One or two garage doors??

[swharris]

Planning my shop and I'm stuck on what to do.

Install one large wide door or two narrower doors. The shop will be 40' wide total. I'm leaning towards two with one being extra tall (12' or so) to let me get tall stuff in. Then again, the doors are going to face an alley with a tight approach, so I might need the extra width to allow easy entry. Plus, I've always thought the spot between the doors is a bit of a waste of space.

I'm planning on industrial roll up doors.

What do you guys think?

 

[TONE]

Id go with 1. I like to sometimes pull my car directly in the center for when I do service or detailing.

Although I do like the looks of multiple door, theyre not as practical.

 

[Wanna Ride]

I had a hard time deciding this same thing when I built my garage. I went with two doors for a couple reasons. It just opens up the practicality of the garage... if one gets damaged, blocked, or whatever, you can still get in/out. As for the space between the doors being wasted... nope. You just have to be efficient and practical with that space. Here's a pic of mine.

You can't really tell from this pic, but this is the leftside door. There's approx. 52" between this and the rightside door. That leaves enough room inside for 48" wide shelving, and a perfect spot for the atv. I'll try and get a pic from the inside.

Hope this helps.

 

[csp]

Seeing as how your shop is 40', how about some frame of reference for your idea of "wide" and "narrow".

Two 18' wide doors would still be considered wide by most.

 

[Chris05gto]

I vote for 2!

 

[Wanna Ride]

Seeing as how your shop is 40', how about some frame of reference for your idea of "wide" and "narrow".

Two 18' wide doors would still be considered wide by most.

Correct. My garage is 30' wide and the two doors are both 8' wide, but it's really just a residential garage.

If I was building a shop to professionally work out of that was 40' wide, I'd want two doors at least 10' wide. But it depends on what type of work and how many people would be using it.

 

[rwhite692]

.........One

 

[luvair]

May want to consider overall look of house with one door vs two doors. Also, two doors may provide you more privacy.

 

[Scout Driver]

My vote is for one door. If you are manuvering into the garage from a narrow alley, the extra wide door will be of benefit. Previously mentioned also was being able to pull into the center of the garage to work on a vehicle. One more thing...........The first time you need to back a trailer into the garage, the wide door will look like the right choice.

Scott

 

[Grigg]

Depends mostly on your use, what will you do?

If you can see two different doors as being helpful and being used frequently then there's your answer.

But if you can see a project just sitting for months and months or years in one spot then two doors is not so practical is it?

For me, I'd want one extra wide door.
Again, it depends on use.

If the shop is large/deep enough one wide door can easily give you access to essentially two parking spots inside if need be.

Doors also are not cheap, not well insulated, and the "insulated" ones are even more expensive.

Grigg

 

[cowboyjosh]

I'd go with 2. First off I'm partial to 2 just because 2 look better. I also like the fact that if 1 door is ever out of service due to a broken opener or broken spring, albeit rare, you still have another door to access your garage. As for wasted space, like one post said you have to be creative between the doors and you'll be fine.

 

[y'sguy]

I've had both versions, here's an additional thing to consider when you have two doors which I kinda prefer. In extreme weather, hot or cold you can get by with only opening or closing one at a time to control temps a little better. Not a big deal, just sayin'

 

[6768rogues]

I hedged my bet and installed one 16W by 8H and one 12 by 12. They both have advantages and disadvantages.

 

[swharris]

Thanks for all the opinions!

Some additional information. I'm located in Southern CA so cold will not be an issue. Heat on the other hand will be (100's in the summer). The door/s will face West into the prevailing afternoon breezes... a + for the big door. I forgot to mention that this is a stand alone structure. I'm planning on having a pad outside of the shop opposite garage door/s, so there will be a pass through on one bay (not sure if that should be the bay with the lift or the one with out(lift position and pass through are topics for different posts...haha)

I want the ability to get a tall vehicle (camper maybe) in the shop if need be. So, it may be more practical (read cheaper) to have one really tall door and one regular height door rather than have a huge really high one.

As for what I consider wide, I guess seeing as a regular residential door is 15' or so, 20' would seem "wide". Seeing that I'm going to have a pass through, I don't want to be door "rich" and wall space "poor". As I'm sketching things out, I'm starting to see wall space rapidly vanishing. I'm planning a basement under an attached apartment/mother-in-law so I have to plan for stairs down which takes up wall space inside. I guess I could put the stairwell outside<shrug>.


Again, thanks for the input...it helps. BTW any industrial door supplier recommendations?

 

[TagMan]

My shop is 30'x40' and I have two 10' wide x 12' tall doors (shop is 16' to the peak). It makes it a lot easier to maneuver cars around and it looks more balanced, IMO. I have a car lift in back of one of the doors and I've had a car on the lift for several months. I can still use the other half of the shop by using the second door.

Go with two doors, you'll be glad you did.

 

[bill9860]

I have a fried with a 30 & 40 and on 16' door and loves. My 26 x28 has 2 9x8's. That was my preference w/ lift to go on one side.

