Ideas and suggestions for 96x35 detached garage

[Gator67]

Getting ready to break ground on a custom home to be built on a 5 acre lot and I need some help planning the detached garage.

Here's some background. Plans include a 4 car garage attached to the house for the daily drivers and kid's stuff. The detached garage will be for storing and working on my old cars, hanging out, and also for general storage. The plans show 69' of garage space (3 18x8 doors) with the rest (27') serving as parts/household storage. There will be a 2BR guest house attached to the storage end of the garage.

Plans show the depth of the garage space as 32', but we've talked to the builder about bumping this (only the 69' section) out to 35' so we could park 2 cars back to back if we ever needed to. I also plan for an 8' wide roll up door between the garage space and one of the storage rooms. Thought this could be a good space for assembling stuff. The garage ceilings are 14' and the storage are 10'.

We still have time to make changes, so I was hoping to get some feedback on what we could do to make the space function well.

For example, I want a 2 post and a 4 post lift, but not sure where to locate them. As another example, would like some room for a bar/stools. Of course, open to suggestions for door/window locations/sizes, workbench, flooring, compressor, etc…

 

[tomroblee]

You need to build the garage on my lot!!!!!!

 

[ALinCarolina]

Wow, can't wait to follow this. Looks fantastic. I changed my plans to go from 32' deep to 36' deep. More room to work and like you say I could always park two head to tail.
Are you using 18' wide doors so you can pull two cars into each doorway side by side? I prefer more space between bays to keep benches, tables, welders, etc.

 

[Gator67]

Wow, can't wait to follow this. Looks fantastic. I changed my plans to go from 32' deep to 36' deep. More room to work and like you say I could always park two head to tail.
Are you using 18' wide doors so you can pull two cars into each doorway side by side? I prefer more space between bays to keep benches, tables, welders, etc.

Thanks! My thinking was that 18' doors would give me the most flexibility. I also want to fit up to 6 cars...just open her door and go. I guess I could fit 6 8' doors in the same space... would that be better?

 

[matt_i]

in Scottsdale, you will need A/C Maybe some more about how you intend to use the garage, mostly parking or are you wrenching, fabricating, etc, etc.

 

[bjcouche]

Although they may be interior walls, add insulation between the fab area, storage area, vehicle area, and guest house. That way you can heat or cool each area independently as needed. Also, having insulation on the guest house wall will block garage noise from getting into the guest house. It looks like your guest house has 2 bathrooms, I'd reduce that to 1 unless you plan on having somebody living / renting there full time. Just 1 less bathroom to clean and maintain. Also, I would definitely KEEP the bathroom in the shop. I have one in my shop and love it for cleaning up before going to the house. For the garage doors, I'd go with 10' high doors instead of 8' high doors. Even if you only own low rider slammed cars now, someday you might want a 4x4 and it might not fit under an 8' door. 18' wide doors may work for you, I would NOT go with 8' wide doors as that's too narrow, as in parking a 4x4, so I'd go with 10' wide doors as a minimum size. Your suggestion of 18' wide is good because the standard 16' wide is too narrow to easily park 2 cars side by side with adequate room.... but maybe your cars are all sub compacts....

Brian

 

[thrifty bill]

+1 Keep one bathroom for the workshop.

One of the smartest things I did for my workshop was to pick up a used restaurant sink. All stainless steel, two large sinks, stainless drain boards, etc., for less that the typical big box store charges for one of those plastic utility sinks.

Given the large size of your shop, I would put in a large sink. You will be happy later.

 

[ALinCarolina]

The wide doors are fine, just depends on how much you lean to storing maximum number of cars (sounds like you have a lot, congrats) vs. having extra room to work on them. My plans are at the other extreme, 36 X 60 with center 14' door with a 10' door on either side. Some of the space will be for homemade paint booth.
I second the big sink, I picked one up at auction, stainless with drainboard.

 

[Gator67]

I definitely plan on having A/C!

