv.

 

[sberry]

Sell house, get bigger lot.

 

[MattN03]

I'd want the garage doors on the wider side so it's easier to get in/out of the vehicles without door dings.

 

[justanengineer]

Is this supposed to be a combination garage (ie. park in "half") AND shop with 2-post lift? If so youd be far better off waiting to find a better lot to build a properly sized (30' on a side MINIMUM IMHO) garage unless youre going to use a mid-rise or single post lift. Otherwise unless you and the wife are Gumbi youre not going to be able to park or get around, have a bench, and the usual automotive tools.

Apologies if youre going to stick the lift in the middle and use this as a decent sized single bay shop, thats what I would do with your limitations.

 

[Kevin54]

I'd want the garage doors on the wider side so it's easier to get in/out of the vehicles without door dings.

That's where you just have to be careful, and not just whip in the garage and THROW the door open

 

[Trey T]

Man, it's kinda hard to visualize to even do a conceptual design w/o seeing the current lot and it's features.

Is there a way you can get a google aerial photo with some dimension?

 

[Onewolf]

Who told you a boundary survey costs $2000? That's crazy.

 

[Trey T]

Who told you a boundary survey costs $2000? That's crazy.

He said "pin" so I think of establishing control points. I'm not a surveyor but everytime on my project, establishing control points cost a lot of money.

Any surveyor here?

 

[HoosierMark]

If you know one property line and the dimensions of your lot you should be able to find the other corners. You may also want to ask the neighbors about their lots, then go to the court house and get a copy of the subdivision plat and orient what you know to the plat. It really is not that hard. I have seen people measure from several lots away and find their corners. Have you tried searching for the pins with a metal detector? often times you can find them. I would think long and hard about putting a building on my lot if I was not 100% sure of the property lines. Do some research, talk to peopl and you may find out that you can locate your boundry lines with minimal cost. Know any engineers, often times they like to mess with these type of issues, for example.
Assume nothing, sidewalks, streets, utility poles, may or may not be where you think they are. Just because a street is platted at 40 feet wide does not mean the street is in the center of the 40 feet for example, it could be on one side for various reasons.

 

[sublimate]

... I could only find one property line and to get a survey would cost almost $2000 due to having to replace the pins and paper work back to the city. So if I build 6ft off the property lines (aka fence) then no survey is required.

...

So from your experience, what should I do?

In my experience this would scare the hell out of me.
Have a buddy with a garage that ended up being built <1 ft over the line.
After a law suit he's having to tear it down.