30x40 or 40x30 HELP!!!

[Shrive81]

Ok so pulling the trigger on a shop this week and placing my order but need help deciding on how I want to lay it out... I will be using the shop for working on my offroad car and fabrication... The shop will always have one car in it but maybe two every now and then.. I don't want to feel cramped working around the car... I will be adding 4 - 6 windows throughout the shop and two man doors..

So option 1 is 40 feet deep and 30 wide with either 2 10x10 doors or 1 12x12 door on the 30ft side

Option 2 is 30 feet deep and 40 feet wide with 2 10x10 doors on the 40ft side

experience working in one of the two and door configuration advice would be much appreciated and any pictures will be very appreciated as well

thanks Guys

 

[squeakz28]

The only info I can give is what I personally would do. I have a 24x30 right now. It's 24 deep, and I really wish it was a 30x30. The extra 6' would be extremely handy for the longer vehicles. With that said, if it was me, I would do 40' wide x 30' deep with 3 10x10 doors. I would have one bay for storage and larger equipment (mowers, larger work tables) and have the other two bays open for vehicles. I'm starting to mess with powder coating and some carbon fiber work. With only two bays, one is full with an oven, a booth, mower and a couple of engines on stands. When I want to mess with carbon fiber, I have to setup a table in the second bay, which means a car can't come in until everything is cleaned up again. Guess it all comes down to what all you will be doing in there. Hope this gives you some info.

 

[dadsEH]

Option 1......
Work area across the rear

 

[readhead]

Put doors on two sides. Then you can use it anyway you want.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I would want a 40 wide and 30 deep my self.

 

[gtcs]

Mine is 30 wide with 2 10ft doors. I use it as 3 cars and a workspace. If I could have I would have put 3 10ft doors on the 40 side. But overall I like the arrangement I have.

 

[Kevkx125]

30 wide 40 deep

 

[drg5490]

40 wide 30 deep...2 ten ft doors 2 ft apart...that will give you a 16x 40 work area left over..
Put a 4 post lift in the garage door that's next to the work area..then you can store 2 cars...have one bay open and have the work area that you can leave open or wall off from the garage...could also put a smaller door in the work area to get mowers etc...in the fabrication area and not have to go through the other garage side

 

[drg5490]

Here's a example

 

[wimpy525]

30x40 is what I did doors on the 40 2 10x9. With my F150 4 door with 6.5 bed there is plenty of room to get around the truck. But if I had to do it again I would have gone 32 wide.

 

[jimgood]

LOL...asking the internet for an opinion is always useless.

I too would prefer option 2. 30 deep is plenty of room for most vehicles unless you plan to work on large trucks or trailers. I find extra room on the sides more satisfying.

 

[Rex_A_Lott]

I'd say put two doors in the long side, but a lot depends on the lay of the land. Whichever can be made to work, but I have had two different shops with one door in the narrow end and I can tell you it never fails that when something unplanned comes up the door is blocked, whether you need to get something in, or you need to get something out.
Whatever you decide, dont limit yourself to one door!!

 

[Badhabit]

Don't know if this would ever come up for you but 40' long will handle some trucks with trailer attached.

H

 

[G-ManBart]

The more doors the better, and the wider the better. 12ft wide doors are much nicer than 10ft even when coming and going with something no bigger than a 1/2 ton pickup.

My shop is divided with a partition wall, and one side is 40x40. I put two 18' wide, 12' high doors on the front, and a 12' wide by 10' high door on one side (the gable end opposite the partition wall). I find that I almost never have to move something to get something out. With just two front doors I would always be shuffling things around.

In your case I'd go 40' wide and 30' deep and would put at least two 12' wide doors on the 40' side.

This is one of my 12' wide gable end doors:

 

[MagKarl]

It depends, are we working on Fords or Chevys?

 

[LXCam]

Count me in as 40ft wide as well as going to a 12ft wide doors. If you go with it 40ft deep I'd imagine your work area being at the back end which would mean you'd end up with a somewhat narrow space to egress towards the back going past the cars. The other side of that coin is with it 20ft you can do two cards end to end which is how mine is set up but it's cramped and basically *****.

 

[garage rookie]

I did 30w by 40L. The reason is because I have 3 other small buildings to cram stuff in..lol. I have one bay that is dedicated to my long term project(a car) and the other bay was for my wife's mini van but the popup camper and my new truck took it over. Having said that, I wish I'd went 48' deep, with the truck and camper in I have to raise the door to get around the truck because the camper is 17'. I would only make it deeper, the width is just right for me.

 

[ford fanatic]

I did 40' wide 30' deep with three 10' X 10' doors.

 

[psjoyal]

40' deep by 30' wide, but not by choice. The slope of my lot made it much less expensive foundation-wise to build this way. I would always prefer to have the doors on the long-side as others have suggested...just feels roomier with the extra room on the sides.

 

[ZRX61]

40 wide, 30 deep.

 

[Know Wosad]

80W x 15D. I like bikes ;-)

 

[pjboy]

I agree with sqeaky.

 

[JOHN 86GT]

40 x40

Looks like a few 4 eye owners

 

[Shrive81]

LOL thanks for all the feed back guys.... I ended up going with 30 wide 40 deep with a 14' wide by 10' tall door on the 30' front side and a 8'x10' door not the back 40' side wall along with 4 windows and two man doors... I just like the option of pulling into the shop and having the length cause I can always put the car sideways if needed and have the side access door for projects in and out of the side....

 

[aknawful]

30 x 40. Three 10 x 9 doors.

 

[shortykorte]

Late but I'll chime in.

Vast majority of commercial shops, doors on long side. Ummm?
Can put more garage doors on long side.

My first hand experiences
Texaco station - 3 bays on long side
My shop 24x32- door on end, limited to one task at a time. Should have turned 90* with 2 doors.
Current shop 24x60, door on end. Always jockeying a vehicle to get things in and out. Started out as 150' long whse with 6 doors than subdivided.
Best friends shop-30x60. 2 16' doors on long side. Great layout and size. First bay tools & work bench, second bay short term (day) projects, third bay long term projects & storage.
I've learned long side is best in general. Only way I'd do end doors is on a 55-60 end wall like Don Long. Other reason, only way could fit on property but probably won't buy property if that was the case.
Cheers on getting your garage.

 

[Faster346]

You'll get a lot more functionality if you go 30 wide 40 deep. I've had both and definitely couldn't get as much in 40 wide without having to jack cars up and turn them

 

[tomshep]

Mine is 30x40. Put a 16' door skewed to one side and a walk through near the center. That way I can pull cars in the main door and if needed, angle them towards the side that is without the door. I can get 5 vehicles in my garage. Also put a 10' door in the rear purely for ventilation. I LOVE the 10' door.

Tom