 

[sstruckguy]

Something I would consider most important in this, is use and the depth of the space.

If you are going to be doing strictly automotive, a single door may be a better fit.(working room, stationary items at a minimum, lift possibility)

If it is going to be a multi-purpose space,(automotive.wood,metal) I would suggest a multi-door set-up.

With the doors centered on the 40 foot, using a 16" wide door,(x 2) would give you about 32" between the doors and 32" from each edge of the door to the outside walls. (plenty of room for stationary wall stuff) Not to mention a side-by side parking of cars/trucks.

My particular usage and set-up on a 40' wide building would prefer the double door set-up. Then again, my usage is multi-usage specified.(automotive/wood/metal uses)

 

[swharris]

My shop is 30'x40' and I have two 10' wide x 12' tall doors (shop is 16' to the peak). It makes it a lot easier to maneuver cars around and it looks more balanced, IMO. I have a car lift in back of one of the doors and I've had a car on the lift for several months. I can still use the other half of the shop by using the second door.

Go with two doors, you'll be glad you did.

Very interested in seeing what your 40x30 w/2 doors shop looks like. Do you have any pictures?

 

[TagMan]

"Very interested in seeing what your 40x30 w/2 doors shop looks like. Do you have any pictures? "

Here's a pic of the front of my shop................................

 

[mmhouse]

My garage is about 33' wide. I have a 16' door and a 9' door. In a 40' wide I'd probably put in an 18' and a 10'. This would leave a nice space at the sides of the garage for whatever you decide to do there. I wish I had a little more room there. Fortunately I made mine deep enough that my bench and other big stuff fits in front of the vehicles. IMO it's nice to have the outdoor access to the entire space even if you choose not to use it for vehicle access on a regular basis.

 

[swharris]

Here's a pic of the front of my shop................................

Thanks for the picture. I think if I had the room in front of the doors like you do, I'd be leaning toward the two doors. Unfortunately, the doors for my proposed shop will open on to a narrow allay, about half again as wide as the concrete apron in front of your shop. I think a single door will allow me to enter and leave with more flexibility.

How tall is the building and how tall is the interior ceiling?

 

[swharris]

My garage is about 33' wide. I have a 16' door and a 9' door. In a 40' wide I'd probably put in an 18' and a 10'. This would leave a nice space at the sides of the garage for whatever you decide to do there. I wish I had a little more room there. Fortunately I made mine deep enough that my bench and other big stuff fits in front of the vehicles. IMO it's nice to have the outdoor access to the entire space even if you choose not to use it for vehicle access on a regular basis.

How deep is you shop? Mine will be 30'-35'. With the two doors, do you find yourself lacking wall space? Do you have man doors, bathroom door, storage room door, windows taking up space? I have a very hard time seeing this future space in the abstract. Need to build a scale model out of foam core I think...haha.

Thanks for the response.

 

[dlc]

40' ? That's a lot of width/length for one door. I vote for two doors. In my opinion, it would be more aesthetically pleasing.

I'm doing 3 on my 40 footer.

 

[Black Moon]

I say 2. One 16' and one 12' maybe a 3' man door inbetween for easy access. My garage is 40' also. Good luck

 

[aqr81]

From what you've described I would go with 2 doors for the reasons already discussed by the group.

 

[Schtauffer]

Have you priced industrial roll doors? Two smaller ones may be cheaper than one large door. Just a little more food for thought.

Tight alley? Consider one door...

 

[Black Moon]

I just priced 10' x 10' roll up doors for a customer. They were $714 each installed.

If it's tight and you go with one door, make it a wide one for turning radius.

 

[Jazz]

If its strictly for storage and no wrenching or projects two doors makes sense. If you plan on working on a vehicle (or two) in the space you'll want to have a single door.

 

[Black Moon]

If its strictly for storage and no wrenching or projects two doors makes sense. If you plan on working on a vehicle (or two) in the space you'll want to have a single door.

Hmmmmm. I would think the opposite would be true? At least I thought so when I did mine. He has 40' of wall and if he pulls in he will have to do alot of manuvering to move a car to the side. At least that was my thought process. I kind of looked at mine like driving lanes. With the two doors I can pull 3 cars straight in with no adjusting.

I think it boils down to how many cars will he have in there and how much space will be non parking, just work or storage space.

It's a matter of personal preference I guess.

 

[mustangmike68]

mine is 30 x40 lift on 1 side. I had the doors separated 9 feet with a table between both doors, thats so you can move around and not hit the car next to you 1 door is 10x10 and 1 is 10x12.

 

[Mustangmike]

I say 2. One 16' and one 12' maybe a 3' man door inbetween for easy access. My garage is 40' also. Good luck

Blackmoon...I think that if the Viper was shipped to toronto attn mustangmike, you would have a lot more room to move around and wouldnt need 2 doors....

 

[Black Moon]

Blackmoon...I think that if the Viper was shipped to toronto attn mustangmike, you would have a lot more room to move around and wouldnt need 2 doors....

It may be for sale soon if things don't improve. The Z06 is already gone