New Garage Build - WWGJD??

[jollygreengiant]

We are starting the planning stages for an addition to our house. Our current plan is to build a two car garage with a full second storey living space above it. This garage will be strictly for vehicle parking and storage, any projects will be done in my shop.

So far I'm thinking the rough dimensions will be 22' wide by 26' long. I know I want enough length to park a crewcab standard box truck if I decide to buy one someday. I'm also leaning towards 2 smaller doors instead of one larger one; the doors will be south facing and we get a lot of wind here. I think we also want a floor drain. Parking snowy vehicles in garages here makes for a big mess when the snow melts. These are the things I've thought of so far, but I don't want to build this garage and discover that we should have done something a bit different or forgot to include something.

So for those of you who have a strictly storage garage, what would you do differently? What do you like in your current garage?

 

[Yankeefarmer]

Make sure you make it wide enough for a minimum of 10’ wide doors, preferably 12’. Not sure if you are thinking the doors are on the length or width. But neither 22’ nor 26’ are likely to yield enough room indoors with the garage door closed to comfortably lower a tailgate and remove anything of size. In other words, plan it comfortably large from the start.

 

[BillK]

22' is definitely not wide enough especially with big vehicles. My attached garage is 22' wide with a single 16' door and it is a pain with my 99 Tahoe and my Wife's Riviera. It is only about 22' deep which would be fine with absolutely nothing else in the front.

If I had my choice it would be at least 24' wide with a single 18' wide door. I dont like separate single doors. With the single door if I want I can put one vehicle right in the middle to wax it or do windows etc. If you are going to do separate doors I would do them at least 10' wide like YF said.

For reference a 2022 Chevy 1500 is 240 inches long, 81 wide and 75-78 inches tall. Not sure if the width includes mirrors or not.

 

[Juiced06GTO]

Car/Trucks are just so much bigger now, you have to go big to have room. Parking my F250 Crew Cab with 6.5' bed takes up a surprising amount of my 30x40 barn to the point I wish I had gone bigger...

 

[loganb]

How much of the size is bring driven by the house its being added on to?

Personally a fan of 9' doors at a minimim, prefer 10' though. In a high wind, cold climate I can understand the desire for single doors instead of a double.

If possible a floor drain for washing and just the **** that will melt off, for storage usage only I would also look hard at a floor coating on the concrete. If I was building for storage I would still lean towards as deep as feasible and shoot for room for a quad cab or Suburban size ride in it plus room to open the back and space in the front at at least 1 bay for a workbench or toolbox for those minor projects

With it being attached, I would definitely opt for a mini split. With living space above and adjacent the heat can help the rest of the house, and then pull the cars out and overflow party space

 

[CombatNinja]

My attached garage is pretty much exactly the size you are looking to build. 21'10" x 25'6" interior dimensions, so near as makes no difference. I can tell you with confidence that you can get a crew cab pickup inside, but you are not opening the tailgate. For reference, a 2021 F-150 crew cab is almost 21' long. Also, I daily a 2020 Land Rover Defender and the wife has the smallest car in the world (a 2020 Miata) and the garage is not really wide enough to put anything on the side walls. I would never build a 22' x 26' for parking two vehicles unless I was severely restricted by zoning or code. My personal minimum would be 28' in depth and 24' in width. 32' x 28' sounds even better. I'd prefer two 10' wide doors on a 28' front compared to the two 9' I have on 22'.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I'll have to see if I can go any wider. The problem with going wider is that we start to get really close to our dug well. With a 22' wide garage we are 10' from it IIRC. I'm not sure how much closer we can get.

 

[CombatNinja]

When you are saying "22' wide garage" are you defining that as the exterior measurement of the building? If that is the case, you're going to lose a foot for siding, framing and drywall. You'll be able to park in it but that hypothetical full-size pickup will have it so you basically have to squeeze past it to move around the garage. This is going to be exacerbated by your preference for 2 smaller doors instead of one larger. 2 small doors essentially give each vehicle a 'lane' to go in and out and that truck is gonna fill 'er up. I see the appeal of two doors from many points of view (aesthetic, preventing 'oops' moments from inattentive drivers, a.k.a. wives).

