Workable 3 car garage sizes??

[short4stuff]

I am looking to build a 3 car garage that I can work in.
I am going to put a 2 post hoist in one bay.

I have a old firebird that I will be restoring, that will be a long term project,

I was thinking 32'x40' but I am starting to think the length is to short.

Just looking for anyone's opinion that has a 3 car garage/shop

 

[bazzateer]

Taking US garage sizes into account I was going to say 40x30 so you're about right.
Here in the UK a 30x20 would suffice!

However, I would build as big as you can afford and plan for future expansion, just in case.....

 

[SILVERPLATE]

I built a home this year and the garage is 25 x 42. Sounds big and it is. I little more depth would be nice.

 

[Kevkx125]

Which wall are you putting the garage doors in?

 

[short4stuff]

The 40' wall

I was thinking about 3 doors.

I want it to be big enough to be able to work on 3 cars at once, and abit of space on one end for the man door, compressor, welder and all the other shop tools.

 

[chevelleshop]

I built mine 30x40 with 3 8x10 doors on the 40' side and a man door on the short side. 32 or even 34 wide would be better but I make it work, during restoration one car takes up 2 bays anyways.

 

[K588]

I was using a 2 car 24x24 connected to the house had 2 jeeps in it. Built a 28 x40 2 story barn, 2 doors on 28' end 10.5' ceiling down stairs. Right now has all my tools and parts 1 jeep and my crew cab 8' bed chevy in one bay can barely squeeze between them. Other bay has a K5 blazer and a regular chevy truck cab. I constantly wish I had gone minimum 32' so 2' wider in each bay and minimum 48' long. Already planning a 16x24 addition off the back for a wood shop. I guess it depends on what your going to do in it and what your working on.

 

[NUTTSGT]

You might want to sit down with a ruler and some graph paper. Draw out the garage and layout you want then start adding the vehicles/tools/benches where you want them.


When all else fails, make it bigger.

 

[air cooled]

I am in the process of planning my garage as well.
I searched online for 'garage planner' and found one I like at:

http://www.fbibuildings.com/planning-tools/pole-barn-design-tool

It lets you place cars, trucks, machinery, etc into the barn drawing to help you visualize your layout.

I am not affiliated with them in any way and have actually found them a little difficult to deal with, but they are one of the three companies I was looking to get a price quote from.

Brian

 

[T_R]

24x36 minimum with the doors on the long wall. If you want a workbench in front of the cars or have a long pickup add a few feet to the short wall. So your 32x40 should be fine, but you may want to add a few feet to the long wall to give some space between the lift column and wall and other column and the car in the next bay. In that case 32x44 might be better.

One 16' door and one 8 or 9 can be better, you can get big stuff in and maneuver easier with the wide opening. I have a 2 car with 16' door and I like it because I never have to worry about hitting my pickup mirrors or folding them in.

 

[GAR64]

My garage is 36' wide x 30' deep. I have three 9' doors. Plenty wide for 3 cars. I actually put 4 wide in the winter. I have enough room for a bench in front but I still wish it was deep enough for two cars deep. I agree with everyone who says make it as big as possible.

 

[T_R]

My garage is 36' wide x 30' deep. I have three 9' doors. Plenty wide for 3 cars. I actually put 4 wide in the winter. I have enough room for a bench in front but I still wish it was deep enough for two cars deep. I agree with everyone who says make it as big as possible.

The average small car is about 16 feet. So about 34 or so deep you could get 2 deep in a bay.

I can get 2 small cars and a full size pickup in my 24x24 if I have to in the winter.

 

[egnorant]

28 X 38 2 car here. Having the extra 4 feet of depth would be a wonderful thing if you don't clutter the long wall with big items. You will need room for various parts to sit while you prep to put it back together. 3 cars plus tools and stuff for a restoration will fill up that space pretty fast.
Wish I had a 10 foot wide door too rather than 8 footers.

I knocked out a 1970 Mustang in 7 months. One of my biggest "I wish" items was room to work with the doors fully open without hassle.

Bruce

 

[Trey T]

WIDTH: a 40ft wide garage seems very comforable with a lot of elbow rooms

LENGTH (or DEPTH): Assume 20ft to occupy any car and 3ft-depth for your toolbox, you have about 10ft of work area b/t the car and toolbox. That's plenty of room, IMO.

 

[sberry]

Gar did a nice job of putting the doors in the right end. I see so many even in cold climes must have been planned on a warm sunny day.

 

[Voi]

The interior space of my three car attached is 38' x 25'. Actually just under 25'. I listed interior space since my walls are a combination of poured walls with a 2x4 wall interior wall spaced away from the concrete.

