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New Tandem 4 car Build... Advice/Tips/$.02

SitDown

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Dec 5, 2007
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Hey all, been a lurker for years but think I may be putting up a new garage to buy me a few years here still. Not my forever garage build, but also don’t want to make any rookie mistakes with money being spent. Any advice tips etc are appreciated.

Limited to 864sqft, and given circumstances…. Tandem 2 car (4car) is the plan… ~22x39. 10’ walls, hip style 4/12 roof in front, gable out back for lift clearance. Roof height is limited due to ranch house. I’ve since decided to go with a 18x8 door vs (2) 9x8 doors (8ft is max door height). Attached are my mock layouts to get a sense of how things would play with vehicles etc.

1) Biggest concern is width… With nothing on the walls in front 2 bays (ateast below 7ft), will I be frustrated with a small suv and pickup? 13 Ford escape and Ford Raptor. Raptor is wider than average truck. Should I tweak the design to add more width, say to 23x37? Hoping to squeeze every inch I can so plan to inquire about .5” etc. I believe with the lift (extra long and wide) and escape parked in front of that, the 37 could possibly work. Looking at things on paper the 22 looked to be best, but paper and real world differ.

2) Believe i'm now going with 18x8 door vs (2) 9x8, look to get more flexibility, though I did like getting doors spaced wider out toward the walls to avoid turning in. That said raptor width with mirrors is 8’+ so this might be easier to watch just one side pulling in and out.

3) I believe my plans included some strategy with the joists in the rear to get 13’ clearance in the rear, but hoped to not push the lift too far toward center as truck needs to pull past it. On opposite side.

Some details on cars/lift dimensions…
Inches Feet
Holden L 196.0 16.3
W 75.0 6.3
H 58.0 4.8

Raptor L 220.6 18.4
W 86.3 7.2
H 78.5 6.5
W (w mirrors) 97.0 8.1

Escape L 178.0 14.8
W 72.0 6.0
H 66.0 5.5

Fastback L 181.6 15.1
W 68.2 5.7
H 51.2 4.3

4 post lift L 224.0 18.7
W 110.3 9.2
H 88.0 7.3


Raptor & Holden 34.7
Raptor & Mustang 33.5
Escape & Holden 31.2
Escape & Mustang 30.0
Raptor & Lift 37.1
Escape & lift 33.5



Excuse the excel spreadsheet designs ha
 
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SitDown

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will look to convert other files to jpeg, but heres a pdf for now
 

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SitDown

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TandemGarage_wCars_zps2wcs9qge.jpg


284_tandemBasic_zpsgvchutu4.jpg
 
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SitDown

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updated lift to actual dimens, look to have some more room to shift it towards center. 13' looks out of the realm, maybe 12' if im able to pull off a 6/12 pitch :/ Cab of truck would be ~4ft from the wall on lift.

Any opinions thoughts or feedback is much appreciated



22x39detail_zpsqxyekfvr.jpg
 

crewchief888

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Dec 3, 2009
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Location
NW indiana
my garage is 22ft wide, 19' deep

even with nothing along the side walls, i think it would be (sorta) a tight fit.

wifes saturn vue and my s10 blazer are a very tight fit, but i have toolboxes along 1 wall, the other side wall has "typical" outdoor stuff ( rakes, shovels ect)
i'm loosing approx 5ft of my width.

my 4x4 sierra sits higher than the door, so i'd be hard to visualize if even the 22ft wide would be enough room...

good choice on going deeper.

:beer:
 
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SitDown

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Thanks for the feedback, after more thought opted for 23x37. Was able to get some additional height through a admin variance. Plan is to not do cross joists in the shaded area to leave most room for the vehicle on the lift (est ~14' interior clearance). It will be a Hip roof in front and gable out back, so am told this shouldn't be an issue its integrity

Opted to move lift to the far side to make the work area more accessible and room for slipping motorcycles and things out the side door more easily.

I was considering adding another door in front of the lift for more airflow, but there wouldn't be room to move anything large out that door anyways so tough to justify $700more plus complexity with lift/door track clearance. Open to opinions there.

23x37_layout_zpstgg8hijq.jpg


284_garage_zpsf3izthzt.jpg
 
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-Brent-

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Utah
Is there any way to turn that building sideways and put three bays/door in it? There would be a lot less headaches moving cars around and dealing with that narrow space between the car and wall.
 

54stude

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Jul 12, 2007
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Twin Cities MN
I have a similar garage setup, and I would recommend considering angling the 4 post lift slightly, just a few inches, to make it easier to drive straight on and off the lift. Also, make sure you can carry something between the hoist posts and the wall walking straight forward, like a tote or tire.
 
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SitDown

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Is there any way to turn that building sideways and put three bays/door in it? There would be a lot less headaches moving cars around and dealing with that narrow space between the car and wall.

I agree and do prefer that setup, sadly due to it being a long & narrow lot this format was most workable. With it turned I'd be dealing with a sharp 3pt turn, then a bit more in added concrete.. Mostly though, it pushed usable yard to just the rear of lot. This maintains more yard use, and used up the space that's unused behind the current garage. The daily use vehicles will be the 2 at front, fair weather cars on/below the lift, shuffle them as use calls. Not ideal, but much improved from a garage where my truck does not even fit.

I have a similar garage setup, and I would recommend considering angling the 4 post lift slightly, just a few inches, to make it easier to drive straight on and off the lift. Also, make sure you can carry something between the hoist posts and the wall walking straight forward, like a tote or tire.

Great feedback thanks. Clearances shown are myo figuring of actual interior #'s, so should have ~2.5' between finished wall and post (~3.5-4' from wall to lift runners). Once in there i may try to shift it more towards the center and get closer to 3-3.5' from post to the wall. Thinking that will be enough to roll a 35" tire, carry large tote, wheel bike/scooter through etc.

It should be a pretty straight shot to lift runners coming through close to the left side of the 18' door. Angled slightly would net some extra room for the truck parked beside it though. Was hoping to keep lift straight and have the truck beside it parked at angle towards the right wall. that is the line needed to come in and out of the driveway too for that spot

image compressed, but gives idea of parking angle

284_2016-1_zpshtzlws5e.jpg


23x37_mockupCars_0001_zps9kqcamy3.jpg
 

sd171

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Aug 3, 2010
Messages
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Location
South Dakota
I have a 24' wide x 34' deep garage with an 18' x 8' garage door and a similar site plan. The width of my garage is great, but the depth is too shallow for tandem parking anything larger than two smallish cars (I can tandem an Xterra and A4 and still walk between them). Is there any chance you can get a variance on the overall footprint? In my city, the building department estimated the allowable footprint based on Google Map images. Maybe you can convince them to allow 24' wide x 38' deep which in my opinion would be the perfect size, though a lift complicates matters a little.
 

evildky

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May 1, 2005
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Louisville, KY
My garage is 20 wide and 48 long, we have 4 cars in it just about every night, to deal with the width the cars on one side are backed in , putting both cars near the wall allows plenty of room to access the drivers side of the vehicles. Being 48" long gives me enough room for all my tools and ****. if you can make your garage longer, do.
 
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