 

[jetnow1]

2 doors in a 22 foot wide garage does not leave much space for walls at the edge, talk to an engineer or at minimum your
building department for what is required. Not saying it can't be done, but may need an engineered solution.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Yeah 22' was my inside measurement. I thought with two 9' doors I would have enough room but I dont think that will work with two 10' doors. I'll have to see what we can do with the layout.

 

[rayra]

op, go for multiples of 4' in your dimensioning. There are good reasons post-framers and pole barn builders do so. For both ease of building and to gain the extra room you need. Your 22x26 isn't really large enough for two full-sized vehicles, much less leave enough room for shelving, work bench(es), storage etc.

If you are adding a garage structure from scratch, trying to economize in the square footage is about the worst choice you can make. Other than not requiring progress payments in your build contract.

 

[firebirdparts]

We are starting the planning stages for an addition to our house. Our current plan is to build a two car garage with a full second storey living space above it. This garage will be strictly for vehicle parking and storage, any projects will be done in my shop.

So far I'm thinking the rough dimensions will be 22' wide by 26' long. I know I want enough length to park a crewcab standard box truck if I decide to buy one someday. I'm also leaning towards 2 smaller doors instead of one larger one; the doors will be south facing and we get a lot of wind here. I think we also want a floor drain. Parking snowy vehicles in garages here makes for a big mess when the snow melts. These are the things I've thought of so far, but I don't want to build this garage and discover that we should have done something a bit different or forgot to include something.

So for those of you who have a strictly storage garage, what would you do differently? What do you like in your current garage?

I have a garage exactly like this already, and I wouldn't change a thing from your plan. It came with the house. I suppose, like all garages, you'll stick stuff in it until it's cramped, no matter how big it is. So I will avoid telling you 22' is the wrong number. it's fine for parking.. We have two 9 x 7 doors. Still a little close in the middle, you can't hit a car with the door of the other car. FWIW. Floor drain would be great in mine, we put drivers in there every day, and of course they get wet in the rain, let alone snow.

 

[Bert_]

I'll probably be alone on this one but I would carefully consider the size and how you attach it. I don't like a garage that overpowers the house. A lot depends on the house.

 

[billconner]

Check your codes on drains in garages. A separator is required where I live and they are not cheap.

I parked are cars in driveway and we used chalk and garbage cans and such to determine desirable size. Outback and Crosstrek. Min 26 x 26 inside to be able to open doors without worry of banging stuff, and walk all the way around cars. Ended up at 28 x 32 outside, to allow 3 canoes on wall in front of cars, instead of hoisting over, and garden tools hanging on wall.

 

[CraigStu]

Unless you can go to 10ft wide doors I'd do a single 16-18ft wide. When the door is 18ft it is easy to pull in or back in at an angle. That way you can fudge the car width and gain a little bit of room for opening the car doors.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I know one big door will give me a lot more flexibility in terms of vehicle positioning but I'm very leery of one big door with the wind we get here.

 

[thammel]

Speaking of doors, I went with two 10' wide by 8' high doors. I love them and would never go smaller.

 

[yugami]

General rule of thumb is "go bigger". I went as large as I physically could based on the bills site and budget and still say, I should of gone bigger

 

[jollygreengiant]

I would love to go bigger but we will have to see how the quotes come in. With all the work we need to do on the house we might not have the budget, especially if we get into the water or septic systems.

 

[ZX3ST]

If I was building a garage strictly for parking, and would have NOTHING else in there? Assuming I want to park (up to) a F-350 Crew Cab with 8ft bed? 26x26 with 8ft tall doors. 10ft wide if singles, 18ft wide if double. Add a little depth if you want to get the tailgate down and still close the main door.

A couple data points:

My F-150 with the optional larger tow mirrors will not fit through my 9ft wide garage doors without folding the mirrors. Wouldn't be a huge deal if they were power folding, but mine are manual.... Well OK it might technically fit but it's so close that I'd have some pretty banged up mirrors in short order.

A Ford Crew-Cab with 8ft bed overall length is a hair over 22ft long. A hitch ball can easily add nearly a foot to that. Add more if you want room to get the tailgate down. Also consider whether you want to be able to walk around it with the main door closed. I'd think about going to 28ft depth if you want just a little extra breathing room.