If your garage will be attached and you'll park your daily driver pay attention to how far the first overhead door is spaced away from the shared garage/house wall. Ours is like 18" away and it's too close. If I ever add on over our garage or just raise the roof I'll do something about that.

But honestly I'd live with that for more depth. I think you're on the right track with 40' x 32'.

 

[sberry]

My Bud had a 30X40 and it was a small 2 car garage. the doors were in the 30 end which was fine but it would have been workable for 2 at 36 wide. You don't need a door just for a long term project.
The problem was with 2 wide it was cramped really with nothing along the walls and a car door open. So much wast3ed sall space cause it was too narrow and with benches and tools along the front 40 was too short to go end to end.
I could do 36x44 with 2 doors in one end

 

[lynnbilodeau]

All good suggestions so far. But... think about this. If you are restoring a car on one end, the dust you create on a regular basis is going to end up on the "clean" car you aren't working on. You might consider two structures; an attached two car and a detached two car for actually doing work. If you can't make that work, think about a permanent wall down the middle so the clean stuff is isolated. Unless you are already over age 70 or so, this isn't likely going to be your last project.

I finished restoring my Z/28 in a 3 car garage. Never again.

 

[Higshemi]

I'm building a 30 x 30 2 car garage. 16x8 and a 10 x8 door. If I were to build a useable 3 car garage. I would have gone 40 x 40 with 3 10x8 doors.

 

[westray]

My garage is 40x34 with 3 10x8 doors on the 40ft side with a walk out door on the side. The size is good for work and just parking in. I have a mustang in bay and my f250 in another and wives suv in the other stall. With all that I have bout 8 foot of work room in front of my truck and 3 to 4ft between each car. I can easily walk around every and work on stuff without moving stuff.

The only thing I would of changed is and not really sure if it would matter is the length. Instead of 40ft I would go 44ft.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

I am trying to button mine up before winter. 36wx30d. 30 on the large bay and 28 on the smaller bay. This was as big sq ft as I could go with zoning (including my shed), as well as not looking silly next to the house. Large bay is 16x8 door, small is 10x8 door.

 

[atthebeach]

I have a 24' x 24' garage (16' garage door) with room for two cars and all the usual household stuff most people store in their garage. Along the back wall of the garage is a 10' x 8' high opening in the back wall that is the entrance to my 20' x 44' shop. My shop consists of two rooms that are 20' x 30' and 14' x 20'. The smaller room is mostly farm and garden equipment storage, and the larger room is where car maintenance and woodworking equipment/tools are located. All equipment is either bench mounted or on wheels to maximize floor space utilization. With equipment and benches along the walls there is room to have a car on a lift for months doing a restoration, but I would not want the 20' x 30' room to be any smaller.

A few points to keep in mind: No matter how big you build, you will eventually wish it was bigger. The amount of wall space you have is never enough. With 3 individual rooms for my garage and shop I have more wall space than if it was one big building. I have two 8' garage doors at the back end of my shop that facilitate moving equipment in and out; and feeding long work pieces into my table saw. Having garage doors at opposite ends of my garage/shop allows a nice breeze to flow through most days. If you are going to install a lift, don't forget to have adequate ceiling height and foundation for it.

 

[Sammgb]

We just built our current house. 3-car is 21x31 and for cars like my MG's or Vette, it's plenty big. For my Buick or my Navigator it's a tight fit. If it's just a car garage and you've got other places for things like lawn mowers and snow, blowers, you could get by with that, but you'll always wish you'd gone bigger.

 

[frank001]

I am looking to build a 3 car garage that I can work in.
I am going to put a 2 post hoist in one bay.

I have a old firebird that I will be restoring, that will be a long term project,

I was thinking 32'x40' but I am starting to think the length is to short.

Just looking for anyone's opinion that has a 3 car garage/shop

I built mine 40'x24' with 3 10'x10' doors and a separate entrance door on the 24' wall. Works well for me without feeling crowded.


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284998&highlight=frank001

 

[Responder]

I have a 32' X 42' with three doors on the 42' side. I like the fact that you can open a door and still be able to walk past it. Crew cab truck with a bench at the front still allows you to do bench work without tagging a vehicle.

I started restoring my Jeep in the garage and as mentioned, it will get very dusty!

 

[Jon_E]

I planned mine to be 28x40 but site constraints squeezed it down to 24x36. Not ideal but workable. Definitely wouldn't go smaller. I also have a 16x20 "shed" which is really a small garage, I just use it for storage so I will have plenty of room in the garage. The garage will only ever have one vehicle regularly parked in it (wife's car) and I will use that bay for repairs on my truck or tractor. The rest is wood shop, so the need to fit a vehicle in wasn't a major factor. I also have a full second floor for materials and parts storage.

