Which orientation is your garage and why?

[TimTaylor75]

I’m seeing a number of (for example) 24 x 32 shops that are oriented in two different ways (32’ deep or 32’ wide). Which configuration is yours and why did you decide to lay it out that way? Any pictures would be great.

thanks, y’all

 

[QUIKSVT]

Mine is 32’ deep. Mostly because of placement on property. 10’ foot door on 24’ end. Definitely not ideal for storing/working on 2 trucks.

 

[finn]

I’m sure it doesn’t make sense to you in Florida, but gable end doors are preferable in snow county, meaning 32’ deep.

 

[BillK]

I think it really depends on how many cars if any you plan on having in the garage. My detached garage is a 24x24 and I only have one car in it all of the time. I wish it was deeper so if I had the 24x32 it would be 32 deep. But . . . . I did have two cars in it for a while and it was ok for just parking but if I wanted to work on one of them it was too tight. If I was going to have 2 cars in it all of the time I would have it 32 wide.

 

[niget2002]

32 long gives you more wall space for workbenches and tools.

32 wide tends to have multiple garage doors for getting more vehicles in/out.

My shop is 50 long, but I have a garage door on 3 of the sides. The previous owner did it. Personally, I wouldn't have put the door on the side, but it opens up to the pool like a party barn. It's come in handy. It does allow me to have 2 doors open for a good cross breeze without having to open the door facing the street.

 

[Yankeefarmer]

26’ deep by 48’ wide or long. Doors on 48’ side. Had to shoehorn it in between front property line and a 20’ cliff. One gable end faces side property line, other is close to wife’s prized maple tree from her childhood.

 

[gtae07]

My shop is 28 wide 24 deep. Doors (2x 8ft) are on the 28ft side because that's the only way I could do them while remaining within the prescriptive hurricane wind guide. If I'd put a door wider than (IIRC) 10ft or had less than X% of a wall be sheathing (and a panel had to be a certain minimum width to count) I had to get my plans stamped and also use some fancier structural framing like laminated beams and extra shear panels.

Not ideal, but kept the cost down.

 

[klassenl]

My shop is 36 wide and 26 deep. 2 garage doors. Well the shop is half and the short bus parks in the other half.

 

[Steve in UT]

In snow country, just make sure it faces south!!!

 

[Steve W.]

30' wide by 24' deep here. One 10' door just off-center on the 30' front.

NO cars or trucks in there, it's two wheels only.

Of course, sometimes the "two wheels" gets a bit carried away.





This was while they were paving the driveway.
It helps keep the crud off the rollers.

.

 

[jives]

My garage/shop/barn is 42 wide x 32 deep. Contrary to conventional wisdom for snow country, the garage doors are on the long eave side, not the short gable side. The reason for the configuration is twofold. First, the garage had to sit between the house, the septic, and the propane, and still allow access via the driveway. It would not have fit the other way. Second, It looks better in orientation to the house.

And. . .not facing south. Even though we are in snow country, most of the weather come from the south.

 

[Jackfre]

Here is your other orientation issue. I like the Sunseeker app.

 

[NUTTSGT]

It's attached to the house so it's 32' wide and 24' deep. 2 garage doors.

Knowing what I know now, it'd be 28' deep having a full sized pick up.

 

[Prospecter]

My 24x30 is 30' deep. More room for benches in front of the hood, and better for snow country, but tight working on the sides of vehicles. I agree with NUTTSGT on going 28'x32', only I'd go 28'wide instead of deep. I would do multiples of 4' next time.

 

[slow]

I would do 32 wide and 24 deep, but that would be a 2 car and a wide 1 car garage doors on the long side. no snow to worry about here in FL. If I could afford to go deeper, it would be at least 26 if not 28 deep for parking long pickup trucks with room to walk around. Somebody who does not own as many cars might be fine with a 24 wide for 2 cars and the back 12 feet for a workshop area.

 

[3rdgendslmech]

I went 32 deep with a 12' split slider. At the time I was working on a lot of crew cab trucks and trailers so I liked the extra front and back room.
There's been times when I wish I had shifted my building over more and had 2 smaller doors and a work area. Oh well...

 

[Hobby_Man22]

My garage/shop/barn is 42 wide x 32 deep. Contrary to conventional wisdom for snow country, the garage doors are on the long eave side, not the short gable side. The reason for the configuration is twofold. First, the garage had to sit between the house, the septic, and the propane, and still allow access via the driveway. It would not have fit the other way. Second, It looks better in orientation to the house.

I'm building a 50x60 and had them put 2 14ft wide doors and one 12ft wide door all on the 50ft gable side. Been pondering this myself if an extra 10 ft really matters. I kind of like the fact that it's deeper so I can unload a trailer inside the building and not have to pull it out. 50ft is still pretty wide anyways. Opinions? Also I believe on the long side the door openings need two feet of space on each side of the main I beam supports. On the gable side they arent in the way and can be like 12" apart.

 

[MFortie]

Mine's 60' W and 40' D. Two 14' H doors on the west long side and one 10' H door on the south end. Two 4' man doors on each end. The orientation made the most sense for the property and fortunately, the worst winds come from the N / NE, so none of the doors get the brunt of the wind. Which has blown 60+ MPH in the past...

 

[charbar]

40x72. Doors facing the south on the long wall. Door(s) on short wall would always end up with needing something on the opposite end of the doors and having to move **** to get it out for me.

 

[nadogail]

My Garage is 18' wide and 26' deep, it is on a city lot that is 25' wide and 140' deep. The width was determined by the requirement for a 3' setback from the property lines. The gable end car door opens to the alley, there is a man door on the other end of the garage.

 

[danfromsyr]

My garage is non-binary...

faces east to west and north to south..