A bathroom in the garage is a must have. Not sure I have it in the best place. Wondering if I should install a urinal.

Will keep my eye out for a big restaurant sink…never occurred to me to look for one…much nicer than one of those plastic tubs.

With regard to how I plan to use the garage, I’ll be parking my four old Pontiacs there (67 GTO convertible, 68 Firebird 400 convertible, 70 Trans Am, 70 Firebird Formula 400). I wrench on my cars a bit and I'd like to do more. Actually, the Formula is a just a shell at the moment, near ready for paint. Depending on the timing, I may end up assembling it in the new garage. Won’t likely use the garage for painting or metal/bodywork.

With the present plan, I suspect I'll have to put the 2 post lift in the bay furthest from the storage rooms so that I can roll stuff in and out of the room with the roll up door.

 

[matt_i]

Just an idea...as big as that facility is, it isn't going to be cooled by a window unit. Probably more like a normal household HVAC unit. Along those lines you might have a "mechanical room" and if so, I would recommend putting your electrical panel in there.

My experience with Phoenix housing was that the electrical panel was buried in a 2x4 wall with drywall all around, so the least little circuit addition to it was going to be a complete nasty tearup. To keep things cleaner you might be able to surface mount in an electro-mechanical room, this way, you have access to the attic space and could run new wires in the future.

I would take lots of pictures as the builders work, especially framing, its like having an X-ray of the building for later. Nice Pontiacs btw. Always wanted an older GTO but unlikely to happen. I am a "New Pontiac" guy having had a Grand Prix GTP and when it became rusty I then got a G8 which probably does not get 1000 miles/year.

 

[ALinCarolina]

I love 60s Pontiacs especially the 66 and 67 GTOs. Does your screen name imply a U of FL Gator?

 

[Gator67]

Just an idea...as big as that facility is, it isn't going to be cooled by a window unit. Probably more like a normal household HVAC unit. Along those lines you might have a "mechanical room" and if so, I would recommend putting your electrical panel in there.

My experience with Phoenix housing was that the electrical panel was buried in a 2x4 wall with drywall all around, so the least little circuit addition to it was going to be a complete nasty tearup. To keep things cleaner you might be able to surface mount in an electro-mechanical room, this way, you have access to the attic space and could run new wires in the future.

I would take lots of pictures as the builders work, especially framing, its like having an X-ray of the building for later. Nice Pontiacs btw. Always wanted an older GTO but unlikely to happen. I am a "New Pontiac" guy having had a Grand Prix GTP and when it became rusty I then got a G8 which probably does not get 1000 miles/year.

G8s are great cars! In fact, I really wanted an '09 GXP when they first came out. Can't recall now why I didn't get one. Wish i did!

The home we're in right now is only a couple miles from the property, and our work schedules are pretty flexible, so we'll be able to keep track of what's going on and take pics. We have two kids (11 and 13) and I'm hoping the process will be memorable for them.

I was undecided on how I wanted the garage configured (e.g., size/location of the storage rooms) and so the central AC unit and air handler closet, etc. are not included on this set of plans. Architect and builder are open to moving stuff around still, but I need to start making decisions. It's funny, there's so much more going on in the main house, but that seemed a lot easier to plan for some reason.

 

[Gator67]

I love 60s Pontiacs especially the 66 and 67 GTOs. Does your screen name imply a U of FL Gator?

Yes, I was on the faculty at UF from '98 until '11…I'm at ASU now. It's a different kind of hot in AZ.

Here's a picture of my '67

 

[bluestripe67]

Nice GTO, Hurst wheels and redlines w/green and parchment...WOW!

 

[rburke65]

Love the ride. Mom had a 6 cyl. '67 Tempest, red. Should have kept that one.

 

[Gator67]

Thanks for the compliments on my GTO. I had several Pontiacs in the early '80s--including a '67 Tempest--and never got them out of my system. Bought this one from a friend back in Florida and had it restored to high #2 level. It's an HO 4-speed car and I drive it regularly. The factory stock appearing numbers matching motor is stroked to 462ci, and has ported heads, roller cam, etc. Runs like a freight train and is super reliable to boot!



