Talk to me what Garage Size!

[JeremiahTRD]

Lifts are generally cheaper, though. You have to be building really, really on the cheap to get your square foot cost down below what an equivalent lift costs.

My neighbor up the road has a 4 post lift. In his words it takes up to much floor space and is generally a nuisance to deal with. first world problems for sure haha In reality a garage deep enough for back to back cars with a 4 post lift when i run out of room will probably be in my future.

 

[ace10]

We chose a dark blue paint and it matches our posteel barn so we cant really do a color change at this point. We get full southern sun exposure on the back and side of our house. I swear it looks chalky and fades within 5 years. I built an addittion on my house in 2016 and the back and side walls already need another coat. the north and west walls look fine. Drives me crazy. Maybe it's the paint we use? I use a toptier valspar product from lowes. But I think its the color. Its almost a navy.

We've got varies beige shades on Hardieplank and Boral Truexterior trim. Southern and Western exposures. Zero shade. No issues with Ben Moore Regal (upper mid grade). I think it struggles a bit in the few places we have PVC, though.

Your color is probably not helping.

My oldest Hardie went on in 2008. Still looks very good. So good that it's not even on my radar.

 

[JeremiahTRD]

The brand of 2 post you choose may impact the wall heigth so you should check what the manufactures recommend for ceiling heigth, if you can do scissor trusses on top of 12 foot walls with the lift in the middle you should be fine.

Yes I haven't really looked to far into lifts. but I definetly should be. Gotta figure out where I need to thicken the slab as well.

 

[JeremiahTRD]

We've got varies beige shades on Hardieplank and Boral Truexterior trim. Southern and Western exposures. Zero shade. No issues with Ben Moore Regal (upper mid grade). I think it struggles a bit in the few places we have PVC, though.

Your color is probably not helping.

My oldest Hardie went on in 2008. Still looks very good. So good that it's not even on my radar.

Well I'll try it next time around! obviously this brand isn't doing a very good job.

 

[BruceMc]

My neighbor up the road has a 4 post lift. In his words it takes up to much floor space and is generally a nuisance to deal with. first world problems for sure haha In reality a garage deep enough for back to back cars with a 4 post lift when i run out of room will probably be in my future.

If you figure your typical car at 6'x16', with a 2' buffer all around, you're talking 200 ft^2. Depending on what your building cost is, even at say $25/ft^2 that parking space costs $5k to build.

 

[dcg9381]

I will be overseeing the project. I'm a licensed general contractor. My budget isn't really a concern but I don't want to waste money on taller ceilings or bigger garage doors if not needed. My boat has a fold down tower that will fit in a 9 foot door. So 10 foot doors should be good. I don't foresee having an RV or a larger boat. Maybe a car hauler in the future? It's great to hear from you guys. everyone has good points and future planning is always a great thing.

I'm not going to talk you into spending money on stuff you don't need. My only other point would be "resale". In general, shops are not dollar for dollar value adds, but I've also seen a nice shop be the differentiating factor in a home sale. Your boat alone, a higher door means not taking down the tower (assuming you're not doing that anyway, which might be the wrong assumption). Car hauler - dunno what the height is typically on those, but thrown an RV AC unit on it, and I'll be 10' might be an issue.

I have a truck camper now, I'll bet it's somewhere between 10-12' high. We built our shop for a 5th wheel though.

What about resale? A big shop with 10' doors would be a no-go for me. Doesn't matter if you'll be keeping it for the next 20 years though - you do what you need.

Do watch the lift thing - people here can give you better advice than I can. My neighbor has a lift and I know that one big factor was being able to "drive under" it with substantial height clearance... IE - if yours sits lower than 10', it might limit parking the boat, not that you don't have another space for that.

Last thing I'll say is that roll up doors ****. They rattle like ****, seal poorly, etc. Get panel doors.

 

[JeremiahTRD]

If you figure your typical car at 6'x16', with a 2' buffer all around, you're talking 200 ft^2. Depending on what your building cost is, even at say $25/ft^2 that parking space costs $5k to build.

Your right much cheaper to do a 4 post.