 

[dcg9381]

I’m seeing a number of (for example) 24 x 32 shops that are oriented in two different ways (32’ deep or 32’ wide). Which configuration is yours and why did you decide to lay it out that way? Any pictures would be great.

thanks, y’all

40x60'. I laid it out that way because I wanted to be able to drive a truck towing a 5th wheel RV "through" the shop and keep them connected when in the shop.

 

[larry_g]

In this country to preferred opening is to the east. Our weather comes from all the other directions at different times. My building is a shop and not for garaging autos so that is a factor. The layout of the land was another factor that had to be contended with. So what I have here is really of no help to you there because I do not know the purpose for your building, your weather or your property layout. You can see what I did in my build thread below.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Jawn]

Mine's a 30x40, door on gable end. I would have opted for the other way 'round, but it would have turned into a much more expensive building.

 

[five-oh]

I went 24' deep by 30' wide, because I wanted two bay doors to be able to get both of my antique trucks in and out with ease. Oriented it with the doors facing west, primarily because that's the way it fit best on my property and looked "right" to me, facing the house. We will see next spring/summer whether it matters in regards to the weather.
The other reason I went with the 24' deep is I wanted to be able to drive behind the shop to access the rest of the back yard, and with a row of old crepe myrtles that are about 25-30' tall, it was the only way to do so.

 

[tarmy]

Access…lots of stuff to move in and out…

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

My garage is oriented North to South 24’ Deep, 32’ wide. 2 8’ garage doors mounted on the south. Man door on the East side. Only way it would sit on the lot. Works well as in the winter a north wind just hits the back of the building and allows for more natural light.

 

[Copymutt]

24x36. Two OH doors on the 24 face south. They get polycarbonate panels just outside the doors for the winter. Heat and light for free.

 

[tez929rr]

40x60'. I laid it out that way because I wanted to be able to drive a truck towing a 5th wheel RV "through" the shop and keep them connected when in the shop.

Same here. The doors are offset so I can pull smaller vehicles in and then turn them to park. My truck (F250 with 6 1/2 foot bed cannot make the turn completely but the others can.

 

[Magna86]

Not built yet but will be 30x38. One 10' door on front 30' face right in middle. So I can drive straight to the future lift and push car away against the walls.. back wall will be all shelving/tools/work bench. Eventually a bathroom tucked in front left corner. I prefer
More walls than doors

 

[Rc_Guy]

We built our house new in 2016, our garage is 40 feet wide and 48 feet deep, I wanted it deep enough to back our barbecue vending trailer in and keep it hooked up to our four-door three-quarter ton pick up.

Also, we for sure one of our garage doors on the gable end so the snow does not slide off the roof in front of the doors.

 

[jives]

North is top of photo, East is right side. Orientation puts the two buildings into an "L" shape which fits better in the property. The small barn in the lower left is also oriented as the house. Propane, septic, drop off to garden; all influenced orientation.

 

[jetnow1]

Mine is 24 wide, 30 deep. Lot is narrow, and I wanted storage on second floor but had to deal with height restriction of 15 foot at center of rafter (strange way to do it but that is what the town uses). I was able to put a 12/12 pitch on a 9 foot wall and just squeeze
by using some creative figuring, the town website shows the eves included in the rafter length. Faces north because the lot left me no choice, fortunately the garage doors are rarely opened in the winter. Garage is a work and storage space.

 

[aallison28]

24x36 with one 12' wide door on the 24 end. It is a workshop, not a daily parking so I don't mind the movement of cars to get stuff out. It does not happen often. It was the only way it would really fit in the yard. I wanted the sun to rise and set on the sides and not shine directly in the open doors in the heat of the day.

 

[555]

Plan A - I can fit a 24 x 24 at our house in Arkansas. The size is determined and limited by property lines, required setbacks and the fact that I don't want it to extend past the front of the house. Entry will be from the rear of the lot.
Plan B - Knock down the old house and build what we want on the oversized lot. I think Plan B will be cheaper and easier in the long run.
Plan C - Sell everything and move to Mexico. My favorite plan, but SWMBO is not a big fan of it.

 

[dante2]

24dx36w with 3 bay doors on the 36' side. It fit best this way with our property backing up to the alley. Future plan is to tear out pad in front and concrete in front of all doors.

 

[CJM8515]

1 16ft door in front due to the way it sits on the property. its 20x28. i bought the house with it. I think its the largest they could put there. i wish it was 3ft wider and attached to the house but beggars cant be choosers. Im almost positive the guy who built it didnt get a proper variance. one of the neighbors mentioned when he built it that no one ever asked them about it and then the guy admitted the old owner admitted to him that he signed off on everyone lol

if I had it my way Id have a 40x30. 1 10ft door and 1 16 ft door and id build it tall enough to put a lift in there and lift a fullsize pick up or van high enough to work under

 

[u2slow]

I had a square-footage restriction. Its an over-height double-deep... so I can kick the two vehicles out and still fit a big motorhome or boat.

 

[ndfastang]

I built my 30x48x11 with the 10x10 doors on the long side so I could use bays and have room to roll one or two to the side of the bays and work on them. You can see I have 3 cars in there in the one pic but I have room to turn the closest one and fit 2 in there side by side. That is, until I start hoarding **** and fill the place up.

 

[4x4Pete]

I built 32' wide x 30' deep 12'6" ceiling. 2 10x10 doors facing south on gable end, 1 36" wide man door east side (eaves) 3 windows 48wx36h, 2 on west eaves side, one on east eaves side 32' wide so that it's fairly easy to work on two cars or projects at the same time. Gable end doors because of snow and I prefer the doors not being in a load bearing wall. I've seen too many door lintels on the eaves side sag.