58Mike

I'm getting ready to draw up plans for my new garage. My plan is to put my 2-post lift in there (11 feet outer width) and buy an additional 4-post lift. After my car is done (:lol:), I want to avoid lifting it with the 2-poster because the frame does flex somewhat. I'm so lazy, for waxing or oil changing, I just gotta have a lift, so I figure the 4-post would be the way to go. How wide are those?

I'm thinking that allowing a ten foot width for each car would be sufficient for comfortable working space. Then I start thinking 12 feet, but that could waste a lot of garage space. What do you guys think? The depth will be about 20 feet. Sound sufficient? For height, I'm thinking 12 feet. Too much or too little? Any other advice before I hand my plans to the architect? Thanks!

- Mike Greene

pittsaj

Sounds great...
If you have the room you can never go wrong by going bigger ;)

Leave a little room fo me :D

Tony

9t6t7

Mike, My garage is 24x24x9'2". If I could do it over it would be 30x30x12. 12' width for each car leaves not much room when you open the doors. Ceiling height is important, more is better. Depth depends on layout of what you put on the back wall. I will send you a picture of my 24x24 garage. Good luck. Dick

Ih2lose

Bigger is always better I am limited by my space for building my garage.mine will end up being 22 deep x 23 wide My original plans were for 24x25 but was turned down by the planning board so I am going smaller and mine is considered a oversized one car garage.my hieght to the peek is only 12'6" its small but it better then what I have now

John McGraw

I think that 12' per bay is the minimum, especially if you are using lifts. Most of the 4 post lifts are right at 9'wide, and you need to work around the car The depth I think, should be no less than 24' if you plan on working on the car. In order to put the car up high enough to stand under it while on the lift, the ceiling will need to be 11' minimum. Don't forget that most of the 4 post lifts will not roll out a 7' overhead door, so plan on a 8' high door, and make sure that it has a high lift kit on it that will ensure that it will go up within 4" of the ceiling or you will not be able to raise the door while the car is all the way up!

Both my garages have 18'x8' high main doors,and they don't cost much more than 16'x7' doors, but make it much easier to manuver cars. I made the mistake of putting an 8' wide door on the 3rd bay of each garage and now can not get the lift out that door. This is the bay that I use for storage, so I have to empty the other side and roll the lift over to the other side and then out the big door, what a pain in the butt! I wish I could take that decision back!
Bigger is always better and I would increase the 28' depth to probably 30' if I had it to do over.
:seeya

John McGraw

Ed,
If I ever move further out where architectural control is not an issue like where I am now, I will plan on building one like that! I have my heart set on about a 50'x100'.
:seeya

Jimbo64

Mike, Best garage I ever had and I built it was 30 x 50. I had three bays and room for a nice shop with an outside access door. I used 9 ft doors, 8 feet hign.
Also used roof trusses so there were no posts in the whole structure. Had floor drains and a 200 amp electrical service so welders etc were no prob. Would have had a floor pit except for the limestone vein that ran through it but with the lifts you have, you won't need that. Unfortunately, I sold the house and I sure miss that garage. I also built a chimney so it could be heated here in the Pa. winters. :steering: :cheers:

gary6696

Mine is 22'x32' inside dimensions. I could probably store four cars in there, but since I am working on two, only three total fit. Of course, I have a big work bench and a lot tools and junk. Wish I had gone bigger.

Plasticman

Mike,

Old axiom says that you never have enough space (nature abhors a vacuum). Our garage is 31' wide (3 bay, so 10'+ per bay), and 2 bays are 23' deep, and 3rd bay is 35' deep with a beam across at 23' for lifting engines etc. Hgt. is only 9'+ high, so can't do a lift, although I have a Kwik Lift type home made clone. Garage holds 4 vehicles easily (one in storage in the back of the 3rd bay). One problem is, like I said, never enough room and still have to store one vehicle elsewhere, and daughter's Buick sits outside. Too many vehicles! Note that we have pulled the motor on our 23' boat (on the trailer) in that 3rd bay a couple of times, plus scores of other vehicles.

