Garage planning. Dumb door idea?

[CharlieHo]

I've been wanting to build a garage for several years, now, to get out of my attached garage.

I'm planning on doing a ~30x45 pole build, but, I'm not planning on doing the typical door arrangement.

Due to the arrangement of driveway/house/stream/yard, I plan on having the 30' end parallel to my driveway with a single 16x10 door on that end. I would like to have another door on the adjacent side with entry from the yard, probably a typical 8-10x7 or similar. My thinking is, if I actually have a project in the main entry, I could still have easy access in/out with other stuff (lawn mower, four wheeler, Zamboni, etc). I'm imagining it might make for a nice breeze in the summer as a bonus.

Is this sound like a dumb idea? Other than the added cost of the door itself, and concrete if I choose to do so, what would be a drawback to this idea?

 

[Stuart in MN]

Nothing wrong with it if it works for your purposes. I've seen a number of garages here with similar construction. My brother built a garage last year with a similar layout as well - there's a double door on the end for cars or pickups, along with a single door on the side for access to the lawn mower or other equipment.

 

[brycez28]

That's how I would do mine as well.

 

[jjkrjh]

I have a 40x64 pole barn. The short side faces the driveway with two 16ft. doors. On the other end I had a 7ft. door put in with a small apron. The lawn **** comes thru the small door. All mud, grass, and everything else is kept in a small area-(not dragging it thru the garage). The best part is the "back door" faces a low area that is cool at night. I framed two screens that slide in the door when open. Slightly closing the door holds them in place. Putting a big 42" drum fan at the opening sucking the cool air in cools the whole garage and keeps the bugs out.

 

[CharlieHo]

Cool, I keep getting ideas for stuff I want to do, I just figured this might present something I couldn't foresee that I didn't really want to deal with.

 

[PassnThru]

Need pics of the Zamboni

 

[wssix99]

Is this sound like a dumb idea? Other than the added cost of the door itself, and concrete if I choose to do so, what would be a drawback to this idea?

Not dumb, but potentially expensive. The thing with garages (with big doors in the walls) is that they don't stand up to wind very well. (The wall with the door in it is weak in the direction parallel to the wind. Think about a house of cards with two walls and one floor on top if it - its a lot stronger pushing in the direction of the hole/door than it is pushing on the sides.)

In a typical garage, the other three walls provide the longitudinal strength to stand up to the wind. Typically, the back wall is the longer one and makes up for the weaker wall with the doors in it.

When you put doors in to adjacent walls, you have double the normal issue and may need to have some extra framing and reinforcement put in the building to make it stronger. (Depending on what part of the country you are in, this could be more or less significant.) Your engineer can confirm all this for you but the more space you can put between the top of the doors and the roof, the stronger the wall should be for you.

 

[rburke65]

Growing up we had a 4 car garage. It was 2 cars wide and 2 cars deep. We installed an extra door...8x7' on the long end for mower and stuff. Man that door got a workout. Used the hell out of it!

 

[dfiler2]

I think it's a great idea, the only thing I would change would be the 16 x 10. I have had a few over the years and I have one now. They sag in the middle if left open, they let twice as much cold air in during the winter, I have had springs break on them, they are harder to get adjusted correctly......I would much sooner have two 9 x 10's, but that's just been my experience.

 

[boiler7904]

I think it's a good idea and would be looking to do the same thing for extra light, venilation, and to avoid displaying the entire building's contents to passers-by on the street every time I needed a piece of lawn equipment out.

I'd talk to your building supplier to see what (if any) structural issues it creates. My guess is that it won't be an issue since many pole barns used as farm shops have substantial doors on 2, 3, or even 4 sides to allow equipment to pass through.

Two things to think about though - either go with a 18 ft wide single door if parking two vehicles side by side or possibly go with two narrower doors (9 ft minimum) so you've got a little more room to separate them.

The other thing you'll need to look into is what your municipality allows for impervious surfaces on your lot (typically a percentage of total lot area). Some don't raise the issue at all while others severely limit how much of a lot you can improve. Depending how large the house, garage, existing driveway, sidewalks, patios, etc. are and how much you are covering with the proposed building, you may be limited on how much concrete you can add to the side door. This is done to allow rain and snow melt to soak into your lot and minimize runoff.

 

[kbs2244]

One of the big advantages of post and beam tpe construction in the freedodm wher you an put "holes" in the walls.
As long as you have addaquet support over the door headers, go for it

 

[CharlieHo]

Thanks, all points will be considered. I have no zoning or permits or any .gov BS to deal with. I'm free to do whatever I can afford out here.

I also live in a fairly deep hollow that really protects from the wind, so that's a plus too, I guess.

I tend to agree with the 16' door comment. I currently have a 16x7 in the garage under my house, and it is a pain in the ****. I've had issues with it for years, but, it's not used much. The only vehicle I keep garaged is my Jeep, and it's seldom driven. Both our daily drivers are outside.