20.5x22 = small 2 car

[TeeJayHoward]

So I'm looking at the specs for the house we're going to have built, and I notice that the builder's plans call for a 20.5' x 22' garage with a 16' door. I didn't really think anything of it until I tried to put a pair of full-sized sedans in the picture. Their mirrors are almost touching! Okay, not really, but I can forsee doors getting dinged up, especially when the little 'uns come along in a couple years. I talked to the builder about widening the garage - 24' with an 18' door was my idea. They said no. They can extend the garage up to 26', but due to the lot width and HOA requirements for side (easements?), adding a couple extra feet to the garage width was not going to happen. My wife's set on this floor plan and builder. I can technically fit two cars in the garage, but it wouldn't be a proper workshop in my mind. I'd have issues storing everything if I did another "frame off" restoration.

So, it got me thinking. How do I work around it? If I treat it as a single-car garage, it'd be wonderful. Plenty of space. I guess I can just park my daily driver in the driveway while I'm working on the project car, and scoot the project car super close to the wall during the winter months...

Am I missing anything? Is there some way to magically add space (or at least make it FEEL like there's extra space) for car doors to open and close? I'm not worried about junk storage - The wife knows the new garage will be like the current one - Nothing enters it that I don't put there. There will be a space outside of "my" garage dedicated to rakes, lawnmowers, bikes, brooms, trash, etc. The 9' x 3' space should be plenty for my tools, tires, and fluids based on current space and historical usage. Heck, it'd even give me extra space in the form of a workbench over what I have now.

Next question is, should I go for the extended length on the garage? I don't own a truck. Doubt I'll ever own one again. Is there any other reason to have the extra depth? I'm trying to compare it to our 11x20, and it just seems to be so much bigger.

 

[vette-kid]

This is just me, but I would take the extension...no question. Use the extra space to set up a shop in front of the vehicles. Otherwise, like you said, you will have a hard time with storage. 22.5 doesnt leave a lot of room in front for benches or cabinets. Mine is 24 deep and a bench is ok in front, but there isnt much extra. 30 would be awesome.

 

[vartz04]

Go as deep as you can and as tall as you can if you can't add width. Loft areas are the only way you'll keep your floor space big enough for both cars. Use shelves and cabinets to get everything up above head height. That little bump out in the back is a god send as you can have all your tools and a bench without encroaching on your parking area


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[exranger06]

I have a 20 x 22 garage with 16' door too. I've actually never tried to fit two cars in there yet. I only just moved in about 5 months ago, and I'm still trying to hang shelves and get all my **** organized so I can actually fit 2 cars in there. I think it is going to be very tight though. Having only one car in there leaves plenty of room though. The depth can be a little tight too. My extended cab Ranger fits, but doesn't leave enough space to walk around the back of it. (Or not enough space to walk around the front, depending on how far I pull into the garage). Try to get any additional space you can.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Yes, go with the extra length. I have a 20x20 attached & a 20x23 detached. To park two cars in them, one is backed in & one is pulled in forward. Only what to do it with a 20' width & be able to get out of the cars. When working in the detached shop garage only one car in there.

 

[TAMU05]

I've never had any luck trying to work on cars when you have two in a two car garage. Even with an 18' door, I back out one and park the other in the middle to work on it.
And I'd definitely go for extra length. That'll give you some room to add storage and work bench areas

 

[cagullett1]

You back in on the left side so that both drivers doors open up to the center of the garage. This allows you to park closer to the side walls and it won't be as prone to door dings. We have a 20x21 and with my stuff in there, it's just easier for me to leave my car in the driveway and let my wife park in the garage. No question for me, I'd go for the extension. Looks like a good nook for a workbench.

 

[dfreeman616]

When my old garage burnt, I had a 16x22. For rebuild, the largest I could go is almost identical to those plans...20x22. I can fit our van and grand Cherokee in there at the same time when it is completely empty, but of course with tool boxes, a compressor, a work bench, etc... It's a large one stall. I also went taller with scissor trusses so it would give more overhead space and made a loft. Go for the 26 for sure.


