Converting to a single door: Is it doable without support?

[JoeyRoland82]

Hi All,

First real post here! I've seen this asked before and I know it's technically doable, but does anyone know if it is possible to remove two single garage doors in exchange for one large door without adding additional support, (such as a beam)?

My house is similar to the one in the attachment in that it's a built-in garage with nothing over top it. If we ever came across money, (unlikely but I can dream!), we'd love to build over top it. Certainly not a realistic consideration, but just throwing it out there

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Short answer, no. But if you already have a header over both doors, it is usually easy to go across both openings with a single header.

 

[rustynutts]

The simple answer to your question is, No. There is a header over each door, the center wall between the doors is the support for one side of each of those headers.

 

[gregtwojeeps]

+ 3^^^^

Doable but costly. The solution needs to be engineered by a licensed and certified engineer to figure the load on the desired second story above the garage and re-build the garage supports to accommodate the new load above....

If the second story idea over the present garage was dropped, then once again as above stated, a engineered certified/specified structural steel or engineered wood beam could be the solution to span the existing two doors, to make it safe for just one wide door to be installed. jmoo

 

[rslaback]

It depends on how your particular garage is built. It isn't the normal way to do it, but a lot of contractors will frame out a 2 door system like that with a single header all the way across instead of 2 shorter headers. However, you won't know the answer to that until you find out what the framing inside that wall looks like.

 

[srmofo]

The simple answer to your question is, No. There is a header over each door, the center wall between the doors is the support for one side of each of those headers.

Not always. Sometimes its a single header. These cookie cutter homes often have small variances in the trim work I.e. 1 door vs 2 door. It was cheaper easier on contractor to build the same home repeatedly.

I'd say look around your neighborhood. If you see single door garages, then tear the wall open and look for a single header. If there is one, make sure its large enough to cover the span.

The other option is to check what size header is needed, and then take some measurements to see if its even possible to squeeze the appropriate header in the available space

 

[LB-1911]

Hi All,

First real post here! I've seen this asked before and I know it's technically doable, but does anyone know if it is possible to remove two single garage doors in exchange for one large door without adding additional support, (such as a beam)?

My house is similar to the one in the attachment in that it's a built-in garage with nothing over top it. If we ever came across money, (unlikely but I can dream!), we'd love to build over top it. Certainly not a realistic consideration, but just throwing it out there

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Another question is - Does the existing footing and stem wall meet the requirements to support the addition of a second story?

You may want to check online and see what type of information is available from your local Bldg Dept.

 

[JoeyRoland82]

Whoa - thanks for all the responses! You also brought up some great points. To be honest, the 2nd story idea would only happen if we came across some insane money, (i want to retire young ). And if that were the case and we basically had to undo all that we did in converting to a single door, i'd be just fine with that. Well, sort of. But i have seen several homes in the area with just a single door. Only thing is I don't know the folks. One guy did leave his garage open, (I imagine i already look shifty to the neighborhood), and as far as I could tell, there was a metal pole in the garage. Maybe everyone has that with the single bays... ?

Hypothetically, in a dream world where this would be doable, is there a ballpark cost out there? I realize location and the amount of engineering would weight heavily on the cost, but would it be something in the $2,000 - $5,000 range or more like $10,000 to $15,000 range? If it's the latter, i fear I need a smaller car.

 

[BRIANBB]

Pull the drywall off just above that brick pillar and see what is there first.

 

[JoeyRoland82]

Pull the drywall off just above that brick pillar and see what is there first.

Approximately how much should I take out? Just wondering what I'd be looking for, ie studs or brick, etc.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Approximately how much should I take out? Just wondering what I'd be looking for, ie studs or brick, etc.

Check to see if there is a single header going across both doors or if each door has it's own header. Also check to see the size of the header(s), and if the joists are sitting on top of it or if you have room to go with a taller header.

 

[volleyball]

Just because there is a single full width header, it doesn't mean it would work unsupported. A lot of old house with full width floor joist so people remove walls only to find the floor bounces.
The way I see it if you get a boat full of money, you'll be out with the real estate agents looking for a Vanilla Ice flip.
Go chum up a neighbor with a single door and take measurements.

 

[Milton Shaw]

The roof joist sit on the headers and support the full roof load. A single header would have to be massive and engineered to support snow load etc. Just living with two doors is going to be a lot cheaper.

 

[GreyOwl]

Even if the header is adequate, you would more than likely have to narrow the opening to match a stock single door size OR have a special order door to fit the over wide opening $$$$$. I would stay with double doors.

 

[CharlestonJoe]

Have a couple contractors give you a free estimate. I'm a contractor and it happens to me all the time. Sometimes the homeowner calls me back when they have the money together and some never do. How I would come up with a price is by taking some measurements, how long the span will be and take note of whats overhead, in your case its the roof trusses, then stop by my local lumberyard, real lumberyard, not the big box stores, and go over it with their in house guy who will punch the numbers in and tell me what size beam needs to be there and how much that beam cost and I go from there..