Door Size

[RazrRebel]

Gonna start building an attached garage this fall. It will be 28' deep by 24' wide with 10' walls. This is all I can fit on my lot. Just trying to figure out the door sizes. It's going to be attached, but not an entry into the house. The biggest vehicles I have are 2007 Chevy Silverado, 1979 Ford Bronco. I was thinking of installing two, eight foot by eight foot doors. Then I thought about one, 16' by 8' door. I also need one man door in the front too. What do yall think? Pros, cons?

 

[readhead]

I have two 8x8 doors on my 24x24 and it is tight for a full size truck. I like having two doors but I should have made at least one 9' wide.

 

[tomtomgt356]

Go with the wider single. That way you have more flexibility if you want to put one car in the center of the shop for a larger project, or need to back a trailer in. Also consider future proofing. The widest vehicle allowed on the road without over-width permits is 8.5'. Duallies are this wide at the fenders, as are most trailers. This doesn't include mirror width. Even most SRW trucks are 8.5-9' wide with mirrors in normal, non extended, driving position.

 

[The Cobbler]

8' door is narrow . go at least 10 wide, I would probably go 9 high too

 

[Chevota Guy]

I have a 16' single on my new home and hate it. I have a Tundra full size and an Accord. I can barely open the doors between the vehicles to get in or out when parked inside the garage.

Two 8' doors with 1' to 1.5' in between doors makes a HUGE difference in convenience and eliminating accidental door dings. I had that arrangement in my old home and miss it big time.

The only disadvantage to two doors is the extra door hardware cost and a second opener, but I'd take that combination any day over a single 16'.

Some folks think 8' is too narrow, but I have found that anything can fit through an 8' door if you drive it fast enough. (And I have a collection of broken side mirrors to prove it)

 

[ddurrett896]

Go 18’ over 16’ wide.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Two separate doors are far, far better is you primarily plan to part two vehicles inside as they will be better spaced apart. As mentioned above, it is better to go a bit wider on the doors if at all possible and it looks like you have the space to do it.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

18' wide. And as tall as practically feasible.

 

[James-W]

If the door is going on the 24ft side, the you may need to go with no more than a 16ft wide door. The reason is that around here the building code is that you need at least 4ft from the door to the end of the building. At 16ft wide you still have 4ft on each side of the door to the end of the building.

If you have less than 4ft of space, then you need to have reinforced corners in order to meet the building code. Keep in mind this may or may not be applicable where you are, but it is where I am. It would be a good idea to check into it before you start, you may save yourself some issues down the road.

If I were you I would also think about possibly having a door from the garage going into the house, it isn't totally necessary but would be a really good idea if it can be done without too much hassle.

 

[Falcon67]

8' too small, 9' MINIMUM to pass a truck through the door, and you may still have to lay back the ears to do it.

Our house garage is 22' wide inside with a standard 16x7 door. We fit a 2019 Ford Escape in there and a F-150 Super Crew. And shelving.

16x7 door on my shop, 3' off the left side, parking area width 28', 24' deep. Before the lift I could park both one of the 16' race cars and the F-350 DRW. With the lift, I can still get cars in - just not the 8' wide x 20' long pickup.

 

[bluegoose972]

Depends on your usage. If your going to get a lift, you will want two seperate doors so that you can center the lift on one and use the other for access when something is on the lift. 10 ft wide doors would be the minimum I would consider for full size vehicles. But if your not going to be putting in a lift, a wide single door would be my preference. Something 16' wide, so you have 4 ft of recessed wall space on either side of the doorway.
Just my $0.02.

 

[RazrRebel]

Thanks everyone. A lot to think about. I really want the two separate doors but I know 24' is not a lot of room for two 8' doors. I'll keep thinking, looks more like the 16' though. Thanks again for the help. Especially the pics.

 

[tff]

if you have larger cars/trucks and will go with a single door, i'd recommend 18' wide rather than 16'. I have a single 16' wide and it's 'just' OK for my to small cars.

 

[Innovate1]

Here you can do less than 4' on the ends by doing "portal" framing. It requires the header to extend across the end section and then a ton of nails through the sheeting into the header. That gives strength against racking. Are you sure there isn't some similar way there to do less than 4' end panels?

 

[mmb617]

If not limited by some of the code restrictions mentioned in this thread I would go with two 9 ft wide doors. I have three of those in my 36 ft wide main garage and think they work well, although it's a bit tight for my Yukon and F150 to clear the mirrors. I sure wouldn't want to take them through 8 ft wide doors on a daily basis.

 

[HWH2017]

Go with the widest possible, Incase you need to back a trailer in at any point.


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[Jinks]

I put an 8' door in a garage once. A mistake I'll never make again! A 16', an 18', two 10', any combination other than an 8' door. Standard height is 7' & will do for almost anything you can drive, but if you have, or plan to have a tall vehicle or topper go to 8' or 9' if you have the clearance.

 

[CraigStu]

16 or 18. Look at what you expect to park in there. We did this for 24 yrs in a previous house. It worked out that my hobby car was backed in so I could get it closer to the wall. That way my wife could drive in and have plenty of room to open her door. The next house had two 8ft doors and I detested that as the center wall was always in the way.

 

[Falcon67]

I considered dual doors on my project - and went single after considering how much wall space I'd lose doing doubles. Dual 8' doors will give up around 18~19' of wall unless you plan to park cars side by side, then you'll chew up probably 20~21' of wall.

 

[sreeb]

8' wide is, just barely, fine for my jeep cherokee. It might be possible to put my Sierra in but I wouldn't want to on a daily basis.

I would go with the widest single door you can fit.

 

[gtae07]

Yes, definitely check your codes. Here, we have to follow hurricane wind requirements; the prescriptive guides make it easy and mean you don't need to get the plans stamped... but you have to follow them exactly. In my case that ruled out two doors on the 24ft side, a large single door, or two doors larger than 8x7 on the 28ft wall.