Standard size for a garage?

[BooUrns!]

I'm in the development stage of building a garage with an apartment suite above it. I'm wondering what size garage would be suitable to cram a dodge ram 1500 and a bmw 325i inside. I know what the length of each vehicle is but I'm wrestling with the lot restrictions set down by the city overlays (12% coverage of lot = 672.5 sq.ft). The lot is 40' wide and I'm considering designing the garage entry doors on the side of the building. I'm not sure if this will leave me with enough driveway to make a turn into the garage bay safely. Currently I have drawn a 20'x20' garage bay with a 26'x10' side shop that will house the stairwell to the apt. suite and a workshop.
I frame houses for other builders and 20x20 seems to be the norm for almost every plan that has come to me. I'm just concerned that I might not be able to fit a newer truck inside the garage if and when I put a bullet in the current workhorse.

Suggestions?

 

[nissan_crawler]

I have a 22x24 and it's way too small.
with a work bench on one side, and shelving units/toolbox on the other, I can only get one vehicle in. Even at 24' deep, with about 3' of the back taken up, I can just BARELY get around the front of my Titan with the garage door down. Once you get the basic walls up, extra square footage is *relatively* cheap. I would go bigger. Even when I had nothing in there, I could just BARELY fit my small nissan pickup and eclipse in there, and still get both drivers doors open.

 

[Kevin54]

Frame eeper than wider. The norm was 24' then it dropped to 22' now it is down to 20' I think. This is on width due to cars were downsizing. Make it deeper and put in a false wall if need be, call that area partial living space, then pull the wall out later. I know the Dodge Rams are pretty good size, lengthwise you may be fine, but I would plan on a taller than standard 7' door if you ever plan on raising it any. On a 40' wide lot you will have problems with getting in and out without jockying around. At our old house our lot was long and narrow. I built a 22' x 36' garage and even with an S15 small truck I had to see-saw it in to get it straight into a bay. I think our lot was at 50'. I should have built it across the lot and backed in and out of the drive.

 

[oldgoat]

I built a 22 x 26 garage because that was the biggest I could get on my lot. For me it has worked out OK and I really like the extra length over a 24ft. A 22ft width would be the narrowist? I would go though. Also when thinking about having to make a turn into the garage you might be surprised how much room it takes. I'd stake out a rough outline of it and try driving into it and see what works the best.

 

[cardinal5150]

Is the ram an Ext Cab or Quad Cab? I'm guessing it's not given that you're only going 20' deep. My first garage was 20' deep and 24' wide, I couldn't close the door with my Ram inside, even with the nose touching the wall, I was still hanging outside. That was with the older Quad Cabs and a "short" bed.

So.. make yourself happy, don't go less than 25' deep. Allow yourself to change vehicles down the road if you want.

 

[D KRAGER]

I would love to see a 20 x 20 that has two cars parked in it...... I've never seen one, usually one car and a bunch of stuff, cause there is no room for benches or shelves.

20x20 is a one car garage in my book. (Two maybe compact cars)

24 deep should be deep enough for most trucks, but that's no workbench or anything on the front wall. I can get a 1 ton dually (regular cab) with 11' flat bed into a 24' deep garage, only about a foot to spare though.

That ***** that you have restrictions on how big it can be.......

 

[thefairlaneman]

Make it as big as you can afford as long as it isnt bigger than your house.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

20x20 is a one car garage in my book. (Two maybe compact cars)

A friend used to refer to this size garage as a "two Yugo garage".

Charles

 

[BooUrns!]

I spent the mornng being passed from one development tech to another from the city planner's office. Basically it comes down to site coverage. Site coverage in my zone (RF3) is typically 28% house and 12% garage. Considering the current house only takes up 10%, I think I'm going to take this to the development appeal board and ask for a 22x36 to be approved (door facing lane). This should only be around 15-16% of the site total and I don't plan on using more than 20% of the site for a future new house.

I knew the dodge wouldn't quite fit in the 20x20 bay as it is an extended cab It would have had to nose over into the shop. I'll probably be after a megacab dodge in the future so I suppose I better take the time to make sure I get a usable garage bay now. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[pinebarkauto]

Smaller garages are becoming the standard now. Builders try to save anywhere they can, just like any other business owner. Most people will get by OK with a 20 x 22 what with smaller cars, but for those of us that drive 3/4 ton extended cab pick-ups or SUVs, I like a 12 x 24 bay per vehicle.