Should I build 26 or 28ft x 36 deep?

[rlme36]

Hi everyone, I've been reading for a while now, but need some specific help on the size of my new garage. It will be a second garage intended for more working on cars than storage. It needs to only hold 2 cars, but more would be nice. I was thinking of a 26 or 28ft wide by 36ft deep. I can't decide if one large door/ wide door is better than having (2) 8 foot doors and if this overall size is good.

Is there anything obvious that I am missing on the sizing? meaning if I did another X feet things would be easier for the lift on the one side of the garage or if I went x feet deeper I could do....

thanks

rob

 

[dxdexter]

I would go as large as your money allows. You will be kicking yourself when you get finished and need that extra space.

I would suggest two 10' doors. I have only one 10' door on a 20' wide x 24' deep garage and I couldn't imagine anything narrower.

 

[Vicious_Cycle]

Sometimes its handy and more cost effective to have your dimensions in multiples of 8 feet, since many construction materials come in 8' lengths. For the door, my preference is: go nice and wide.

 

[rlme36]

I would go as large as your money allows. You will be kicking yourself when you get finished and need that extra space.

I would suggest two 10' doors. I have only one 10' door on a 20' wide x 24' deep garage and I could imagine anything narrower.

I was going to do at least 8 ft tall doors, didn't think to go that tall. If use 2 doors I can't figure out how to make it look like a barn using sliding doors to cover the "garage" door as they will be too close together for sliding barn door look I think.

 

[rlme36]

Sometimes its handy and more cost effective to have your dimensions in multiples of 8 feet, since many construction materials come in 8' lengths. For the door, my preference is: go nice and wide.

If I go wide and use one door will I still have enough swing to get the car to one side or another to put it on a lift? I am thinking asym lift at this point, but its all pretty much up in the air.

 

[dxdexter]

I was going to do at least 8 ft tall doors, didn't think to go that tall. If use 2 doors I can't figure out how to make it look like a barn using sliding doors to cover the "garage" door as they will be too close together for sliding barn door look I think.

I meant 10' wide not 10' high. That's what I thought you were saying.

 

[jamm5266]

Can you reverse your dimensions? If you went 32' wide and 26' deep you could get (3) 9x8 doors in comfortably. If you are using scissor trusses, this would allow a little more clearance for a lift. If the lift will run perpendicular to the trusses, you might have to place it farther from the wall to get clearance on the low side. Just my .02 cents worth.

I prefer to have more width than depth so I can move cars in and out without moving things out of the way.


Good luck

 

[rlme36]

Can you reverse your dimensions? If you went 32' wide and 26' deep you could get (3) 9x8 doors in comfortably. If you are using scissor trusses, this would allow a little more clearance for a lift. If the lift will run perpendicular to the trusses, you might have to place it farther from the wall to get clearance on the low side. Just my .02 cents worth.

I prefer to have more width than depth so I can move cars in and out without moving things out of the way.




Good luck

Trying to not make this look like a garage at all, three doors would be a dead giveaway. I hear what you are saying though and this is exactly the feedback I need.

I should of mentioned planning for it to have a second floor and the first floor to have 14ft finished ceilings

 

[john56h]

My garage is 26 feet wide and I can squeeze three cars across. The 28 feet would add just enough more that three across would be nicer. Conceivably, you could fit six cars in the 28x36 space, seven if you place one on the lift.

 

[tontruck]

I wish I would have put 12' x 8' door on my 30' side instead of the 16' x 8'. I didn't have the funds for the extra door or the extra patience to wait for the doors to be ordered, they had the 12 footer in stock.

 

[rlme36]

My garage is 26 feet wide and I can squeeze three cars across. The 28 feet would add just enough more that three across would be nicer. Conceivably, you could fit six cars in the 28x36 space, seven if you place one on the lift.

I was using exterior dimensions so I think I'll lose about 20inches all around due to the foundation. Plan on having 2 foot cement walls to gain some height.

I'd take just 3-4 if I can move them around on go-jacks or something.

The plan was to park my tow vehicle on one side and one on the lift and another underneath it if need be.

 

[FunfDreisig]

Trying to not make this look like a garage at all, three doors would be a dead giveaway. I hear what you are saying though and this is exactly the feedback I need.

I should of mentioned planning for it to have a second floor and the first floor to have 14ft finished ceilings

Why not use real barn doors and get serious access

I'll be building a 42x24' 3 bay "garage" this spring. The 42' includes 3 - 12' wide bays + a 6' mechanics shop to one side. Six 4' wide sliding barn doors will cover the 24' wide opening for the two fully enclosed bays. With a single track I can have a 16' wide opening anywhere in the 24'. With a double track I could open the full 24'.

FWIW the 3rd bay is for the Kubota configured as a TLB. It wouldn't know how to act if it was given a fully enclosed bay Seriously, when the Kubota isn't parked there, this bay is meant to be an open work space w/ shade and/or shelter from the rain. The slab in this bay will be 1.5" lower and could be used for vehicle washing etc.

