advice needed: budget garage redesign

[mor_]

hey there,

Looking for advice on how to cheaply convert my garage (24'x30') back to a usable space. I'm very motivated because I have a 32 ford roadster project that a family member has offered to give me if I have space.

The previous occupant of my house divided the garage in two with a wall and sealed up one of the garage-doors. I'm going to do the demolition work myself but i need some advice on garage doors.

1) Are there any other cheap options besides those segmented sheet metal ones? I was quoted $1200 for 2 which seems fair, but they are pretty ugly and I prefer the original doors as they match the house better.

2) My ideal redesign would be to go from 2 garage doors to one large single and replace the structural posts in the center of the garage with crossbeams. But I think this is getting away from garage "on a budget". Have any of you undertaken a project like this and how much did you spend? I have an architect friend who can spec the project for me but I'd need to hire a contractor to do the installation work.

 

[apollo11]

I haven't done it but #2 would be my preference by far
the wall would be toast with me too

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

You have living space above the garage so you will be carrying a hefty load on that beam. Check with your architect first as you may have to go to steel to span that distance. Talk to the garage door co. again as there are so many offerings available that for maybe a little more $ you could get a door you like. Find out what brand he carries and go on line. Maybe he isn't the only door guy in town.

 

[manwithtools]

It's hard to tell for certain, but that construction would indicate the column between the two original doors is very structural. Having a single clear span beam to support the house above is going to get very expensive, very quickly.

Look at insulated doors and don't forget about openers. I suspect the wall could easily be removed, but it's best to have an expert of some type confirm that.

 

[old__man]

Judging from the pictures a standard segmented door may have problems due to ceiling clearance.

I suspect your cheapest/simplest option is going to be to keep the original doors and just knock down the partition.

 

[apollo11]

Judging from the pictures a standard segmented door may have problems due to ceiling clearance.

I suspect your cheapest/simplest option is going to be to keep the original doors and just knock down the partition.

That is a sucky way to do a garage
A large single door is way better than 2 small ones
One large room is better than 2 small ones.

 

[mor_]

I would just start by keeping the doors I have and removing the partition, but the issue is that all the door hardware on the other side was removed and the door has been nailed shut (and drywalled over).

If i were to try to keep the original doors, is there any places i can order new hardware?

 

[firebirdparts]

Kickout doors are very uncommon in my neighborhood. I think find a replacement mechanism for that might be a challenge. I would just be googling, so I will let you do that.

P.S. Okay I couldn't help myself. I googled "new kickout garage door" and I found a place claiming to have some parts "even though they are no longer made" which is about what I expected.

Maybe you'll get lucky and the big rotating arm mechanism is still in there behind the wall.

 

[Doug B]

A large single door is way better than 2 small ones
......

I'd like to hear your top 3 upsides to one large door. In his situation (mine too) with a daily driver one one side, and a project on the other, I prefer 2 doors, especially if the space is conditioned.

OP, check around the neighborhood, maybe someone else is remodeling their garage and would part with their old door hardware.

Worst case scenario, most manufacturers offer low headroom track for overhead doors.

 

[matt_i]

My thought is modifying the house-supporting structure to be "clear span" at this point is going to consume the funds you need to move forward on your vehicle project.

Along those lines anytime you disassemble a vehicle it requires mega-space to store all of the various parts (not totally sure what's intended with this one). But could you get a similar result by adding a drive-in shed...? 12x18ish or whatever's needed...

 

[lakeroadster]

Quite a challenging space.

I prefer single doors instead of doubles also. In the OP's case, with the low ceiling height and 2nd story weight... the beast is born.

Buying a small utility shed would be a great idea to get everything out of the garage that isn't used on a daily / weekly basis.

 

[crewchief888]

i think i'd do some investigating on the divider wall. pull off some of the drywall and see whats there.
you may find steel posts supporting the structure above. you could demo the wall and leave the posts in place.

since the 2nd door is still there, do the same to the interior wall in front of the door.

just my $0.02

 

[Homerr]

That beam cantilevering out between the two garage doors looks to be structural and this would need to stay in place. The post in the wall next to the pegboard is supporting part of the span in the garage. The door header is effectively the floor joists above.

If this is correct then there isn't any realistic/cheap prospect of converting to a single door. And even if I'm wrong about the framing layout there is very little vertical room above the garage doors anyway for a structural header.

 

[NUTTSGT]

i think i'd do some investigating on the divider wall. pull off some of the drywall and see whats there.
you may find steel posts supporting the structure above. you could demo the wall and leave the posts in place.

since the 2nd door is still there, do the same to the interior wall in front of the door.

just my $0.02

That would be my suggestion also. Pull the drywall off and see what is in the wall before you start doing a major project.

 

[mor_]

Thank you for all the responses i think everyone here is correct in saying that i should just tear out the drywall and take it one step at a time from there. Once i make some progress, i will post some new pics to get y'alls opinion (I'd be silly not to take advantage of all the knowledge here).

@Doug_B – The idea of finding some hardware from someone else's remodel is great! There is a lot of construction in my neighborhood (cant believe i didn't) think of that.

Thanks!

 

[rarevair]

If you tear down the interior wall and the car is a project, is there any immediate need to have the second door opening? Remove the interior wall bring the project material thru the working door and get to work on the '32. I'll bet by the time you have the car project near finished, you will also have a plan to get the second garage door functional. Good luck and have fun.

 

[dfiler2]

You can still get the door hardware, even on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013X0BDCW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Seems to me two doors would be the way to go, there must be posts in the wall, can you tell how close together they are? You can see the beam holding up that part of the house in the second picture. You might be able to get rid of some of the center posts if you use a larger beam underneath the existing one but be careful and make sure they left the original posts in that wall before you start tearing it out.