Garage Build Planning Stage 30x36

[pipe_dreamer]

Hi, I'm trying to find a good place to buy plans for a 30'x36' or 28x36 garage.
I've tried to search for plans online, but I can't seem to find plans for a three bay. The link below is similar to what I want.

thanks

http://www.menards.com/main/buildin...h-3-car-room-in-attic-w-dormers/p-1998815.htm

 

[astroracer]

My thoughts on a 3 bay 36' long garage is the doors will be so close together you will have zero working room around any of the cars.
Using three 9' doors takes up 27' of that 36 ft long garage. Remember the 36' is the outside so that leaves you with, at the most, 35' inside to work with. 27 from 35 is 8'. divide that by 4 and you get 2'. That's the space you will have between the doors and at the ends of the building.
I like to have AT LEAST 4' at the ends of the building and between vehicles for work/storage space and opening doors. At minimum, IMHO, for a three bay shop, you should be looking at a 44' long structure.
Mark

 

[pipe_dreamer]

Good advice already! My biggest issue on the size of the building is available space.
I have enough land, but I also have wetlands. So this is why I need plans first. The building department will want to know everything about the garage and how it will impact the surrounding area. Its basically an act of congress to get a permit, its not a money issue, its a people issue. I will need an Engineer's plans for footings how the slope will affect runoff and so on. Then, I need to submit my plans to the Conservation Committee for their approval. If, and I mean If, they approve of the plans then the building department will issue me a permit to start the build. It will take some time to get through the process, I know because we've been through it once already.

 

[JAckal]

There used to be a book "Build your own garage manual" at Ace Hardware and Lowes. It gave details of several different plans. If you really liked a plan you could order a full set of prints.

 

[jeep_boy02]

I didn't care for any of those plans. I read through that book at least 5 times and I still resort to here or google. I've got a 3 bay 30' and astro is right, the middle bay has become just storage because when I had 3 vehicles it was too crammed. I have like 7 " between doors and 2' on one end. This is on my grandparents property, I'm building one in town this spring and it will be same size but onky two bay and on paper it already has much more usable space and practicality.

 

[600SL]

Concur 36 with 3 bays is on the small side but not too bad. My own minimums are 15' for the first bay and 12' for each additional interior dimensions.

But here are some 3 bay kit configurations from ICON buildings

Two door config is ~$10,200 three door config is ~$11,300. Of course these are without doors, windows, insulation, gutters etc.

 

[theoldwizard1]

First your have to decide how you plan on using it ! Just "cold storage" for vehicles and outdoor equipment or do you plan on using it also as a hobby shop ? If a shop, do yu want heat ? How about cooling ?

These factors make a HUGE difference in what you build (stick, pole, SIP) and how big you build it

 

[GAR64]

My garage is 36x30 and doesn't seem to cramped for space around the cars. I agree that it greatly depends on what you want to do in there. Of course, everyone will tell you that you have to build it bigger than you think you will need...and they are right.

 

[pipe_dreamer]

I'm really glad, I posted the size I was thinking of. It won't be wide enough at 36'. Thanks for stopping me from this mistake ahead of time.

Being in New England winter storage is important for classiscs. But it will also be a place to do projects and restorations. Forced air for heat. I plan on commiting 2 bays for completed cars, that can move in and out for needed space. 1 bay will always be available to emergency repairs.

I could go deeper then 30' and make it a two bay? But how deep would it have to be? Lets say 2 muscle cars in one bay just over 15.5' each. Then the other bay I could use the back corner for tools, with front half for the open bay. Basically 32' in car space on one side. At 36' (35 inside) deep it only gives 3' extra if the cars are almost touching.

 

[pipe_dreamer]

GAR64, nice garage... It doesn't look as cramped as I thought? Course I'd have my 70 Mustang in place of that camero

I'd like to seee the plans you used?

