Need some general design guidance on building dimensions

[dbk123]

Hi,

I am designing a three car garage with some usable space upstairs. My plan is for the middle and right bay to have generous, but sort of normal ceiling heights and then raising the ceiling height in the left bay just in case I ever wanted to install an Autostacker or another type of lift to park two cars in there.

I am thinking of setting the ceiling heights to 10' over the two regular bays and having the ceiling be higher - maybe 11'6" in the other bay that might someday have lift.

In this way the portion of the upstairs over the regular bays would have a bit more room, while the portion over the higher ceiling downstairs would be sort of a mini-loft that could accommodate a bed or something.

I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas!

-dbk123

 

[vavet]

My advice would be to go higher in the 3rd bay and abandon the idea of useable space above it.

Think about how you would build this. Would it be finished living space in the upstairs from the get go? Would you get the basic structure up and then finish it (drywall, insulation, paint, hvac) later? Something else to consider: would you ever want to park a boat, RV, or travel trailer in the third bay? It might be worth making it a bit taller with a taller door to accommodate that if it’s even a remote possibility.

 

[dbk123]

Thanks for the good thoughts. We are fortunate to have a separate barn on the property which has pretty doors should they ever be needed. I am trying to keep the overall height/size of the garage to a reasonable level.

Upstairs would have lighting and sheetrock, but be finished later.

 

[6768rogues]

I would want at least 12 feet of ceiling height if you are considering a lift. Mine is 14 feet and that gives me room for a ceiling fan and lighting above the lift.

 

[Crush2.0]

I just recently built a four car garage and my intentions were to do 14 foot ceilings and storage above and that’s what I would recommend if you can go the height. If you can’t go that height then at least 12 feet and all the bays and maybe his in one because you can get lifts in for sure any of those.
Also I found that building shelves around the perimeter of the first floor create ample storage space. I built 2 foot shelves like 10 feet off the floor and they worked out really nice good luck

 

[rerod]

The Golden Ratio

Yup, check it out