 

[JeremiahTRD]

I'm not going to talk you into spending money on stuff you don't need. My only other point would be "resale". In general, shops are not dollar for dollar value adds, but I've also seen a nice shop be the differentiating factor in a home sale. Your boat alone, a higher door means not taking down the tower (assuming you're not doing that anyway, which might be the wrong assumption). Car hauler - dunno what the height is typically on those, but thrown an RV AC unit on it, and I'll be 10' might be an issue.

I have a truck camper now, I'll bet it's somewhere between 10-12' high. We built our shop for a 5th wheel though.

What about resale? A big shop with 10' doors would be a no-go for me. Doesn't matter if you'll be keeping it for the next 20 years though - you do what you need.

Do watch the lift thing - people here can give you better advice than I can. My neighbor has a lift and I know that one big factor was being able to "drive under" it with substantial height clearance... IE - if yours sits lower than 10', it might limit parking the boat, not that you don't have another space for that.

Last thing I'll say is that roll up doors ****. They rattle like ****, seal poorly, etc. Get panel doors.

Resale isn't really a concern. At least not in my lifetime. We live on a family farm.

You do bring up a good point. I could use the 2 post lift as an extra vehicle storage. Although I don't really want to do that, as it would mean i'm not working on a vehicle which is what I hope to do frequently.

Boat tower does have to fold down to fit. but It's a once a year affair. Boat goes into the garage in the fall and comes out in the spring. But if I had to do it every time I used the boat you better believe I would get taller doors!

no roll up doors. They should be outlawed! no way to insulate them and just flat terrible all the way around.

 

[N969DP]

To me 50’ deep is ideal for a daily driver in the front and a project in the back with enough room to actually work on it. I went as big as I could at 27’ wide by 42’ deep and while it does just barely fit 2 trucks bumper to bumper or have room for a project in the back it’s still not ideal size. If you only plan to park a car in there 30’ works, but add any general auto work and 4’-6’ more really helps.

 

[rayra]

Bigger. The Answer is always Bigger.

 

[Steve in UT]

I have a 10' wide and a 12' and all I can say is my flat bed trailer is awfully tight backing into the 10'.

 

[Juiced06GTO]

Go 12' wide doors if you can, it makes getting the trailer in and out way easier, 10' is doable, but not as easy if you have to come in at any kind of angle.

 

[Worsedog]

no roll up doors. They should be outlawed! no way to insulate them and just flat terrible all the way around.

Since you mentioned resale is not an issue and a flexible budget, you may want to have a second look at good commercial roll ups. We have them on three bays on our new building. They are insulted, 2" ish thick and completely enclosed on the top to keep out the undesirable stuff. That said, inexpensive was not a bullet point on the sales literature. Additionally you don't have to do tricks if need/want adequate lighting with door open.

 

[Sumboodie]

Remember, no one ever wishes they had built a smaller garage. 40' will let you go two vehicles deep or accommodate a good-sized 5th wheel or motor home.

Well, maybe when the heat bill Comes

 

[Blackbyrd]

I worked on cars out of a 18 x 36 that's really good depth and space to move around a car. Adequate space for workshop stuff like benches toolchests, large tools a d equipment. My dad would prefer longenough to back his Truck a d bass boat in and never have to unhook if he didn't want to too and still close the doors. Just depends on what you want to do with the space, do you just store them or do you work on them

 

[SmackinHondas]

Last thing I'll say is that roll up doors ****. They rattle like ****, seal poorly, etc. Get panel doors.

Oh man definitely agree… I got “2500 series” (whatever the hell that means) roll up doors and they rattle like crazy… it’s got me stuffing folded up cardboard between the door and the tracks. I would have went with panel door and high tracks.

look at good commercial roll ups. We have them on three bays on our new building. They are insulted, 2" ish thick and completely enclosed on the top to keep out the undesirable stuff.

Is there a company/brand you’re talking about or just in general?

 

[npp]

A garage can never be too big. I wish I had gone bigger.

 

[ddawg16]

Last thing I'll say is that roll up doors ****. They rattle like ****, seal poorly, etc. Get panel doors.

Not mine.....at least not now.

I did 2 things...

