How big do I really need?

[slomaro3.4]

Hi Everyone! Long time lurker here, never joined because I haven't had a proper garage since I left my parents house for college ~7 years ago. Moved from Pittsburgh to Cleveland to Florida's space coast to San Diego, no way I could afford a house in San Diego. But work has led me to Iowa where after years of being forced to work on my cars in parking garages during odd hours of the night while dodging campus and later HOA security, I'm going to be able to buy a house.

I know that a 2 car garage is the minimum I've seen a lot of sweet set ups on here stuffed into 24'x24' and believe me that is what I'm trying to make my minimum size. Since I'm Iowa and it will need to be heated I'm trying to get into an attached garage and everything I've seen so far has been more like 20' wide by 22' deep. I've seen some cool small 2 car set ups on here as well. I'd like to do a maxjax or other portable lift, how much am I going to hate life if I wind up with a 20' wide setup?

To keep this a little fun here are my 2 babies that will be in whatever I end up buying:

https://scontent-sea1-1.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/12795263_10153988434002300_8839725589568447208_n.jpg?oh=d346ce8ba719f4b223b8b4ee2a6da9c3&oe=57639F3C

https://scontent-sea1-1.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/1929825_10153888629727300_627143367940195171_n.jpg?oh=afc176584c9b825f717d9a6cd22574c7&oe=575F3AF7

https://scontent-sea1-1.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/t31.0-8/12322648_10153806504417300_6604854200800637503_o.jpg

 

[matt_i]

One problem is that if you store a daily driver in a heated garage, the road-salt-fueled rust reaction speeds up.

Easy fix: buy a house with 3 car garage and keep one beater outside

 

[njk4o5]

subscribed. im in the same boat. I only have 22' to the edge of my setback in allowed to build on but want a 24x32

 

[slomaro3.4]

One problem is that if you store a daily driver in a heated garage, the road-salt-fueled rust reaction speeds up.

Easy fix: buy a house with 3 car garage and keep one beater outside

I actually bought the jeep this winter because my benz couldn't hack it on some of the dirt roads around here after a little snow. Rust is a huge concern for me, but it gets an undercarriage wash once per week and I'm planning on lots of wire wheel + POR15 action this summer once I have somewhere to do it.

The Camaro is from the desert in SoCal and doesn't go outside if there is a hint of salt or the temperature is below 50 or it's raining or I think it might rain or it will have to be parked outside overnight, basically it lives in the garage.

 

[pmiranda]

If I had it to do all over, I would keep looking until I found a house on a lot with room (and lack of restrictions) to build another detached garage besides a plain old 2-car or whatever is attached to the house. There is a premium to a bigger lot, but at least you're not paying for the square footage that comes with most big houses that have more than 2-car garages. If you're really lucky you'll find something built by a likeminded individual, but your best bet is to buy something with room to expand since you might not realize what you really want until you've lived with it for a while.

 

[Highpsi]

I don't know if there's any way to easily answer your question unless we knew your budget. In the end, you can never have too big (that is for most of us with a humble budget!) and won't ever regret some extra room.

Like one of the guys said above, your problem is solved with a 3 car, and since you already have 2 vehicles you are left with spare room if you even had to disable one for repair during the winter or something.

Do you have any other requirements like a wife / GF that likes to keep her car in the garage? That's a huge consideration down the road if you plan to keep your place for quite some time too.

 

[slomaro3.4]

I don't know if there's any way to easily answer your question unless we knew your budget. In the end, you can never have too big (that is for most of us with a humble budget!) and won't ever regret some extra room.

Like one of the guys said above, your problem is solved with a 3 car, and since you already have 2 vehicles you are left with spare room if you even had to disable one for repair during the winter or something.

Do you have any other requirements like a wife / GF that likes to keep her car in the garage? That's a huge consideration down the road if you plan to keep your place for quite some time too.

Should have clarified that! Wasn't sure how valuable budget is since it differs depending on area. I have to stay in the Council Bluffs, IA city limits to get a relocation incentive from work. My Budget is up to 150k, but I'm trying to stay around 130k if possible.

No wife/GF so no constraints there. After looking around a bit I think a 3 car garage isn't going to happen in this area at that price range.