Hagerty Insurance used the car for some TV and print ads a couple years ago. An actor drove it except for this one shot where you can see the back of my head. I still can't believe my ears are that big.

 

[ZRX61]

I'd go 40ft deep, change the garage door furthest away from the apartment to a 10ft & have the bar area at that end of the shop.
Maybe put the man door between the two remaining 18ft doors.

 

[Gator67]

Still struggling a bit with the layout. I'm thinking that the storage room to the rear of the garage will be workspace and tools, so I should probably place the 2 post lift close by in the adjacent bay. This makes me wonder if 2 9' doors with the man door in between would work better than an 18' door. This way I could drive straight onto the lift and still maximize car storage in the adjacent space. If I stay with an 18' door, I think I'll have to offset the lift towards the storage rooms, and I'd have to jog cars around a bit to use the lift and park in the adjacent spot. See attached. Am I missing something? Thoughts?

 

[jloehlein]

Since you've got 14' ceilings, have you thought about making at least one of those doors taller than 8'? That way if you wanted to park an enclosed trailer or RV in there, you could.

I like the 18' width, it gives you good flexibility. 8' doors aren't wide enough to fit a dually pickup through.

 

[Bayoubrent]

Have you considered partitioning vehicle storage from shop / work space. Depending on the type of work / maintenance you preform protecting those classics is first priority of a GARAGE. My first car was a '70 GTO, I was 16 years old.

 

[Playwme]

I'd put the lift in the second carspot from the left. If you put it right next to the workshop/storage area you might find its always in the way. Leave that first spot as a nice wide one for the many times you work on a car without having it on a lift, and need to be able to walk around it with plenty of room to spare.

Move your toilet too. That back corner is prime real estate for a corner bench or large piece of equipment and the toilet door is right in the middle of it. I'd put it right near the man door, preferably with your shop shower in the same space.

 

[keperkey]

At least 36' deep, but you would barely have room to park back to back and move around cars, plus you would not have much room for shelves, workbenches if you are doing back to back.

At least 10' tall on garage doors. Make sure openers are high lifts.

At least 9' wide and I would probably do 18' as that gives you most flexibility.

 

[sberry]

Go 40 wide.
Measuring cars with a tape is a poor way to get the "feel". One needs to add 4 ft for stuff or things and then another 4 ft for human beings to travel. Enough to roll carts, get turned around and for 2 people to pass. A 9 wide door is way too narrow and a 10 isn't any too roomy. Absolutely on the urinal.
I agree the bathroom stuff needs work yet.

 

[sberry]

The bathroom and wash up would definitely be moved and off entrance in to the 1st room so the plumbing and convenience was all on one side. It would be in a hutch feature or have the walk door moved some so there It needs more space between the doors, you can get 2 cars wide thru 18 fine but it needs some maneuver room.

 

[sberry]

This is a place for some disagreement. My bud had a contractor that agreed with all his ideas and he was left with some regrets that could have been avoided, could cheap some.
With the hoist factor may even change the whole layout some, trade some width for length and use 2 doors vs 3 and we could group the tooling to save foot travel and make it more comfy as well as keep common traffic from having to bump and travel thru or over tools when entering building. I might consider a mezzane for storage, a loft and all the condiments under this vs real "storage" rooms, these would be more open with benches and shelves across this end and leading in to automotive swinging around the front. This would allow for a couple of things in regards to lift placement and accesability

 

[HemiRamOn22s]

I would go at least 10' tall with the garage doors. 40' deep with a garage is ideal.

 

[Gator67]

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions…keep them coming!

We thought our permits were ready to pick up from the city last week, but it turns out that we needed to make some minor revisions. Most everything is done now. Just waiting for one more piece to come back from the civil engineer, and hopefully we'll be good to go.