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[Todd.Brock]

I had a 20x24 garage at our old house. I would have loved to go to 20x26 for room to move , machines, etc. I had room for a work bench, air compressor and garage cabinets. We moved to a 20x22. It's tight with my tool box and air compressor.

Can you go out any width? Keep the 16 ft door. Every foot you could gain in width is almost a bigger win than depth so you can get by. We have a Honda Odyssey and a civic and park in the 20x22. It's tight but it works. The depth of 26 deep would let you keep from storing anything on the side of the garage to maximize your wingspan. It sort of *****, but if it's all you have, then make due!

 

[Cyberbear]

Experience has taught me that maximizing one's work space is never a wrong decision. You will always be glad you opted for more sq/ft and it's cheaper now than later. Based upon your parameters, I get the impression you are limited as to any future additions of garage or dedicated workshop space. As time passes, your financial situation may allow for relocation to another home with a larger lot, and room to expand if you wish.
At my first home I purchased a house on a large lot which eventually allowed for a two story garage and workshop of 2700 sq/ft. Now, years later, I am living on 7.5 acres with 30' x 80' shop and plenty of space for everything else. In every case I planned for future changes, preferring to keep my options open.

 

[AldeanFan]

My garage is 20x20.
I can park 2 cars in it or work on one car in it.
Wish it was bigger, but doesn't every one

 

[ProTinkerer]

Can you ask for two 8' garage doors with more space in the middle of the garage doors? Would this put you closer to the wall and have the same issue with opening doors into a wall instead of the other car?

 

[stealthz]

Wow I was about to post something similar my garage is same size, Barry meeting a 2 car but in reality it is far from it. I use mine for a detailing studio and am trying to figure out where to install my storage cabinets and our freezer as the right wall has a tankless hot water heater and trying to keep it as roomy as possible. If I do anything in the back wall the GTR barely fits.

Angers me as I should have paid more attention to the size when it was being built.

Anyone have any recommendations for maximizing space and organization? Is as going to buy two of the gladiator wall lockers and wall mount them. But not sure what side or try and keep everything on the side with the hot water heater

 

[nuc1]

How tall is the ceiling? I have a 20x20 with 13' ceilings so a 4 post will be going in there. One car (not my daily) is up in the air, the wife's car goes under it. Daily (truck) just fits in garage when I need to work on it otherwise sits in the driveway. Not my first choice but like you the wife loved the neighborhood and layout of the house.

Mike

 

[truckman5000]

Go bigger.
If it can go up, like mine. I built a "2nd floor" with a stair way. The stair way dosnt interfere with the garage, because i built stairs off the landing. So the secont floor geta all the ****. I have cabinets and over head storage for the **** that is used often.

I will build a shed in the spring, for the lawn stuff. Make sure you can build a shed.

 

[evildky]

My garage is 20' wide and I drive a turdra (wider than the average sedan), I back in so my drivers door opens to the center, my gf drives a rav4, she pulls in forward so her drivers door opens to the center, there is plenty of room down the center for driver and drivers side entry but we always pull out for access to the passenger side fo the vehicle, not always convenient but what we've done for the past 17 years.

 

[tinmanwpk]

No question, get the extra length now while you can

 

[JimVonBaden]

My garage is 20x20.
I can park 2 cars in it or work on one car in it.
Wish it was bigger, but doesn't every one

Same with mine, though I rarely park any cars in it, I can get two in it even stuffed like it is, plus my bike!

No photos of the two car inside situation.

 

[nolimits76]

I call BS the lot is so narrow and the floor plan is so wide that they can't bump the walls a few feet for you.

If I were gambling, I bet these yahoos are "spec home builders" that offer a limited number of floor plans and they don't like to deviate from those plans. To call their bluff, you could review a plot plan that will show actual width and all easements. Also, you can review city & county codes in combination with any HOA requirements to confirm what they are telling you is truthful.

If they aren't truthful, take a copy of their plan and find a custom home builder to build what you want. Competition can be a wonderful thing.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Before you do much more planning, you might to read the rules of your future HOA. You might be limited on what you can do in your garage, smells & noises or leaving a vehicle sitting in your driveway.

