14x18 Too Small Garage?

[nditiz1]

Hey Guru's ,

Looking to add an addition onto my existing two car garage (20x20) The space that I want to put it is only allowing for it to be 18' deep. The Building Restriction Line puts the right back corner at it. I could maybe go a foot wider, but the way I am angled vs the property line could prohibit it. Anyway the real question is how usable will this be? I had planned on it being a place to work on my cars with a 4 post Atlas Lift. The lift eats up most of the space 8.6' x 14.6' leaving 2 ft back, left, and right. The front being **** up against the garage door. I gain an extra 1' in between the posts on both sides up to the runways. Does anyone have a setup close to this and feel it is "enough" workable space? I know when building a garage you can never have too much space. Thanks!

 

[joe_padavano]

Hey Guru's ,

Looking to add an addition onto my existing two car garage (20x20) The space that I want to put it is only allowing for it to be 18' deep. The Building Restriction Line puts the right back corner at it. I could maybe go a foot wider, but the way I am angled vs the property line could prohibit it. Anyway the real question is how usable will this be? I had planned on it being a place to work on my cars with a 4 post Atlas Lift. The lift eats up most of the space 8.6' x 14.6' leaving 2 ft back, left, and right. The front being **** up against the garage door. I gain an extra 1' in between the posts on both sides up to the runways. Does anyone have a setup close to this and feel it is "enough" workable space? I know when building a garage you can never have too much space. Thanks!

Depends on what kind of cars you are working on. An MG? No problem. My Olds Delta 88? Not even close.

 

[nditiz1]

Volkswagen beetles mainly and Porsche 914/911 (when I can get/afford one HA). There may be a Chevelle/Camaro down the road, but that won't be for years. I also want to be able to use the lift to change the oil on the wife's current car (05 Altima).

Edit - Now thinking about the only things I will have in there (mainly small cars), maybe I should look into a Full Rise Scissor Jack system. I would benefit greatly with the reduced space I have. I would however lose the extra parking under the 4 post.

 

[6768rogues]

I would go bigger even if it meant chopping one corner at an angle to meet requirements.
I like to have enough room to pull an axle out of a car. Draw that allowable building line on a site plan and squeeze in as big a garage as you can with one corner clipped off where the line is.

 

[larry_g]

Edit - Now thinking about the only things I will have in there (mainly small cars), maybe I should look into a Full Rise Scissor Jack system. I would benefit greatly with the reduced space I have. I would however lose the extra parking under the 4 post.

one option,

or another;

Search around on Jacks utube site and you'll see a a couple more vid's of his lift. He also documents it here in his thread on GJ https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5733182&highlight=lift#post5733182

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ripperd]

My 3rd stall in my 3 car garage is only 17.5ft deep. It is still very useful. I store an (admittedly small) S2000 in the stall in the winter. During the summer I fit my motorcycle, snowmobile, and other misc stuff in the spot. It most certainly is better than nothing, and is a usable stall for smaller vehicles.

 

[PAToyota]

Depends on what kind of cars you are working on.

Pretty much this. If you’re looking at fullsize cars, trucks, SUVs, or such I’d say 24’ deep is about a minimum. Twelve foot wide is about the bare minimum for a bay - eight foot for the bay with two feet on either side. So 14’ would allow some storage down one side or some work room. But that I’d say 14’x18’ is storage for a small car more than workshop or garage space.