 

[pmiranda]

I'd definitely plan on another stall for a spouse or roommate to use. Of course, since the F-body is a garage queen, just having the ceiling height for a 4-post storage lift might be plenty. I've seen some sweet garages built on sloping ground where they got 12'+ ceilings for "free" even on a spec house and the new owner just had to put in high-lift tracks.

 

[slomaro3.4]

I'd definitely plan on another stall for a spouse or roommate to use. Of course, since the F-body is a garage queen, just having the ceiling height for a 4-post storage lift might be plenty. I've seen some sweet garages built on sloping ground where they got 12'+ ceilings for "free" even on a spec house and the new owner just had to put in high-lift tracks.

I thought about that, but dismissed it pretty quick, my heart is set on a 2 post lift so unfortunately I won't be able to use it for storage. I do all of my own maintenance but I don't think I'd be happy working around a 4 post.

 

[paranoid56]

https://scontent-sea1-1.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/t31.0-8/12322648_10153806504417300_6604854200800637503_o.jpg

why is your car parked on plastic?

 

[Nightwalkersrt]

I owned two garages in my life time one a 20x22 it was to small,I had stored one truck during winter and didn't have any room to work on another car.I now own a 24x30 deep and sure it's not big but that extra 8 feet really helps out and I would never go any smaller then that.The only way I would buy something smaller then what I have now would be if I was going to have room to extend it back/side and I would do that before I moved in,or if I had large lot I would make do and build I large building within a year timeline.
Hope it all works out.

 

[slomaro3.4]

why is your car parked on plastic?

Moisture barrier for winter storage over exposed concrete. Probably overkill, but the plastic sheeting is all of $4.

 

[jimgood]

Personally wouldn't go less than 24 wide. But I don't even have a garage so...

 

[pmiranda]

Moisture barrier for winter storage over exposed concrete. Probably overkill, but the plastic sheeting is all of $4.

 

[slomaro3.4]

It's pretty common for people storing cars for the winter. Again, it's probably over the top for a 17 year old Camaro, but it's an extra 2 minutes to lay it out and $4 to buy. Also has the added benefit of making it very easy to spot leaks over the winter.

 

[bigcow94]

We are just finishing up selling our house in the Iowa city area. We had a 26 deep by 45 wide garage. I had ours set up so my wife got basically a stall and a half to park and I had the rest for work space. If you ever plan on buying a full size pickup, 26' deep is a minimum. It was large enough to park 4 cars if needed. I chose to keep my trucks outside so I had more room for my truck I'm building.

 

[bigcow94]

At 20 feet wide you are only giving yourself an extra foot on either side from what a standard parking space is. Having more room up front I feel gives you the space for toolboxes, benches, etc. To free up room on the sides of the vehicles

 

[jd_1138]

I'd try to buy the house/garage you want now. It's a lot cheaper than adding on or buying a different house later.

You want as much space as possible in the garage.

 

[James-W]

If you park 2 cars in a 2 car garage you won't be able to do much work in the garage.

 

[flynlow8740]

Mine is a 30x60 and I would call that "adequate" (for now). Buying a house means lawn equipment too. 30 feet wide lets me open doors on 2 cars and have shelves and tables around the perimeter.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[matt_i]

Wait from your username...is that the 3.4L 60 degree L32?

I would ditch that dog and get a 2000 L36 3800. There's obviously an earlier version of the 3800 but the 2000+ has the much better collector style cast manifolds and not the ram's horn manifolds that melt the rocker cover gaskets.

I don't know exactly what your relo rules are but I'd keep pushing out to the edge of the city, bound to be some nice places with property and/or buildings already built.

 

[rsnip988]

I thought about that, but dismissed it pretty quick, my heart is set on a 2 post lift so unfortunately I won't be able to use it for storage. I do all of my own maintenance but I don't think I'd be happy working around a 4 post.

Check out this 2 post lift addition to make it usable for storage. I was set on a 4 post for storage until I saw this mod for a 2 post that lets you store cars...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275287
specifically posts 27 & 28, I wouldn't use one made from the wood configuration the first pic used...

 

[TK-421]

How big do you really need? Simple, as big as you can afford without going into more debt than you feel comfortable with.