 

[Cdn2usa]

That is the size I been planning to go with, doors on the 40' side. The roof will have a 10/ 12 pitch, with 2/3rds attic and 1/3 vaulted (where the lift will live). The garage door on the vaulted side will follow the ceiling. Just not sure where to place the stairs and I want a bit of closed storage for chemicals, paints, etc..
Where do you live ?

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Mine was going to be a 28x56, but money and size constraints dropped it to 24x48. It is considered 4 car. My double door is on the short side, single door halfway down the long side. Works for me. I put my truck up against far right wall through double door, and put my daily driver next to it sometimes, especially in winter. Side roll-up is for ATV and Tractor. Garage is full from final move, so I always stress to everybody to get as big as they possibly can. Unfortunately, this was as big as I could go.

 

[andersen24]

Below are some pics of my garage that was 30' x 40'. Granted it is a garage, but it should give you an idea about space when you have vehicles in there. Now if all it is going to be is for working on vehicles and stuff like that, you should be fine. But if you are going to use it as storage as well, I would go bigger. At my new place, I now have a standard garage and have a 30' x 40' metal shop. I thought it would be plenty big, but I also needed to use part of it as storage, so I built a mezzanine on top, over part of it. I am now contemplating selling that, repouring a bigger pad and putting a 40' x 60' up. Like I said though, if you aren't going to be using it for storage also, you should be fine.....

When I did work in that garage I had the vehicle in one bay, seemed like parts and stuff filled the second bay and then tools in the third........bigger is always better!

1200 garage with 8' doors.


With full-size truck parked I had about 3' in front of the truck and with the cabinets in the back about 10' behind it.


Overall

 

[Cdn2usa]

Below are some pics of my garage that was 30' x 40'. Granted it is a garage, but it should give you an idea about space when you have vehicles in there. Now if all it is going to be is for working on vehicles and stuff like that, you should be fine. But if you are going to use it as storage as well, I would go bigger. At my new place, I now have a standard garage and have a 30' x 40' metal shop. I thought it would be plenty big, but I also needed to use part of it as storage, so I built a mezzanine on top, over part of it. I am now contemplating selling that, repouring a bigger pad and putting a 40' x 60' up. Like I said though, if you aren't going to be using it for storage also, you should be fine.....

When I did work in that garage I had the vehicle in one bay, seemed like parts and stuff filled the second bay and then tools in the third........bigger is always better!

1200 garage with 8' doors.


With full-size truck parked I had about 3' in front of the truck and with the cabinets in the back about 10' behind it.


Overall

That is a fine looking garage

 

[Fredro Starr]

1200 garage with 8' doors.

That's purty.

What is on the floor?

 

[Andy Kraus]

I just built a 24x36x12 with 2 12' wide by 10 high garage doors on the 36 side. Plenty for what I mainly work on (Jeeps, rally cars, and the occasional full size truck) My layout is one true working bay and the other 2 for parking. I will put a long term car project on rollers and set it in the middle bay so I can easily pull in and out of the other two bays. My Shop is not near completion yet because it's only been up for a few weeks. But like others have mentioned I drew mine on paper about 100 times over the past 3 years and took in account all my zoning restrictions I had to follow.

 

[R68GTO]

I built a 3 bay garage and decided to go with 14 foot bays (42 foot wide). My main reason was that I did not want to worry about opening my full size truck door into my workbench on the outside walls every time I got out. Ditto for my restored GTO. I went with 3 9 foot wide doors across the gable end. Center bay has a 14 foot ceiling for my 4 post lift. I walled off the LH bay as a clean room/bar area for entertaining, etc. I keep my GTO in there to protect it from **** created when I'm working on the "shop side". I went 36 foot deep which gave me room for a full bath along the back wall of the clean bay (convenient to get rid of the beer that was drunk). In the center bay along the back wall, I framed in my compressor room that also contains my hot water heater, furnace, and water filtration system for my house. Part of the center bay and all of the RH bay are the full 36 foot deep. I will eventually get to framing in a closet for all the garden tools in the RH corner.
All in all, I would never make my bays narrower than 14 foot. The 36 foot depth works pretty good, another 4-6 feet would be better, but I had property limitations.

 

[XS29L9B]

The 40' wall

I was thinking about 3 doors.

I want it to be big enough to be able to work on 3 cars at once, and abit of space on one end for the man door, compressor, welder and all the other shop tools.

Use 9' wide doors., min.

 

[larry4406]

My former shop was 28' deep. I could park my F350 crew cab long box in it and still walk around it completely. My trusses were clear span so I did not any any columns to bang doors into.

More than enough room for a project car to be on a rotissorie as well.

I had two 9x9 doors and one 18x9 door. Was 28x58