 

[Nessal]

Here is my advice. Get everything off of the floor. The more stuff that you have on the floor the less useable space that you have. My garage is smaller than yours (19X18) and I have plenty of space to work on my car and park two cars inside. Get things on the wall and get drawers and cabinets that are not as deep but taller. Take a look at my garage.

http://i64.tinypic.com/sma9u0.jpg

 

[TeeJayHoward]

If I were gambling, I bet these yahoos are "spec home builders" that offer a limited number of floor plans and they don't like to deviate from those plans.

Yup. They'll do minor changes, but anything major they don't like. The wife is dead set on these guys. No getting around it. They're not bad. I like their floorplans, materials, staff, and quality of work. They just do one thing, and do it well. We're waiting for the next section of lots to open up. Some of them are twice as wide at the front as these lots are. No way that would interfere. But then it's an $5K-20K lot premium, plus the cost of the garage widening, plus the additional landscaping costs, plus this, plus that, etc. If they really don't want to do it, I figure they'll just charge me an arm and a leg.

As for the custom builder, no such luck. If we want to live in this area, we are stuck with one of a couple of builders. And this one is the only one my wife likes. Personally, I'd rather get some wooded land ten minutes further away, but there are an undeniable number of advantages to this location, not the least of which is the best school district in the city, and possibly the state.

Before you do much more planning, you might to read the rules of your future HOA. You might be limited on what you can do in your garage, smells & noises or leaving a vehicle sitting in your driveway.

Not allowed to store a car on the street overnight, but the driveway is okay. That being said, there's several folks there who street-park. I think it's more to have a way to keep folks from leaving junky cars in front of their house. Everyone I see who street parks has a modern vehicle in good condition. There's noise ordinances - No pneumatic impact wrenches after 8PM, that kind of thing. Didn't read anything about smells, which is odd. You'd think that's pretty important.

Re-reading my original post, I think I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need to spend the extra money. That I can be happy with the 2-car as-is. And I think that as long as I don't need to store one car while working on the other, it'll work out. Or need to store a cherry picker. Or use an engine stand. Or want a huge compressor. Or...

Actually, hang on a second. There's a huge mechanic's room downstairs. I wonder if I could put a compressor down there and just run an air line to the garage? I'm planning on running extra 220V circuits down there anyway for the server rack. If I could wire up a big, powerful compressor (>15SCFM@90psi) in a room I'm already going to sound deaden, maybe run a light switch to the garage to turn it on/off. Hrm!

 

[racerex]

It can be done. I restored two Camaro's in a space smaller than yours....one was a complete nut-n-bolt resto. That being said, I had one car in there.....but when the car was fully blown apart, it was almost like having two cars in there. You just have to be really smart when it comes to how you set the space up. Pretty much the only thing that I could not easily move was my workbench, everything else was on casters (i.e., tool boxes, shelving, etc.). I stored parts in plastic totes and stacked them on moving dollies. I also kept large parts on moving dollies....HF dollies are cheap and they come in different sizes.

If you have a utility room in your basement, you can have your compressor down there...you way just want to place it in a corner and box it in to keep the noise down and invest in a good set of vibration isolator pads. You can also fab up some shelving to store totes with stuff you don't use often (say all of your car detailing stuff). If you're smart with how you organize the stuff in the totes, you just have to grab the tote and bring it up to the garage when you need it.

I made an art out of working in a small space. Plus, if space is tight, you won't be hoarding stuff. My new detached garage/shop is close in size to yours....18x24...and I'm doing a full body off resto of a Corvette in there.....once you pull the body, you have effectively have two cars. I'm using all the same space saving techniques in there. That being said, I do have a storage loft where I can store my totes.