I want to say the 10'+ per bay is OK, but I would go to 12' next time. Depth is alright at 23' plus the deep bay at 35', but definately go higher for a full lift. Note that my workshop is not in the garage, it is via double doors in back of the 2nd bay and is a room 13' X 15' in the house. This way, I don't need to heat or A/C the garage if I am working just in the workshop, but have instant access to it if working in the garage. Garage does have the welders/air comp./parts cleaning station/paint booth/ and metal storage racks, and has heat and A/C . Parts storage is in the 1/2 of the basement below the workshop (including 5 engines), that is via a gas spring loaded hatch in the workshop floor. We rig up an "A" hoist over the hatch to lift up the heavy stuff (takes about an hour to set up and lift with an electric hoist and break back down).

Only real area where I messed up in the design was the 9' wide doors. Ever try to back up a 6 deg. hill, through 9' doors with a boat trailer that was 8'6" wide? Real fun, and I did that once recently by myself! Lot's of inch up, get out check, inch up or down, etc. Won't have that problem anymore, we sold the boat!

Good luck with your design and construction!


[Modified by Plasticman, 12:08 AM 1/9/2003]

GTs 58

Mike,

I'm sure you want something that is going to do the job and be in the budget.
Like everyone has said, 24'x24' is the min. and 12' high is plenty. A full size truck is 17' to 18' long bmper to bumper and I use this for a reference. I laugh at the new homes that have a GDamn 20' to 21' deep garage with a water heater right in the way. $300K homes and you can't get a slammed SUV in your garage. If your not sold on an electric door opener I would use the commercial roll up doors vs the house type door. This will give you the full use of the lift without all the rails and the open door being in your way. Just make sure the doors are a min. of 9' wide. Nine foot doors are usually at a premium, a ten footer is more common and usually priced the same as a nine. My Z06 has to go thru my 8' door reeeeal slow so I don't smash one of the Dumbo ear mirrors, so forget about any 8' doors. :D

:cheers: ..Gary

Mel Foye

I will address the height topic Mike. Unless you want to be a hunch back you need to get enough room to stand up straight and have your head clear the lowest parts of the car. And not just by a couple of fractions. Add to that the height of your tallest car with the hood up and you see the total needed is getting up there. I like the hood open as more light but you could leave it down and save some room. In our quake country I would not like to park another car under the hoist. Don't forget to add in area needed for cabinets. DEC is in your area I think and has some real sturdy metal shelves and work benches. Do like the Sears low cabinets with the galvanized metal tops. And plenty of lights and outlets. And the air compressor. Whoops went beyond just the height. E-mail me if you want to see some other ideas that were in a different forum.

Mac

I've yet to hear someone complain about building their garage too large. Ever.

Someone mentioned how many newer houses have garages which, because of their lack of depth, are useless if you have a larger vehicle (ie: sport-ute). 58Mike, you mentioned 20' depth- well, that's what these newer houses are. 20' might be fine for parking small cars but that's about the extent of their usefulness.

One of the reasons I bought the house I have now is the garage (22' wide x 32' deep- attached). Part of the space is lost to a stairwell (dang!) but it's still big enough to park three- one being my Dodge extended cab 4X4 diesel. If I'm working on a car (usually the case) then it's only good for two. I may build a detached garage in the future so this one can be parking only, but the mortgage has to go away first. :nonod:

ATyson

What kind of space is wasted in a garage? It would be nice to be able to walk around the cars and not have to worry about scratching something. Where my 67 is parked I can't open the drivers door all the way. I can't expand it and it is under my living room. I have a 7'6" ceiling.
It will be more pleasurable to work in. The one thing you don't want to do 2 years from now is say " I should have built it bigger. Really plan it out how the cars are to be, where are the tools? Telephone, TV, air lines, lighting, heating. I helped plan my friends garage and it turned out beautiful.

