New pole building garage door placement

[Ultimatebravo]

I'm building a 40x60x12 pole building and trying to decide the overhead door placement. I plan on splitting the garage in half one side being cold storage the other a shop to work on all my toys (sleds, boat, 4wheeler, jetskis, and truck) everything will be in and out of both sides a lot, so access is important.

I'm thinking a 16x10 on the eave side for the shop and a 16x10 or a larger slider on the gable end for the cold storage.

What do you guys think? Should they be centered or offset? Do you think the storage space would be better used with a gable door or eave door?

I'm open to ideas.

Thanks!

 

[jaker10]

I'd go with 2 18 Ft. wide doors. Easy to park 2 cars with 18 Ft. I'd put 1 centered on gable end (not a slider) and the other off set on eave side.

 

[Ray916MN]

Divided in half you end up with two 40x30 spaces. With lots of in and out and a wide variety of vehicles the issue is which layout minimizes the amount of shuffling you have to do to get things in and out. With a single door your best bet is to place the doors on the eave side of the building and in the middle of the 30' wall run. The depth of this arrangement will let you pull big things farther into the garage and to park smaller things next to the doors to minimize shuffling.

A more ideal arrangement is to have more doors (eg. two 16'x10' doors for each space) and to place them on the 40' gable ends of the building so there is greater access to pull things in and out. Placing doors on the gable ends has the additional benefit of avoiding water or snow run off from the roof over your access.

 

[Ultimatebravo]

Divided in half you end up with two 40x30 spaces. With lots of in and out and a wide variety of vehicles the issue is which layout minimizes the amount of shuffling you have to do to get things in and out. With a single door your best bet is to place the doors on the eave side of the building and in the middle of the 30' wall run. The depth of this arrangement will let you pull big things farther into the garage and to park smaller things next to the doors to minimize shuffling.

A more ideal arrangement is to have more doors (eg. two 16'x10' doors for each space) and to place them on the 40' gable ends of the building so there is greater access to pull things in and out. Placing doors on the gable ends has the additional benefit of avoiding water or snow run off from the roof over your access.

Thanks Ray. I'm heating the shop space. Do you think the big double doors would pose to big of a heat loss?

This building is actually going up a few miles from Orono on county road 92.

 

[cpayne5]

Hey! I have a 40x60x12. I designed it very similar to what you're thinking. My doors are not on the gable ends. I have it laid out so that my storage side is 40x40 and the shop space is 20x40. The 20x40 side has a 10x10 door and the storage side has a 18x10. I'd probably go a little larger that 10x10 if I had to do it again.

Not the best pic, but you get the idea...

With your desired setup of gable end doors, I'd go as big as the builder will do.

 

[Ultimatebravo]

Hey! I have a 40x60x12. I designed it very similar to what you're thinking. My doors are not on the gable ends. I have it laid out so that my storage side is 40x40 and the shop space is 20x40. The 20x40 side has a 10x10 door and the storage side has a 18x10. I'd probably go a little larger that 10x10 if I had to do it again.

Not the best pic, but you get the idea...

With your desired setup of gable end doors, I'd go as big as the builder will do.

How do you like having the door to the storage area off set to one side?

 

[cpayne5]

How do you like having the door to the storage area off set to one side?

It works. I store the ATVs, motorcycles, and mowers just inside to the left. They don't need much room to maneuver, so they get in and out fine.

 

[Ray916MN]

Thanks Ray. I'm heating the shop space. Do you think the big double doors would pose to big of a heat loss?

This building is actually going up a few miles from Orono on county road 92.

I don't think the doors will cause a big heat loss, unless you face them north without a windbreak. My doors are R16, the walls are R19. I have two 18x10s in my 24x48 building and don't really notice it being any colder around the doors.

In our area, if possible, I strongly suggest putting your doors in the gable ends. Unless you get a very steep roof, which sheds snow, melting snow off the eaves will tend to form ice berms outside of the doors under them and if you gutter them, you'll have to worry about snow avalanches ripping the gutters off. Unfortunately I had no choice but to mount my doors under eaves.

If your interested in seeing my building, PM me.