 

[Olyar15]

If you can afford it, go with the longer garage. You will regret not getting as large a garage as you can afford, guaranteed. Also, is it possible to reverse the door so it swings outward? That would help you to park closer to the wall

 

[TX RamRod]

I would say extend it as much as you can. I have a 20x20 and would love an extra 6'. That way my work area would not double as a parking spot. Obviously you have to weigh out the additional cost, but I can't see how it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[M-technik-3]

Here's my take on it....Say no to HOA's! Find another area to live that allows you to build what you want to. You are spending your hard earned money to build a house for you not them.... Rant over good luck

 

[ludakris04]

I would extend it as well.. I have the usual 20x20 ish garage and I have plans to put 12x16 off the back.. the extra room is just for tools, and work space, its a pain pulling the car out to do anything extra in the garage (sawing, painting, building, etc..). If you have kids, their stuff creeps in and fills up space, and if your in an area that gets snow/ice, its always nice to have the option of squeezing the second car in. Its much easier to get it now than it will be down the road....

 

[slow]

not sure on your financial situation, as I try to buy towards the bottom or middle of what i can afford, but absolutely add the extra length when possible if you can afford it. If you have kids, the "stuff" that they have takes up tons of floor space, which is a premium. I have a 3 car garage 26' by 19.5 (18.5 for the single bay) certainly not the ideal situation, and I have never had more than 2 cars in it, (only 2 cars a handful of times) between the 4 bikes, 2 scooters, 2 strollers and pressure washer, lawn mower, edger floor space is at a huge premium.

 

[nikerret]

Go as large as you can. I've never heard of anyone wishing their garage was smaller (except when trying to heat or cool one), but I know a lot of people who need a larger one.

Personally, my garage pisses me off. It's only 19' deep and 22' wide with a 16.5' door. No full size crew cab pickup will fit. I bought my truck ten days after I closed on the house and was very unimpressed the truck wouldn't fit.

It was my fault, I insisted on an attached two-vehicle garage, but didn't measure. The previous owner had a Chrylser 300 in there, and there was room to spare, on all sides. I didn't account for a full size pickup.

Go as big as you can. I won't even look at my next house unless it has a proper garage for vehicles and workspace.

My benches are on one side (built in) and I couldn't use them if there were two vehicles inside. Now, my tractor is on that side. I can work, but have to step over stuff, sometimes.

The compressor inside with a sound box seems like a good idea. Don't forget to allow for access to drain it.

 

[nolimits76]

Sounds like you really want to build there regardless. And that's cool, just realize what is and isn't important. I have an HOA that isn't as restrictive and don't like it. Remember just because you see "offenders" of the bylaws already doesn't mean they can't be poo poo heads about even the most trivial items.

Back to the garage space question. Having the room downstairs helps quite a bit. Having a 3 car bay myself but in a condition where I daily park in roughly a 20x21 area I can tell you it's a PITA. I have a full size Ram. Wife has a Charger. My Ram fits lengthwise by inches. I hug the right wall and exit left. The wife won't back in so hugs (within reason) the left wall and exits left. Lengthwise she is good, 2-3 feet easy. With both vehicles it is tough to enter either side of her car or the drivers side of my car if you aren't being careful. No passenger access on my truck at all. If we have kids or friends travel with us I back the vehicles up for loading.

Yes, it's doable but again a PITA! This is just daily parking and access. A project of any real value requires pulling a vehicle out.

Definitely go as long as you can. Personally I would want 22 to 24 wide but if you are dead set it is what it is.

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[TXBDan]

My old detached garage is 21' wide X 18' deep. The Camry fits in with only a couple inches to spare lengthwise! My E36 track car is much smaller so i can fit 22" work benches on the back of that side of the garage.

Fortunately we use it mostly as a single car garage and the Camry lives outside. The M3 is now rotated 90deg sideways in there up on stands for winter projects.

Spend some time floor planning the space. I'll post my floor plans when I get home tonight.

 

[AldeanFan]

A garage can never be big enough and you will tend to fill up unused space. When I bought my house the garage and the yard next to it seemed huge, then I bought 2 collector cars, a car trailer, an airstream and a family SUV, but kept my other car to drive to work and save gas over the truck.
When I had just a mustang in the garage and no tools it was huge, now it's crowded.

You can make a smaller garage work, there's plenty of members with smaller garages that have done great things with them.
I restored 2 mustangs in my parents garage before I bought my house.

