What is everyone's preference: OH doors on Gable or Eave wall?

[Shoester]

I'm going to be building a 40x64x16 hobby garage, and wondering if there's a sensical reason for one vs the other. I will be having a lot of tractors/skidsteers/ag/construction equipment in and out of the shop for repair work, as well as lots of woodworking and general tinkering. I love the idea of having a pull-through stall, but not sure how often I'd really use it and don't necessarily want that dictating my layout. Anyway, what's everyone have for preference on door location?

Edit* - These are the two building orientation's I am considering (proposed building is the green box):

Building running East to West, doors on Gable End:

Building running North to South, doors on Eave sides:

 

[TurnipTruck]

Doors always go in gable walls in snow country.

I wouldn’t want rain splashing at the base of a garage door, either.

 

[txvwnut]

If I get to build another building I'm putting the doors on the eave wall that way I can have dedicated bays for work and won't have to play tetris to get something in out.

 

[The Bean]

Might consider how the tracks interface with framing. Joists or trusses?

 

[Renegade1LI]

There's really no right or wrong answer, depends what you're doing, with 16' side walls you'll never have a problem. Good point about the snow if that's a concern, but if it's paved, plow it.

 

[housewolf]

I think in 20/20 hindsight, I would put my door on the eave wall instead of gable. I may could have gotten by having a lift and 10’ walls in lieu of 12’, but don’t tell my wife. Frankly, I never thought about it until later. My 12’ shop does block a little of my view of the lake from the upstairs deck

 

[finn]

There's really no right or wrong answer, depends what you're doing, with 16' side walls you'll never have a problem. Good point about the snow if that's a concern, but if it's paved, plow it.

********.

Last spring the snow slid off my 16’ eaves and took out the two lower panels of my 14’ tall overhead door. Looking around at other , similar eave entry doors, I saw several with similar damage, ie crease malarkey a little off center, the full height of the lower two panels.

I ordered a couple of reinforcing ribs from my local OH door shop, and asked him how common this type damage was. His response: let me guess. You have an eave entry door. “. He said he gets several reports annually, and stocks the lightweight hat channels. Unfortunately he was already out of the 14 footers, so we had to order new stock.

The hat channels made the door functional again, but the creases remain.

Also, my other garage has eave entry too. There are times in the spring when an 11000 lb F450 can’t scrape the wet, heavy snow that slid off the roof from in front of the door. The truck either bounces off and slides, or pushes the snow towards the building, endangering the siding or door.

The front snowblower on the 40 hp tractor does it, if you take small bites, or else it’s time to break out the ctl and scoop it away.

The doors on the front and back wall of the shop have gable entry, and snow removal is simple.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

You can’t always choose. The location of the building on the property relative to other topological factors plays a role. I have two buildings with the OH doors on eave walls because of required setbacks and the slope of my property. My attached garage has doors on the gable wall because that’s how the driveway best approached the house.

@finn does the building where you suffered the door damage have a metal roof? I don’t think I‘ve seen large snow falls from roofs on buildings around here with asphalt shingles.

 

[finn]

You can’t always choose. The location of the building on the property relative to other topological factors plays a role. I have two buildings with the OH doors on eave walls because of required setbacks and the slope of my property. My attached garage has doors on the gable wall because that’s how the driveway best approached the house.

@finn does the building where you suffered the door damage have a metal roof? I don’t think I‘ve seen large snow falls from roofs on buildings around here with asphalt shingles.

Yes, both have metal roofs.

I posted this a few days ago, in the snow guard discussion, but the owner if the garage door company I was speaking to ripped off his eave entry metal roof and replaced it with an asphalt shingle roof. He didn’t want to deal with potential customer injuries from sliding snow.

Problem with doing the asphalt shingles is that he may have to send someone up there to shovel the snow off. That’s a real problem here, and sort of a cottage industry among young, able bodied guys. Some even claim to be insured.

This also reminds me of the snow that slid off the roof of the local muffler shop with eave side doors . The snow smashed the windshield of my brother’s car. The muffler shop had the windshield replaced. This happened maybe ten years ago.

I did see that they installed snow guards last summer.

 

[MFortie]

Both? I have two eave doors (12’x14’) and one gable (10’x12’). But then again, we get very little snow…

 

[NUTTSGT]

For me, it would depend on your building layout/OH door placement and how it's laid out from the house.

 

[-Stew-]

Entirely dependent on the size and layout of the building and the land it's on.

The more important factor in my mind is the ability to put an overhang with a rain gutter above the door.

 

[jonshonda]

Gable due to material costs (header can be smaller) and flood light mounting.

 

[jack stand]

********.

Last spring the snow slid off my 16’ eaves and took out the two lower panels of my 14’ tall overhead door. Looking around at other , similar eave entry doors, I saw several with similar damage, ie crease malarkey a little off center, the full height of the lower two panels.

I ordered a couple of reinforcing ribs from my local OH door shop, and asked him how common this type damage was. His response: let me guess. You have an eave entry door. “. He said he gets several reports annually, and stocks the lightweight hat channels. Unfortunately he was already out of the 14 footers, so we had to order new stock.

The hat channels made the door functional again, but the creases remain.