I'd love to go with 40' depth, but if we go much more than 36' the drive would likely become too steep to push a car into the garage. I did consider reversing the orientation of the garage, but I want to be able to open the garage door and drive any of my 4 cars away without having to move anything around…a deep but narrow orientation obviously makes this a challenge.

I'll definitely look into taller doors and high lift openers. I can also see benefits to moving the bathroom, and the lift to the second car spot to the left. A mezzanine for storage is a cool idea too, but the space planned for the storage rooms only has 10' ceilings, so I couldn't put it there. I wonder where else a mezzanine might work?

Shop shower?

 

[sberry]

A shower not such a deal, urinal definitely

 

[dwysywd]

A shower not such a deal, urinal definitely

make sure you can rinse your urinal with a hose... LOL

 

[Gator67]

Recieved my last approval on Friday and my builder picked up the permits on Monday. Plant folks started moving stuff around today. We have a long way to go but at least things are rolling now.

 

[Gator67]

Here are some photos of progress. First step was to move all the trees and cacti in the approx. 3 acre building envelope to the edges of the property. This took about a week. Clearing, grading and pad work took about 3 weeks. Lots of fill was brought in for the pads. Footings and stem walls last week. The garage is on the left hand side of the photo and the house is on the right.

 

[gnpenning]

You can go with 20' or 22' wide doors if you want.

With a 14' lid I would do 1 - 12' high door maybe 14' wide for backing a trailer in.

Maybe a door on the other side for a drive thru. You could do a 10' to save wall space and still have plenty of room to drive thru. A 18' would give cars from other bays a shot of driving out.

Love the old Pontiac's. I still have mine.

That looks like a great shop.

 

[jahn]

That's 1 of my dream cars

 

[Gator67]

Here's a photo that shows where we are in the project. We didn't deviate much from the original plan. The roof is done. Plumbing and wiring are finished. Ended up going with 4 a/c units. 2 for the garage, 1 for the storage rooms, and 1 for the casita. Just waiting on windows.

 

[quick60]

Looks like Barret Jackson is a member!!! Who else in Scottsdale would need such a mighty structure!

 

[Gator67]

Looks like Barret Jackson is a member!!! Who else in Scottsdale would need such a mighty structure!

I'm not Barrett or Jackson, or even Steve Davis...but there is a connection. My architect told me he did Craig Jackson's garage.

 

[Gator67]

Haven't posted an update in a while. Here's a wide shot of the property so you have an idea where things are in the process.



Overall, we're happy with how things have turned out so far.

We ended up going with a clear polyurethane product on the floors, throughout the house and garage. The first coat was laid down prior to drywall and plastering. It looks great. it darkened up the concrete and highlighted contrasts and spots...kind of looks like stone. Really tough finish too. Lots of traffic and dirt, and it has held up remarkably well. Interior painting and tile work began this week, and when that's done, the floors will be cleaned up, lightly sanded, and then will be finished with the second coat. I hope to make it out to Barrett Jackson this week. Lots of vendors there and I hope to score some deals on lifts and other equipment.

Other details for the detached garage.

9 rows of overhead lighting, 3 X 2's LED bulbs.

Ran black pipe in the walls and ceilings for compressor.

Sewer clean out, 50 amp service, cable, water, etc. on the left hand side of the garage.

Garage has 2 AC units on the roof. There's also an AC unit for the casita and another for the storage rooms between the garage and casita.

Have hot and cold water and water softener to wash cars.

 

[bczygan]

Frankly I think you should make it 100x40.

Then it would be the size of my entire lot!!!

 

[padroo]

My house garage is 36 foot deep and it isn't deep enough to fit two full size cars end to end. My back garage is 40 foot deep and I can barely get my wifes 1989 town car and my 2006 Dakota end to end. With the Town Car bumper up against the front wall there is very little room between my truck front and rear.

 

[rampster]

Looking good. Congrats. I'm getting ready to embark on a 45x65 detached on my property in North Phoenix and would appreciate any tips.