 

[Chevy-SS]

Build it big.

In fact, build it OVERSIZE!

Build it bigger than you ever think you could use, because you almost certainly will end up using it all.

I recently built addition/garage on my house. Had zoning/setback/neighbor issues and ended up with 30x32 garage, with 16' ceiling height on one side, so I have a lift with no problem on clearance. But I REALLY wish I could have gone another 10' or 15' in width. Extra width wouldn't have cost all that much more........

Bottom line, size definitely matters in the garage world.

 

[03fan]

I'm by far an expert, but I wouldn't want any smaller than my 24x30. I have a 8x10 shed behind the garage to store the snowblower, lawn mower, ladders, and other items that take up space or are used infrequently.

 

[rburke65]

Ok....everyone one this site that wishes they had built their garage/shop smaller, raise your hand.......... Ya..... that's what I thought.

 

[slomaro3.4]

Wait from your username...is that the 3.4L 60 degree L32?

I would ditch that dog and get a 2000 L36 3800. There's obviously an earlier version of the 3800 but the 2000+ has the much better collector style cast manifolds and not the ram's horn manifolds that melt the rocker cover gaskets.

I don't know exactly what your relo rules are but I'd keep pushing out to the edge of the city, bound to be some nice places with property and/or buildings already built.

Heh, I don't actually have th 3.4l camaro any more, it was my first car in HS, I've since upgraded through a firebird with the 3.8l, a 2010 with the 6.2l and finally feel at peace with my LS1. Well probably will be dropping an LS3 in it within the next 2 years, but you know what I mean.

Ok....everyone one this site that wishes they had built their garage/shop smaller, raise your hand.......... Ya..... that's what I thought.

Fair, I was sort of hoping someone was going to jump in and be like "I've got a 20 foot wide garage and a maxjax fit perfectly". Looking like that isn't the case at all. I think I was trying to talk myself into a cheaper house with a smallish garage. I'll have to **** it up and keep looking!

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you ever get a full sized pickup truck, 24x24 will start looking small !

If you have a family and get a 4 door pickup, it had better be 28' deep !

 

[James-W]

When we talk about garage size, and to be fair about it, I think many times we tend to keep stuff we don't really need just because we have the space to put it. If we had a smaller garage and less stuff that we don't need, we would probably be just fine. For example, I have my daughter's old snowblower upstairs in my garage. Why I am keeping it I have no idea, but at the time I put it upstairs because I thought maybe I would use the engine for something. But after a couple years now, I doubt I will do anything with it. So why do I still have it? I should get rid of it, but I don't. Why don't I get rid of it? Because I have room for it, it isn't in my way, so why should I get rid of it? If you had a HUGE warehouse you would just have more stuff, more stuff that you wouldn't use anyway. It's kind of like a never ending cycle.

 

[rshadd]

"I wish my garage was smaller", no one ever said.

 

[James-W]

"I wish my garage was smaller", no one ever said.

Nobody wishes for a smaller garage, it's just that the more room you have the more stuff you tend to accumulate.

 

[Kennybill]

My main, working bay is 24x32, 12 ft high. I like this size, just big enough to work and small enough to heat. I have a 2 post lift and could fit 3 cars, 2 plus 1 on the lift if I had to. 24' would be my minimum width, one could always add on deeper later on. I have 16x32 ft unheated wing/bay on each side of the main bay. I keep everything on casters to roll/store in the unheated bays. Good luck

 

[slomaro3.4]

My main, working bay is 24x32, 12 ft high. I like this size, just big enough to work and small enough to heat. I have a 2 post lift and could fit 3 cars, 2 plus 1 on the lift if I had to. 24' would be my minimum width, one could always add on deeper later on. I have 16x32 ft unheated wing/bay on each side of the main bay. I keep everything on casters to roll/store in the unheated bays. Good luck

That sounds heavenly. Not sure it will be doable. I'm checking out 3 open houses tomorrow, 1 split level with a 2 car, 1 detached oversized 2 car and 1 tandem garage (12x45). The house with the tandem would have no room to expand and limited driveway space so I'm probably going to rule it out based on that, looking forward to the oversized detached though.