Also, my other garage has eave entry too. There are times in the spring when an 11000 lb F450 can’t scrape the wet, heavy snow that slid off the roof from in front of the door. The truck either bounces off and slides, or pushes the snow towards the building, endangering the siding or door.

The front snowblower on the 40 hp tractor does it, if you take small bites, or else it’s time to break out the ctl and scoop it away.

The doors on the front and back wall of the shop have gable entry, and snow removal is simple.

This is one of the benefits of deep overhangs.
I've got about 17' to the ground at the metal roof edge and an effective overhang of around 29". The snow has never hit the door.
Now I've creased a panel clearing up the snow a day or two after cleaning up the storm when it comes off the roof with the SS pushing the snow against the door just a little too much, but you'll only do that once.
Obviously in snow country a gable end is preferable for the doors, but not always the best use of the space and you just deal with it for a couple of months out of the year.
Pick your poison.

 

[Bert_]

I have doors on the eve side. Snow always slides off after you already scooped the driveway. Ice melts off the roof and freezes on the ground in a hump in front of the doors.

 

[HPRifleman]

If you look at my avatar, you can see I have both. Until I saw this thread I didn't think it even mattered.

 

[racecougar]

With the OP's location (KC), snow really isn't much of a factor. We do not get multiple feet of snow down here, at least not at all often. My preference is the eave side, for much the same reason as txvwnut mentioned above (you don't have to play tetris to get vehicles in/out).

 

[Snip]

40x66 here with a 12x66 lean to. I did both, one 12x12 door on the south gable and a 10x10 on the west eve wall (faces away from the road) that opens to the lean to area. The posts were 8' oc except where the 10x10 went in. One reason I went this way was that I could have both doors open and hopefully not have a wind tunnel effect that might happen if I did both doors on the gable ends. I did however have the contractor frame the wall opposite the 10x10 so I could easily add the door later and make a drive thru. Snow here is minimal, rain is plenty.

 

[CraigStu]

In typical stick built w/ trusses construction, one advantage of gable end doors is you don't need nearly as strong header over the door.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I have had this discussion in my head for the last few years, still planning my shop here.

I have a design done with both and will likely go with the eve edge design, as it gives me the availability for more doors and as someone already mentioned ability for dedicated bays for work areas.

I grew up with tool sheds and gable end doors and what you were working on was always in the wrong spot and everything had to be moved around to access.

That being said MI/OH line so snow totals are minimal and I plan to have at least 24" overhangs.

 

[Hal]

Sixty years plowing snow, so I think I can speak to this.

Snow country, what kind of drugs are people using? Doors under the eve will be a permanent pain in the *** to everybody involved. Your snowplow guy will hate you, or punch out the door trying to get too close. The snow will not slide off the roof until he leaves, then he will have to come back/charge you again, or you will have to shovel it . If you get little bitty storms in warmer weather, the snow will melt, run off and freeze in front of the door, or run under and freeze the door down, if the garage is not heated.

Best of both worlds is to have at least one "winter door" under the gable, and do what you want the rest of the year.

 

[racecougar]

Again, the OP is in KC. It isn't "snow country".

 

[Renegade1LI]

I have a place in the Adirondacks, garage has a gable door and eve door, really no problem with either. This is our second winter and cleaning by each door has not been an issue, maybe we haven’t had enough snow yet.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Meh, I opted for both, as I really didn't have much choice, considering the driveway location. Vehicles go in gable end, implements come out one eave wall. Works for me. Driveway is about 400 feet long, so snow removal is done with ATV and plow. So far no issues in 10 or so years.

 

[finn]

Sixty years plowing snow, so I think I can speak to this.

Snow country, what kind of drugs are people using? Doors under the eve will be a permanent pain in the *** to everybody involved. Your snowplow guy will hate you, or punch out the door trying to get too close. The snow will not slide off the roof until he leaves, then he will have to come back/charge you again, or you will have to shovel it . If you get little bitty storms in warmer weather, the snow will melt, run off and freeze in front of the door, or run under and freeze the door down, if the garage is not heated.

Best of both worlds is to have at least one "winter door" under the gable, and do what you want the rest of the year.

This guy gets it.

 

[racecougar]

This guy gets it.

You guys are in a completely different climate. Doors on the eave side of a building and short overhangs don't work well way up there, and we don't build igloos down here.

 

[Pluribus]

All else being equal, I prefer gable end. Really, it depends on how one is going to use the shop.

Structurally, it will likely be cheaper, since the headers won't carry as much load. (Moot point if it's a construction type that won't carry any trusses/rafters over OH doors on side.) Depending on what you do for an apron, you may get by without gutters too. OP isn't in snow country, but I would hesitate to have eave side entrances for primary access even with a couple of snows a year where I am. Usually gable walls are shorter which gives longer depths to allow vehicles with connected trailers to park inside. A downside is that you generally have less wall for doors. If you have multiple things you need to get in & out, then doors on eave side might be better.

Can always orient gable towards driveway for primary access, then have a smaller door or two on the eave side.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Both? I have two eave doors (12’x14’) and one gable (10’x12’). But then again, we get very little snow…

I was thinking in the same lines. With only two choices- it's a 50/50 guess/chance either way you go. Exterior climate maybe an extenuating circumstance, but wouldn't the interior layout/function be the more important circumstance as to the placement of doors?