Funf Dreisig

 

[Junkman]

If you have 14' ceiling, then go with 10' x 10' doors. You never know when you are going to want to bring something into the garage that is tall. The extra hight in garage doors doesn't add dramatically to the cost. Personally, if I were doing this, I would go as large as you possibly can afford. It is always less expensive to go larger than to add on later. Heck, if the lay of the land allows for a basement, consider that also with a drive in cellar. Use pre stressed concrete slabs for the main floor. This is what I had planned until the building department nixed it. I later learned that had I asked the concrete company to supply engineering drawings, that it would have gone through. In stead I added an additional 20' to the width. If I hit the lottery, I will still have the cellar dug out under the garage!!

 

[rlme36]

If you have 14' ceiling, then go with 10' x 10' doors. You never know when you are going to want to bring something into the garage that is tall. The extra hight in garage doors doesn't add dramatically to the cost. Personally, if I were doing this, I would go as large as you possibly can afford. It is always less expensive to go larger than to add on later. Heck, if the lay of the land allows for a basement, consider that also with a drive in cellar. Use pre stressed concrete slabs for the main floor. This is what I had planned until the building department nixed it. I later learned that had I asked the concrete company to supply engineering drawings, that it would have gone through. In stead I added an additional 20' to the width. If I hit the lottery, I will still have the cellar dug out under the garage!!

That is a great idea about the doors. The area in mind gets a lot of rain run off and I wouldn't think going lower than grade would be wise.

From a depth perspective I don't want to go much longer than 36, but a couple of feet wouldnt' kill me. Does the layout lend itself to having enough room for a lift on one side and parking on the other with room to manuever around the lift?

Still can't decide on which is the best lift. Which sees a lot of debate here, but a 4 post would work, but the rolling jacks seem prohibitively expensive. I like the asym ones cause they seem to be a much cleaner look.

 

[Kevin54]

Always try to build in 4' increments.20', 24', 28', etc. It makes it a lot easier all around. Everything is usually based on 4'. But if it was me, I would go with the 28' being deep and the 36' being the width. That way you would have room for a lift either on one side or in the middle and still have room for a couple of cars beside the lift. Even at 28', it still is deep enough to have a bench at the end and still have room to walk around. My garage is 28' deep, and I had a Silverado extended cab longbed. My compressor is up front and I had a good amount of space to roll the toolbox in front and work.

 

[boiler7904]

When in doubt go bigger. Always gives more flexibility in the future.

4' modules are usually best (first even compromise between standard concrete forms, 16" stud spacing, 24" truss spacing, and 4 x 8 sheet goods).

I'd vote for one 18' wide x 8' or 10' tall door centered on the short wall. Have the dealer supply you with a jackshaft operator and high lift tracks. Other arrangements could cause clearance issues with the lift depending on how close it is to the door.

 

[Junkman]

One thing that I forgot to mention is the stud size. I would build with a minimum of 6" studs, and 8" studs would be better. This isn't for the strength so much as it is for the insulation factor. There is no way that energy costs are going down, so the more insulation that you can put in the walls and ceiling, the more energy efficient the building will be. I have 6" wall studs and if I had to do over, I would be using 8" studs to be able to stuff more insulation into the walls. In my home, I used 6" studs, filled the wall cavity with fiberglass insulation and put 2" blue Styrofoam board over that. At the time, it was "over kill".... today, it isn't enough!

 

[rlme36]

I already had 6" studs in the plans, but 8" could be done. I am all about overbuilding it I think along the lines of build it once, but twice as strong as I need. Thanks for the insight.

 

[rlme36]

When in doubt go bigger. Always gives more flexibility in the future.

4' modules are usually best (first even compromise between standard concrete forms, 16" stud spacing, 24" truss spacing, and 4 x 8 sheet goods).

I'd vote for one 18' wide x 8' or 10' tall door centered on the short wall. Have the dealer supply you with a jackshaft operator and high lift tracks. Other arrangements could cause clearance issues with the lift depending on how close it is to the door.

the single vs dual is where I am stuck. At the house with the DD garage, I like the ability to just open one bay for project work, just not sure which would be better. Kind of wish I was just redoing an existing, too many decsions that I'll have to live with.

rob

 

[Junkman]

I will try to make this one easy for you. A double door is 16' wide. A single door is usually 8', 9', or 10' wide. If you go with two 10' wide by 10' high doors, you have the best solution for moving cars in and out of the garage with the least amount of disturbance to the other bays. If you have a 16' wide door, then you have to swing toward the center to back out of the garage. If you happen to have something in the other bay that is particularly long, the it might have to be moved first to get the car out that is along side of it in the other bay. No such problem when you have a single door for each bay. Sure it is going to cost more, but in the end, the convenience is going to be worth it. Also, a 10' x 10' door is more symmetrical and doesn't look as big overall, since you have no way to get a visual dimensional relationship as you would with a 16' x 10' door.