Garage Size

[Bull]

How did you guys go about deciding how large of a structure to build? I'm trying to balance in my mind the desire for a cavernous space with the realities of finances, zoning, future taxes etc. I know car guys can never have enough room, but how did you determine the best compromise with which you could live and be happy?

 

[sharpshooter]

Obviuosly the bigger the better, If your in town (with codes and limitations) go as big as you city will let you. If your in the country (no codes or limitations) go as big as your budget lets you. Your garage can never be too big but can always be to small.

 

[autoist]

I just let the garage tell me how it wanted to fill the lawn!

 

[Der Bugmeister]

I figured out the depth I considered my minimum acceptable (30'), then my minimum acceptable width, then figured out how much larger I could make it without losing my wife's support or too much backyard. I settled for 30 x 30, now I'm prepping her for building another bay on one end at some point in the future. ;-)

 

[screwTheMan]

Went to the city compliance office and said, "What's the biggest garage I can build?"

 

[Pitalplace]

Went to the city compliance office and said, "What's the biggest garage I can build?"

This is the best way. Then factor in what you can afford. The floor will be a very large expense and maybe part can be poured at a later date.

 

[Willy Victor]

Zoning is the killer, go as big as you can.

Willy

 

[SCOOTER]

Obviuosly the bigger the better, If your in town (with codes and limitations) go as big as you city will let you. If your in the country (no codes or limitations) go as big as your budget lets you. Your garage can never be too big but can always be to small.

Yup, This is what I did............

 

[DynoDave]

I had 3 to 4 cars to store, and a zoning limitation on size. I went as big as the law allowed.

 

[PAToyota]

Width was limited by setbacks to 40' - 5' setbacks either side of a 50' wide lot. Depth was limited by how I was framing the roof to 24'. Definitely would have liked more depth, but worked within the parameters.

 

[JMURiz]

Went to the city compliance office and said, "What's the biggest garage I can build?"

That's the best way to go, then if you are lucky and can build a huge one, take into consideration how much you can afford etc.
Unfortunately for me the lagest my county would allow is 550 sq/ft

 

[OldCarGuy]

That's the best way to go, then if you are lucky and can build a huge one, take into consideration how much you can afford etc.
Unfortunately for me the lagest my county would allow is 550 sq/ft

Then look for the loopholes. Most places do not limit the size if it’s attached to the house,, even if by a breezeway. Though you’ll have to use 5/8” fire-rated drywall throughout. Someone I know recently built a four car garage 50 feet from his house on his 2 acre lot in a gated community in Florida. It was connected to his house using a picket fence that complied with the deed restrictions and local codes!

 

[Bisqwik]

I new what the cement slab was going to cost a foot. So I called some steel building guys. to see what they had. I then looked at how much cash I had to spend. I went with a 40x50 shop with a 40x50 lean and a 15x25 addon under the lean. I wish now I would have built a 60x100. I just built a 24x30 with a 14' lead to take so overflow. I will post a topic on the 24x30 soon.
John

 

[twostory]

Make it as big as you can possibly afford and what the local law allows. In just about everyone's garage build, the law limited them, not the money.

Try to build in multiples of 4 ft. I am building a 26ft wide, by 44 ft deep. I would have made the building 28ft wide, but the local law restricted me. The extra 2 ft on width would not have cost me much, since I had to buy 28 foot wooden ibeams and cut 2 foot off of them. I also had to cut 2 foot of the sub floor advantec and just scrap it, as it was all tonge and groove. My point is, you end up throwing away alot of short cut material when you do not stick to 4 ft intervals.

Also if you do roof trusses, try to use a steep pitch 6/12 or steeper, and have an attic room truss built. It only cost me an extra $250 to do this, and I got a 30x10 ft , almost 8 foot ceiling room out of the deal.

 

[BowtieNut]

In my old house I had a 24x24 attached, and a 24x28 detached, and I was always crowded, but I was at the max for my lot size. Then I got married and my wife had 2 girls, and our 1 bathroom house just wasn't gonna cut it anymore. So we moved to a bigger house, and by pure coincidence (not really) it has a bigger lot with larger allowances, so I built to the max allowed, which is in my sig. It took me alot longer to finish the detached because I was stretching the budget beyond it's limits, but now that it's done I'm very happy that I did.

 

[SteveL]

Found out what the limit for sq ft was in our community and where the property line restrictions where. Then got a variance from the city to go 15' over the building set back and designed the garage 60 sq ft bigger than allowed and called it a laundry room on the drawings. Funny how those two walls never got put up. Darn.

Next time, I will make sure that the lot and city rules will allow even bigger!

 

[KJF470]

I have 2 & 1/2 acres and the County I live in says 1800 sq ft max for the size of my property! Heres the kicker, I can fill up my property with as many 1800 sq ft buildings as I chose so long as I stay 15 ft from the property lines and the buildings aren't connected.I can also apply for a Conditional Use Permit and run whatever kind of business out of them I want (within reason I guess). Pretty ridiculous! So by all means check your local buildings codes for all loop holes. Best of luck!

 

[screwTheMan]

The loopholes are important! For me, the restrictions loosen/tighten depending on if it shares a roofline with the house- which could easily be a covered breezeway. But my building is so much taller than the house, it would be too goofy. Also, someone mentioned seperate structures and that's a another way to go.

 

[Morrisman]

Looks like I get the prize for tinest garage in the world

Due to various laws and planning regulations and the size of our property I've just started building a 16' x 20' garage. I still have room for a second one the same size, but the yard will be all but full then!

We already have a 9' x 18' attached to the house, but that has to be driven through to get to the back yard where the new garage is going to grow, so it will be purely for parking one car.

I broke ground yesterday on the new garage, hand dug 70' of footings about 16" deep and 16" wide.

Why does my back ache so

 

[jimvannoy]

Mine is 28x40 and I just added another 20x20 section onto it for painting. I have 11 acres in the country and don't even talk to the county when I build something. I have a 40x60 barn I built 8 years ago, a 24x40 shop that use to be a carriage house, a greenhouse, and several assorted sheds.

 

[JMURiz]

We already have a 9' x 18' attached to the house, but that has to be driven through to get to the back yard where the new garage is going to grow, so it will be purely for parking one car.

Cool, you have to post pictures of this. My sisters have a similar lot (I think) and if I owned the house I'd do the same thing, a drive-through garage to get to the 'real' garage.

 

[Morrisman]

Cool, you have to post pictures of this. My sisters have a similar lot (I think) and if I owned the house I'd do the same thing, a drive-through garage to get to the 'real' garage.

There was a large window in the rear of the existing garage, so an afternoon with a hammer and chisel, and a couple of gates....

Now you see it:

Now you don't:

Inside:

The new build started:

 

[wrench409]

Please continue progress pics Morrisman!

I went to the city website in search of data for my planned build and am simply overwhelmed by the code database. How can anyone understand all that gibberish! I wish there was a human there that could answer my questions but all I get is 'Go to the website'.

 

[DynoDave]

Please continue progress pics Morrisman!

Yes, this build needs a post of it's own.

 

[SCOOTER]

Also if you do roof trusses, try to use a steep pitch 6/12 or steeper, and have an attic room truss built. It only cost me an extra $250 to do this, and I got a 30x10 ft , almost 8 foot ceiling room out of the deal.

I'm kicking myself for not doing this

 

[Morrisman]

Yes, this build needs a post of it's own.

I had the ballast and cement delivered today, so tomorrow at first light I'm starting to mix the goop for the footings.

I'll take photos as I got to keep a build record. It is all learn-as-you-go though so don't expect too many miracles