Mine's 25ft wide with about 20in between the 2 single doors. Space is fine in the middle but it's a little tighter than I'd like along the sides. I can't imagine 22ft width with a full size pickup involved. Not if I have options.

EDIT to add: All my dimensions discussed above are INTERIOR.

 

[Samh]

I'd go ahead and price your doors based on the sizes you are thinking. I didn't do that on my build and thought a 10x10 would be a pretty standard door. They were pretty expensive, even the cheapest ones were about $1000/door. Ended up having to make my doors.

 

[Uncle murph]

We are starting the planning stages for an addition to our house. Our current plan is to build a two car garage with a full second storey living space above it. This garage will be strictly for vehicle parking and storage, any projects will be done in my shop.

So far I'm thinking the rough dimensions will be 22' wide by 26' long. I know I want enough length to park a crewcab standard box truck if I decide to buy one someday. I'm also leaning towards 2 smaller doors instead of one larger one; the doors will be south facing and we get a lot of wind here. I think we also want a floor drain. Parking snowy vehicles in garages here makes for a big mess when the snow melts. These are the things I've thought of so far, but I don't want to build this garage and discover that we should have done something a bit different or forgot to include something.

So for those of you who have a strictly storage garage, what would you do differently? What do you like in your current garage?

22’ is to narrow for two cars,I’d go at least 24 if not 26.You won’t regret it with the added bonus of extra square footage upstairs.

 

[STANG302]

Built our 26 x 32 attached garage last winter and have a Ram 2500. Here's my advise.

Stick with a minimum of 26 wide. We have two 9 x 8 doors. With this there is enough room to open both driver and passenger doors fully. I do have to fold the mirrors in to squeeze the truck through (thank you power fold mirrors).

Depth of 32 gives me 3-4 feet to walk between the truck and garage door and also drop the tailgate while its closed. And about +/- 8 feet in front, plenty for tools, lawn mower.

If lumber prices would have not gone haywire 32 x 32 was the dream but had to downsize to stay in budget. I have no regrets with the 26 x 32.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

I'm just wrapping up my COVID garage build (mud & tape, interior paint, and some electrical details are all that's left). I built 26'x30' with a 10' ceiling and room-in-roof attic trusses. I have a pair of 9' doors on the south gable end.

I garage an F250 (standard cab long bed) on one side.

From my perspective, 26' wide is the bare minimum for two garage doors on the gable end.

When I back the truck in, the mirrors clear by ~2" on each side. I'm the only one in the family who drives the truck, so this is working out OK as I know to be very careful and slow. I think I'd have replaced broken mirrors multiple times by now if my wife or kids were putting the truck in the garage... and they're all good drivers. I have to be lined up perfectly and it often takes a second attempt.

All that to say, I wish I had gone with 10' doors.

BUT... you have to understand sheer walls to make sure you avoid the classic garage fail....


So with 10' doors in a 26' gable, you'll only have 2' wide walls to resist horizontal loads (seismic or wind depending on where you're at). This can be done, but you'd have to use rated specialty panels (Simpson Strong Walls is one) and have rated anchors (not just J-bolts) cast into the foundation. In short, an engineered wall. Not cheap, not super easy to build.

I'm a PE and have taken shear wall classes to meet my CEU requirements. I don't stamp structural plans for a living, but even so, I'd have to say that this is one of the least understood structural topics out there.

In my build, I have 3' walls on the sides and 2-1/2' in the middle. I have two J-bolts on the flanks of each wall section and sheathed both the interior and exterior of this wall with 1/2" CDX plywood, nailing 8p ring shanks every 4" on perimeter and 6" in the field. I also was very deliberate in running the top 2' section of plywood above my doors horizontal and was very deliberate about staggering my seams.

I personally would not have done anything less than this.

Getting a permit for a home brew garage is one thing. As soon as you have occupied space in a second floor or attic, you're now talking about life safety and your code guy should be much more critical in his assessments.

Good luck with your project... make sure you use the correct thickness and fire rating for the garage ceiling sheet rock and install steel boxes in the ceiling of the garage. You might consider spray foam insulation in the ceiling of the garage to better seal off the occupied space above from exhaust fumes.