Tom/99

My garage is 40' X 22'. The 22' length is to short. Your 12' height should be good.

kyosho

My atttached garage is 35' wide, 28' deep, and 10'6" ceilings.

My detached is 32' wide x 24' with 10' ceilings, and the one garage I have in the basement is 14' wide and 24' deep. This is a nice one car size.

This is too small. :cry The depth is important. You want to be able to be able to park the car and walk around it.

If I did it again, I would have made it 32' deep, and 45' wide.

396 RAT

12' sounds like a good height.
I would leave one bay larger than the rest for the car getting the major work, then 10' for cars in storage (or not being worked)
I would leave a portion of the ceiling open, full 12', then add storage over the
other 1/2, 3/4. I have no room here for more than the existing 2 car detached garage. 22' x 24':nopity
But at least its all mine! 18 years of marriage and our daily drivers have never seen the inside of a garage. (including 4 new cars):jester
I have had to sell cool cars for lack of storage...... But have managed to save
my favorite one!
What a neat position to be in! Go big! Have fun!
Have seen million dollar homes sell with only a car port! or one car garage!
I would even consider a pit under one of the stalls! Why not?
Man! The possibilities? Its mind bending! :crazy:
Enjoy the dilemma! :cheers:
PS. Don't forget to think out the plumbing, air lines in the walls (or ceiling), cable, phone, stereo system, spot for refrigerator, as well as other niceties in the office portion. Lighting too should receive some thought, windows? skylights?
Its overwhelming! :yesnod:


[Modified by 396 RAT, 10:31 AM 1/9/2003]

JohnZ

I'd say 24' is minimum depth - you want to leave enough room at the front for benches, cabinets, stools, etc.; mine is 46'x60', so that's not an issue. One thing to consider is the "step" area at the front; most builders only pour this 36" deep, which is only deep enough for your bench and an area to stand on, and you're constantly stepping up and down, no room for a stool either. I had mine poured 54" deep, so there's plenty of room for benches, stools, and I can move back and forth across the bench area without stepping up and down every time - see pic below:



:cheers:

58Mike

Hoo-Boy! You guys are telling me exactly what I DIDN'T want to hear! Couldn't at least one of you have said, "20 feet deep is plenty!" Or "10 feet wide per car will be pure luxury!" :lol: Well, it looks like it's back to the drawing board!

But I have a few limiting factors. One is obviously money. Another is: since this is commercial property, I have to maintain a certain number of parking spaces. I'll have to see what I can get away with. And third: unlike a house, if we ever sell this studio, a nice garage won't be much of a selling point. But then, I don't plan to sell in the near future.

I think I can swing a 24' depth. I have to see what that does to my costs, because then I can't use 2"x6"s for the roof. I think they max out at 22', but maybe not. I've never priced trusses before.

Thanks for a lot of great input! Besides size, there are a lot of great suggestions. I hadn't considered plumbing for the air compressor. And skylights will be a must. I've got a lot of thinking to do! :yesnod:

- Mike Greene

GTs 58

Mike,

Are you planning on a flat roof? If you are and you don't use trusses then you should use 2x12's. Here in Az. we can get by with 2x12's on 24" centers spanning 22' with and a min. slope of 1/4" per foot and 1/2" osb or ply on top. Available dimension lumber only goes up to 24' in length with a premium on anything over 20'. I would use trusses on a flat or pitched roof, but that's my preference. I believe a 20' span 5/12 truss with 2x4 chords are only about $25 each.

Have fun with the decisions. :lol:

Gary

JohnZ

Must be nice not having to design for 30" of snow load - I had to do a 12/12 pitch for snow load, and with 46' clear span across the short dimension, you oughta SEE those trusses! Oh, well, the price of living in the frozen north :cry