 

[dogdas]

I paid an architect to do my drawings so I could get a permit approved, material takeoff and contractor estimates. The garage is 30D x 35W with 11' ceilings and a 9x16 & 9x9 rollups. He never came out but I fed him all the info he needed (plot plan, materials i wanted to use, etc. via email. His price was $275. Shoot me an email if you want his number. I live in south east michigan but that should matter to you. A friend uses this guy for all the homes he builds, that is how I got his info.

 

[GAR64]

My garage is pretty simple. 36x30 with 9 ft walls. I used attic trusses and have a nice storage room upstairs with just pull down stairs. If I had to do it again, I think I would have chosen the trusses to give me room for a lift because I really don't put much upstairs anyhow. As said, depends on your needs. Also...not a Camaro you see. 69 Bird.

 

[600SL]

I'm really glad, I posted the size I was thinking of. It won't be wide enough at 36'. Thanks for stopping me from this mistake ahead of time.

Being in New England winter storage is important for classiscs. But it will also be a place to do projects and restorations. Forced air for heat. I plan on commiting 2 bays for completed cars, that can move in and out for needed space. 1 bay will always be available to emergency repairs.

I could go deeper then 30' and make it a two bay? But how deep would it have to be? Lets say 2 muscle cars in one bay just over 15.5' each. Then the other bay I could use the back corner for tools, with front half for the open bay. Basically 32' in car space on one side. At 36' (35 inside) deep it only gives 3' extra if the cars are almost touching.

The garage portion of my shop is two bays 27' x 28'8" interior dimensions. I have a 4 post lift in one bay moved all the way back to the doors so as not to waste space behind the lift. This leaves me with plenty of room for another two or 4 post lift and room for work benches and tools forward of the cars.

It does not leave any room for storage on the side walls with lifts installed and getting a tire changer and wheel balancer will cramp the front work bench area.

Also 9' doors are OK but my wife had difficulty with them with the pickup truck so I opted for 10' wide. I went with 10' ceilings and a 4 pitch roof to keep the neighbors at bay. That works really nice with the lifts in that the highest portion of the vehicles is in the 15' section of the building. The only real problem with the 10' ceilings is it limits you to an 8' high door. Which is not a problem for me at this time but I also chose an option to have the end wall framed for a 11' door if the future required it. That extra framing was a ~$300 option on the building kit.

I agree with one of the other posts 36' wide is not impractical for 3 bays but don't expect to put anything on the side of the garage and it will work especially if you have the opportunity to go deeper for storage space. Also you don't have to put a lift on center with the garage doors. You may want to cheat the end wall lifts away from the walls 6' to 12" for walking room.

 

[Yeager]

I could go deeper then 30' and make it a two bay? But how deep would it have to be? Lets say 2 muscle cars in one bay just over 15.5' each. Then the other bay I could use the back corner for tools, with front half for the open bay. Basically 32' in car space on one side. At 36' (35 inside) deep it only gives 3' extra if the cars are almost touching.

As stated here, a little extra depth gains you A LOT of car storage space for vehicles that sit around. A 36x30 allows you to store 3 vehilcles (3 wide) and still doesn't allow much room to work around them. A 36x36 can accomidate 6 vehicles (3 wide 2 deep) or more ideally for me, 2 cars deep on 1 side for less used vehicles and a big open area for a third car and working- the 2 cars end to end take up 12'wide/36' deep, leaving a 24' x 36' wide open for working/benches/tools/etc. That 6' of depth gains you a lot.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Being in New England winter storage is important for classiscs. But it will also be a place to do projects and restorations. Forced air for heat. I plan on commiting 2 bays for completed cars, that can move in and out for needed space. 1 bay will always be available to emergency repairs.

For the area you will be working on cars, nothing beats radiant heated floors. A bit of an overkill for just storage.

Regardless of what heat you choose, you want a well insulated floor. That cold New England weather can seep a long way in under the floor !

 

[theoldwizard1]

Have you thought about building taller for stacking cars or just to have a lift in general ?

 

[4AudiQ]

Try this site:
http://justgarageplans.com/