Build as big as you can, plan for potentially more stuff and bigger toys in the future and enjoy whatever garage you can get.

 

[sqznby]

My garage is 20x20.
I can park 2 cars in it or work on one car in it.
Wish it was bigger, but doesn't every one

Aint that the truth

Here is my advice. Get everything off of the floor. The more stuff that you have on the floor the less useable space that you have. My garage is smaller than yours (19X18) and I have plenty of space to work on my car and park two cars inside. Get things on the wall and get drawers and cabinets that are not as deep but taller. Take a look at my garage.

http://i64.tinypic.com/sma9u0.jpg

Mine is very similar in size. I agree 100%, get as much off the floor as possible. I built a couple storage shelves and it did wonders in space.

I would say extend it as much as you can. I have a 20x20 and would love an extra 6'. That way my work area would not double as a parking spot. Obviously you have to weigh out the additional cost, but I can't see how it wouldn't be worth it.

I wish I had even two more feet, 6 would be amazing, hah.


Thankfully I have very high ceilings to make plenty of storage off the floor.

I'd definitely go longer if possible, even higher if that option is there as well.

 

[PCMusicGuy]

I park two cars in a 18' x 18' space and have an additional 3 ft in front for the workbench. I would certainly take the extra length in your position. I believe you can get by with a 22' wide garage all things considered.

 

[PoorOwner]

This thread make me go and measure my 2 car and it is 20x20. The trick i use is back up Parking for one car so you exit the wall side.
I had to get light duty shelving that is 14" deep.
And no it doesn't fit everything. wood and metal cutting saws have to be put elsewhere. Have to give up my welding cart to put on shelves as well

When working on a SUV when I lift it 20" it hits the garage door! Either the drawers almost can't open all the way or the garage door can't close
But project when carefully planned works ok. I recommend putting some things on casters

Do look into shed building hoa rules, for $5k you can get a lot of shed but not a lot for the builder to modify a floor plan

 

[Czaruno]

My garage is also the same width and it is so annoying. See if you can keep them from putting the water heater or ac air handler on the floor. They can put one in the attic at an extra cost. They can also put the water heater outside or use a tankless one and have them install it as high as possible. Since you are building, it would be an amazing time to ask them to put in a cathedral ceiling in the garage. They will push back but I bet they can easily do it. Have them finish some space in another part of the attic for storage.

Long shot but the height will let you put a lift or car storage in the future. As others have said, make the garage as large as possible. Shrink the laundry room, I bet it is larger than it absolutely needs to be.

I bet others here have the same plan as you, the same plans are used in many communities.

Good luck,

Larry

 

[dannyual320]

Definitely take the extra depth!! It's like someone else already mentioned; nobody ever wished their garage was smaller.

Now about that 16' door. I think that 16' doors are just too small. When trying to park two cars in a double garage with a small 16' door, you really have to hug the outside edges with each car to leave adequate space in between the vehicles. If you can have an 18' door installed, I can almost guarantee that you'll appreciate the extra 1 foot of room on each side every time you pull a car in or out.

In our previous house, we had a small 2-car garage with a 16' door. My car was on the right side and my passenger side mirror would clear the door frame by less than 3". It was scary pulling my car in and out! My wife would fold her driver's side mirror in before she pulled into the left side. An 18' door would've eliminated all of that hassle.

 

[TeeJayHoward]

I think that 16' doors are just too small.

Me too, but can you even put an 18' door on a 20' wall?

 

[dannyual320]

I've seen some garage doors that go very close to the edge of the walls so I'd say, "yes." However, I'm not a construction guy so what do I know ?

If it were me, I'd try everything to get an 18' door until I'd exhausted everything. Cost should not be a consideration. The first time you accidentally "remove" a mirror from your car or sideswipe the garage door frame.......well, nuff said!

 

[M-technik-3]

Does your HOA allow you to work in your garage? Can you keep a car on the street? Can you put an window air conditioner if you wanted?

Mine would not and I'm very glad my ex and I were able to sell it before the bottom fell out of the market back in 07. Granted it was in NoVa so selling a place was not that hard to do.