1. Insulated them. Made a huge difference. Bought these foam sheets off Amazon...they have one side with plastic so they are easily wiped down. The insulation also does wonders for dust control
2. Jack shaft door opener. So much quieter.


And just like our peckers......never big enough

 

[dcg9381]

Can you link to what foam you used? As these "roll up" - adding foam changes the diameter of the door roll a bit. How did you adhere the foam?

Our "rattle" (flex) in their tracks. As there is a little room on each side of the track, when the wind blows, the whole door rattles. Not a little bit...

 

[Worsedog]

Oh man definitely agree… I got “2500 series” (whatever the hell that means) roll up doors and they rattle like crazy… it’s got me stuffing folded up cardboard between the door and the tracks. I would have went with panel door and high tracks.


Is there a company/brand you’re talking about or just in general?

I'll see if I can find a manufacturer. If not I'll try for at least a pic or two. The only time they make any noise is when they are moving and they're not obnoxious.

 

[cannuck]

That biggest vehicle I currently own is a toyota tundra. minivan, sports cars, a small tractor. but a diesel dually 1 ton in the future might be nice lol

A one ton dually will come in around the 9,000 lb. mark with a deck, hitches, etc. - a bit less with a pickup box but well over what the average (7k) lift will handle. I have and work on a lot of class 3, 4 & 5 trucks, so managed to find a slightly used 12k Mohawk for that purpose. Not the cheap solution but a permanent one. Also, we have a 7k rotary in a shop that was "accidentally" built with 12' walls (i.e. the deal was done before my buddy asked me what height we needed) meant only for small cars. Working under that is an incredible PITA. 14' is enough for a fairly low car but I suggest you consider 16 for a truck what can fit through your 10' door at a minimum. Of course, if you are doing scissors trusses to get a center high bay, you have some numbers to target.

 

[ddawg16]

Can you link to what foam you used? As these "roll up" - adding foam changes the diameter of the door roll a bit. How did you adhere the foam?

Our "rattle" (flex) in their tracks. As there is a little room on each side of the track, when the wind blows, the whole door rattles. Not a little bit...

Oh, that kind of roll up door? Mine is the sectional traditional roll up

 

[rburke65]

40’ is a nice round number!

 

[rwilly]

Mine will be 28’ deep outside measurements.
That gives me 27’deep inside. My crew cab/longbox is 22’ bumper to bumper.
It will be enough, and should leave me enough room to walk around.
I’m going with 10’ walls. I’m just a hobbyist/ junk collector and I don’t feel I need a lift.
We discussed going with attic trusses but they cost too much and I know I would just fill it up with ****.

 

[dcg9381]

Oh, that kind of roll up door? Mine is the sectional traditional roll up

Sectional doors are great. This is what I have (the rattle trap):

 

[vrinner]

I did a 40X60X20 thinking that bigger is always better. Now that I've been finally able to use it a bit more, I have realized that having so much space just lead me to put my stuff all over the place and it's just a big disorganized mess. I find that the tool or thing that I need is often on the opposite side of the garage. And my mezzanine hasn't even been touched yet, just storing some misc junk up there.

Now I'm back at the drawing board to now make my shop more organized. I'm leaning towards making the 20X40 section under my mezzanine my main shop/working area and then leave the 40X40 area for car storage. If I need more space to build something big I can always park a car outside or move it to my house garage if long term. So my advice is first plan the space and what you are going to do then second, just make it as big as you can.

 

[RVDan]

As big as you can afford, as everyone says.

since I work on motorhomes for a living, if I were able to build something of that size, I’d want 14 foot tall doors to fit the tallest motorhomes or trailers.

 

[ZRX61]

As you're limited to 54' width, I'd go 60ft on the depth... maybe 70'

 

[Sumboodie]

My neighbor up the road has a 4 post lift. In his words it takes up to much floor space and is generally a nuisance to deal with. first world problems for sure haha In reality a garage deep enough for back to back cars with a 4 post lift when i run out of room will probably be in my future.

One of my friends is a mechanic, runs his own place.

Doesn't have any lifts. Prefers to work without.

 

[JeremiahTRD]

As you're limited to 54' width, I'd go 60ft on the depth... maybe 70'

Why not 100' hahahahah