Need advice: 30x60 or 36x50

[ny1]

Looking for your opinions. I live in a town with virtually no zoning. When I pulled my permits I wasn't sure if I wanted to build a 36x50 building or a 30x60 building both are 1800 sq feet. Their answer was "Tell us what you decide on just don't exceed 1800 square feet and 27 feet in height"

So if it was up to you, would you build narrow and deep or more of a square and why? Your thought's would be appreciated as I'm excavating for my footings next week if the weather holds out. I've been lurking/drooling for a while now and there some amazing stuff on here.

 

[Carl B]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Most certainly 36' x 50

The additional working room in front of the cars is a real luxury. It allows more room for things like a row of Package Racking 4' deep, room for workbenches, tool chests etc. All can be there and you'll still have room to get a jack under the front of the car. 10' of extra width doesn't buy you an equal amount of "options". For that matter you could have an 8' wide storage room running the part way or entire width of the garage to hid all the stored items, put your compressor etc.

FWIW,
Carl B.

 

[larry_g]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Looking for your opinions. I live in a town with virtually no zoning. When I pulled my permits I wasn't sure if I wanted to build a 36x50 building or a 30x60 building both are 1800 sq feet. Their answer was "Tell us what you decide on just don't exceed 1800 square feet and 27 feet in height"

So if it was up to you, would you build narrow and deep or more of a square and why? Your thought's would be appreciated as I'm excavating for my footings next week if the weather holds out. I've been lurking/drooling for a while now and there some amazing stuff on here.

Instead of me trying to guess, give a bit more information of what your reason for building this building is. Garage, fab shop, tractor shed, drinking and hanging out with the buds? What type of building are your erecting, stick built, pole building, block? There are just to many reasons to chose one over the other and without knowing your goals I'm just pissin in the wind to try and guess. What works for me may not work for you.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Racer_X]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Yes, what Larry said. If you're going to be parking a bunch of cars in it, I say make it wider. I recently had a 30x60 built and wish it was about 10 feet wider. That would be just right for parking cars 3-wide and having work benches on both sides.

 

[fflintstone]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

30 X 60 and go with 16" walls if you can, then you can add a mezzanine for storage.

 

[Brad54]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

It depends on the layout: specifically, which side of the building you're putting the garage doors on.

If you're putting the doors on the short wall, then I'd go 36x50 (with doors on the 36-foot wall)
If you're putting them on the long side, I'd go 30x60 (with doors on the 60 foot wall).

-Brad

 

[70redbee]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Neither go 72 x 120. Just tell them you used a metric tape measure or the wrong scale rule.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

I would go for the 36x50
Just from my experience at the last house we lived at I had 30x68 with a 18' door on the 68' side and I always wished I had made it 36', one reason is at 36' you can double park cars that are 15' long and still have room, you can't double them up at 30'.

So when we moved to this house I built 36x64x14H that was last fall and I like it much better but I haven't used it much so far and I'm still trying to get it organized.

 

[ibedayank]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

ny1 depends on what you want to work on
small cars or truck and how many you want to put side by side
will you be working on or just parking them
to work on 4 feet all around what your working on is nice... aka how long your floorjack with handle is little more space for thing like an engine lifts

 

[nissan_crawler]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

I'm with the "depends on what you're working on" crowd. my garage is 23' deep, that leaves me with almost no room for my 1/2 ton extended cab pickup. So, if you want two pickups back to back down the length of it with room to work on them, I would definitely be going for the 30x60 instead of the 36x50.

 

[ny1]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

First, thanks for the input I really appreciate it. Answering some questions. The doors are going on the short wall. If I go with 30x60 I'll place a extra door on the long wall on the other end of the building. I'm sticking to a 10 or 12 foot side wall and a combination of attic and scissor trusses. With a 9/12 exterior roof pitch this should keep it under 27 feet plus leave room for a lift. As for work mostly it will be machining and motorcycle repair. I have a bit of machine shop equipment so I will be doing quite a bit of metal working, maybe some simple production/repair stuff. Basically what I do now in a rented 26x40, just in a much nicer building.

Obviously I can't store cars in there because the dust and chips will wreck paint over time, but I want a lift so I can work on my own stuff with out being on my back on the floor for once. My dirt bikes will be kept in there. So it's mostly a working shop.

One of my concerns is not having this thing dwarf the house which is 1200 sq feet on one floor. When you pull in the driveway the short wall of the garage faces the driveway and it's to the left of the house about 100 feet back.

Amazing how clear things become when knowledgeable people ask the right questions and you look at your answers.

 

[Strouty]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

It depends on the layout: specifically, which side of the building you're putting the garage doors on.

If you're putting the doors on the short wall, then I'd go 36x50 (with doors on the 36-foot wall)
If you're putting them on the long side, I'd go 30x60 (with doors on the 60 foot wall).

