What size garage do I need?

[hyfire]

Hello guys,

I am looking at building a steel garage. I need it to house about 10 old & big 1950's cars with extra room for a work bay + machine area....

What size do you guys think I need?

Thanks for your input!

Best Regards,
Josh

 

[rickairmedic]

Josh no matter how big you go once its done and your moved in you will wish you went twice as big so the better question would be how big can I go for what I have available to spend .

Rick

 

[autoist]

Lawn is only a place where no garage has been planted!

You can't have enough garage! Especially with big American iron...

 

[rsanter]

80x100 I would say, unless you can fit bigger where you are and then I would say go bigger

bob

 

[zrxrider]

Hope you have lots of land and money! Your going to need one huge building thats for sure.

 

[tfi racing]

It all depends on your available land area, local zoning regulations,then your budget.Once you know those parameters,then its time to pick what size and style you will be building.

 

[rburke65]

I'll vote for the 80'x100' also.

 

[35mastr]

If you have the room.Go 100x100 and that should cover it and then some.

Have place for the cars and a killer area for a machine shop.

 

[uniongoon]

You will also want divided areas. When you are milling, grinding etc. it is nice to not have to worry about throwing covers over everything.
There are so many "trailer queen" garages on here, I know mine gets plenty dirty and I wish I had a separate room for messy work, like woodwork or rust grinding where airbourne particles get into every nook and cranny.

 

[offroader1971]

Very important.always determine the size garage you think you will need and then multiply by three.

 

[skeletonizer]

Here is how I made my decision.

I fought with the zoning board until they would not budge any more on height and footprint and then build it just a little bit bigger than that.

The other posters are right. Is it ever really big enough? Just like estimating time to complete a job: Figure out how long it should take, then triple it.

 

[bluesman2a]

At a certain width, things become prohibitively expensive or you need to start putting up center posts.

For that many you will need a LARGE garage, but I would suggest making it a long building with a number of bays to pull in/out. say 30 X 120 or 40 X 150.

This also sets you up nicely for future expansion. If you need more space later, it's no big deal to add more "frames" onto either end of the structure. However if you anticipate growth, place the original footprint accordingly.

Oh, and like they all said, build it at least 2-3 times bigger than you think you will need. If a normal vehicle takes a bay to house, a disassembled/project vehicle will take 3 while you are working on it.

 

[sberry]

Mine is 80x80 and the only reason I would have went to 100 long was to give more space along the walls. I really have enough floor space and being bigger would have meant more walking and more heat.

 

[ddrewyor]

If you cannot put up a really large building due to zoning, or limited property to build on, you can always go with storage lifts to put the cars on. Store 10cars in the space of 5. However, my guess is that it is cheaper to have floor space than racks. Otherwise, go with the largest you can reasonably afford.
Section off the vehicles and have an area just for the nasty\dirty jobs as several other members have posted. I have a dust collector that vents to the outside and that has kept my garage relatively dust free and it doubles as an exhaust ventilator when I run my vehicles in the closed garage or weld. Sawdust really gums up the ways on metalworking equipment. Good luck and post when you get started.

Dave

 

[ddawg16]

My first thought was "It's never big enough"

Ok...lets consider the minimum....the average car is going to need about 8' of width and about 20' of length to allow for enough comfort space to get around them.

If we assume that you are going to put cars in one behind the other...then you would need a minimum of 40' x 40 just to store the cars. Throw in one work bay...say 15' x 20' and another 15' x 20' for machine shop......you are up to about 65' x 40'. That is your minimum....

So, all the advice from above is in the ball park.

As noted above....going wider starts to drive up the cost....I would think that staying at 50' or less in width would keep it reasonable....

Hence, 45-50' in width and say 80' or longer would make for a very nice garage....

 

[carsounds_dan]

^ that man talks the truth ^

 

[twostory]

However, my guess is that it is cheaper to have floor space than racks. (i.e. storage lifts)

Four post lift cost $2,500. times five(5) = $12,500.

If I could add a five car garage for $12,500. I would consider that very cheap.

 

[Matti]

I would have the cars parked on either side with a center drive thru lane. You could angle park them. I would allow 60 to 70 feet for the width based on this. For length, if you have 5 cars on each side plus 2 bays empty for working area, that would be 12' x 7'= 84 feet. This would be an absolute min. in my mind. So you've got 60'x 100' or 80' x 100'. The best thing to do is sketch a layout and play with it. Make it to scale as well as separate cut-outs of the cars and the work areas, storage, benches, shop equipment, etc.

 

[Truxx1956]

Lawn is only a place where no garage has been planted!

You can't have enough garage! Especially with big American iron...

Crying............... Thats the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.