 

[slomaro3.4]

So I went to 5 open houses today, now up to a total of 14 homes looked at. Still all of the attached garages were super cramped, but I found one with a 24x30 detached garage, already has a newer hanging heater, but needs insulation. It might be a bit of a downer to have to walk outside in the winter to get to the cars butttt.....it's so big and there is room if I'd ever want to expand to a 3 car.

Anyways, I'm going to be talking to my realtor to see what he thinks about the neighborhood and schools and all the other stuff a single 25 year old guy could care less about.

 

[Chevy-SS]

So I went to 5 open houses today, now up to a total of 14 homes looked at. Still all of the attached garages were super cramped, but I found one with a 24x30 detached garage, already has a newer hanging heater, but needs insulation. It might be a bit of a downer to have to walk outside in the winter to get to the cars butttt.....it's so big and there is room if I'd ever want to expand to a 3 car.

Anyways, I'm going to be talking to my realtor to see what he thinks about the neighborhood and schools and all the other stuff a single 25 year old guy could care less about.

Ugh, detached garage not good IMHO. Maybe if you do expansion, you could include enclosed walkway to house?

Good luck to you. Hope it works out.....

 

[slomaro3.4]

Ugh, detached garage not good IMHO. Maybe if you do expansion, you could include enclosed walkway to house?

Good luck to you. Hope it works out.....

Yeah, I wasn't looking for a detached because I don't want to have to walk outside in the winter...but the biggest attached garage I've been able to find was 21 feet wide....Other than walking in the cold any major downsides to a detached?

 

[Kevin54]

At 20' wide, things would be tight but doable. What you need would be some depth. 24' deep would be about the very minimum, and 28' would be good. At 28', you have room for your toolboxes up front and a bench up front and still have room to walk around the Camaro. At 24' deep, if you have a bench up front, things will be very tight. You probably wouldn't have room behind the car to work just to have room up front. Myself....I'd try to find a 24'w x 28'd for the minimum size to have breathing room inside of the garage.

 

[slomaro3.4]

At 20' wide, things would be tight but doable. What you need would be some depth. 24' deep would be about the very minimum, and 28' would be good. At 28', you have room for your toolboxes up front and a bench up front and still have room to walk around the Camaro. At 24' deep, if you have a bench up front, things will be very tight. You probably wouldn't have room behind the car to work just to have room up front. Myself....I'd try to find a 24'w x 28'd for the minimum size to have breathing room inside of the garage.

This is along the lines of what I've had in mind while looking. I don't think I'll be getting more than 20' wide if I stay attached. I also haven't found any attached over 22' deep. So pretty much the picture at this point is I can do a 20'x22' at the top of my price range, or "settle" for a 24'x30' plus taller ceilings detached for 30k cheaper that's 30' wide and 24' deep), leaving me room to insulate, drywall, update flooring and add a maxjax or the like.

Obviously I don't expect updating a detached garage to net me much in the way of a value increase, but its all stuff I'd be doing to an attached one as well. I'm waiting for my realtor to get back from vacation, but at this point I think I'm leaning towards the extra space.

 

[Gotcha640]

How long will you be there (don't have to post, just think about it)? I bought my first house at 24, 145k outside Houston, and I knew when I bought it I'd be gone in a couple years, not worth building additions and shop space and all.

Also, I know people spend money in different ways, but I don't see 150k buying my "forever" house.

I've lived in 4 houses since I got married, out of the country for 14 months. If I was serious about having shop space, I'd buy a shop separate from the house. I realize there's a convenience factor, but if you end up loving that city and stay forever, you can upgrade the house without giving up all the time and money in the shop. If you move on, a regular house and a regular shop will have cost you less, and you can hold on to the shop space while you're moving around.

Good luck finding what you're looking for.

 

[ishiboo]

why is your car parked on plastic?

My mom had her first car (a vintage BMW) stored with her friend - an auto body guy - in his barn for many years. When I pulled it out, the body work looked brand new and I was pretty happy. Except the undercarriage was completely shot from sitting on concrete. Many of the old stuff was poured without vapor barriers/etc.

Not sure it's helpful in a newer parking garage, but maybe can't hurt.