-Brad

I have a 30 by 60 with the doors on the short side, I wish it was 36 all the time. I have a couple of longer trucks and when they are in there I can't do anything around them.

 

[Dr_Goodwrench66]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

I am in the same boat as you. Not sure what I want. Either 40x48x16 or 32x64x16. I will be working on cars/trucks/med duty. Only plan on 1 12x14 door on the gable end; mostly becuase I dont want to shovel snow every other day when it slides off the roof in front of my door. Will also have a lean too for the car hauler. Still looking into the expenses of both.

 

[jvitez]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Long and thin makes 'em grin, but short and wide makes the ride......

Once you have a reasonable depth, width is more important. I'd go for the 36x50 and put a 16 ft plus 9 ft door on the short wall.

 

[bosskong]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

I say go for the 36x50. I think that the more narrow/rectangular the garage is, the more cramped it's going to feel and it'll be more difficult to move things from the front to the back. A more square garage will probably feel larger.

Also, 50 feet is more than enough room to park a car and have an engine hoist, workbenches, and storage shelves in front of the car, with plenty of walking room in front of and in back of the car. Any more depth IMO will be mostly just wasted space, so you might as well widen the 30' wall to 36' and add some shelving or maybe another parking spot.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

My shed is 40 x 80 and I have just divided it into 2.
One mechanical and other woodworking.
Mechanical/auto side is 40 x 45 (1800sq/ft)
and I find it perfect for working on cars.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

I'm going to say 30x60. After it's built, I doubt you will ever say you wish you didn't make it this big. Now, on the other hand, if you go with the 30x50, I can almost guarantee, that at one point, you'll wish you had that extra 10 feet.


Do a search on this site, see how many guys wish they had a smaller garage, then check to see how many guys have or are adding on to their garage.

 

[nehog]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Having a 30x60 and a friend with a more square (bout the size of your other alternative) I can say 30x60 is the way to go. The extra depth will be harder to use but the extra width will be easy to make work. 30 ft gives room for vehicles, and shelves for storage.

Mine is arranged as two bays for two cars each (10 x 16 doors) and the final bay has a lift (sitting sideways!) and two work areas. Both car bays have storage (floor to ceiling shelves, or peg board) and the work area has full peg board on the walls for tools.

 

[rburke65]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

nehog...a 10x16...or a 16x10?

 

[nehog]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

10 ft tall, 16 wide. Each bay is 20 ft, so that leaves 2 ft at each end of the bay. My eves are 12 ft.

 

[gbcamp72]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

I have a 30x50 12 and 9 foot doors on the 30 end and it just fits three by three(cars) with almost no room to walk between them. I would like 30x60 so I could build a 30x40 car side and a 20x30 woodshop with storage overhead. that would work best for me.

You need to decide based on access, site location and if the doors will go on the short or long side, and what your putting in it(sports cars, Trucks, or classic detroit steel. 3 wide is tight in 30 feet but you can do 2 wide and 3 deep in 60 feet of almost everything but long bed dullies.

 

[timewarp]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

If you are a boater the 36x50 will be too short, a 36' boat is 48' on the trailer, if you want to be able to walk around it with the door closed you will need more than 50' of bay, I'm a boater so 30X60.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

If you are a boater the 36x50 will be too short, a 36' boat is 48' on the trailer, if you want to be able to walk around it with the door closed you will need more than 50' of bay, I'm a boater so 30X60.

??? bit of a mute point really.
Boats come in all sizes as far as I know.

 

[timewarp]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

??? bit of a mute point really.
Boats come in all sizes as far as I know.

I was trying to point out that what you want to use it for should decide the layout, for me a 50' bay would be to short. Also if you ever wanted to pull a motor home in having the doors on the long side so the bays are short make that impossible even though the building may be large enough.

 

[Justanoldguy]

Re: Need advise: 30x60 or 36x50

Still can't see the boat relevance as he stated his intended use.

"Obviously I can't store cars in there because the dust and chips will wreck paint over time, but I want a lift so I can work on my own stuff with out being on my back on the floor for once. My dirt bikes will be kept in there. So it's mostly a working shop."

 

[Kevin54]

Go deep. By doing so you could have a lift in the corner and still get another car in behind if need be. One of the members on here had a deep garage in his basement and off to the side and had 4 'Vettes parked in there on two lifts. He raised the back lift, drove to the front lift, raised it, drove another in under. Lowered the back lift put one on there, then raised it and put one under. Not saying that you would ever do that, but if you wanted to, you could not do it in a 30' garage. Alright, it is better than the boat example.

Try laying out some string before you decide to try the footprint on for size. A few stakes and some chalkline will give you a good idea as to what you can use to best suit your needs. You also have to consider whether you would be putting any closets in, bathroom in, storage in, and where you would want it to be placed to best serve you.