I am contemplating building a two car garage on a small lot with a very large 100 year old Georgian styled house (over 5200 sq ft) in a historic preservation district. I only want to remove one tree on the property to construct the driveway. My question concerns the minimum recommended size structure to contain two small to medium sized cars. We do not have any plans to purchase large automobiles or SUVS and are not really concerned about resale value. We are very concerned about the design and want to keep the preservation groups from turning this into a project that will cost several times more than I plan to spend. I plan to sub out the footings and concrete slab and will do the remaining work myself. Any size suggestions?
Thanks,
Stan
Replies
I would say enough space on each side to open the doors without hitting the wall, enough space between the cars to open the doors on either one without hitting the other, but not necessarily both at the same time, and at least 30" front and back. You can get by with less on the sides, but in my experience it's a real pain not to be able to open the doors all the way.
Dimensions for any car you can name are available on the web.
Edited 3/23/2004 10:13 pm ET by Uncle Dunc
Stan,
There are a lot of garages out there which are only twenty by twenty or even nineteen by nineteen . They are highly impractical though even for a couple of small cars. casr doors banging against the wall or one another etc. not enough room to walk around and so forth
the smallest I would go is twenty by twenty two.
twenty four square is better
my three cents
the size isn't as important as making the architectural style of the building fit in with the original structure
you should use similar style to what ever you have now (I am talking about the house) which will probably dictate going with a higher than normal pitch on the roof and maybe using a special garage door to achieve a "period " look
plan to spend more than you would on a comparably sized " run of the mill garage"
If you do it right and put some thought into it then it will look " like it grew there"
good luck
Mark
While you may not be too concerened about resale, whatever size you choose, put tall garage doors in, say 8ft tall. People hate to, or don't, buy a house with garage where they have to park their SUV's out front.
Stan,
I'm in agreement with Mark. I'd say 24' square is a minimum, yet functional, space. You can indeed go smaller...but in a garage those few extra feet will make a world of difference.
Stan,
I'll assume that you own something like a small MG or Mini Cooper.. With cars of that size and if all you ever want to do is store those size cars in that garage you could get by with something as small as 16 deep x 18 wide..
The reason for the width is garage doors.. You won't need that width but garage doors don't come smaller sized unless you have custom doors made. and the cost of custom doors will astonish you..
If you are prepared to make your own doors and don't need overhead doors you could get by with as small as 16 x16
It may be pretty hard but think ahead,, at sometime will you or your wife ever want to do any pottery work or set up a shop in the garage? Do you like to collect antiques or save things? Do you plan on keeping a mower or any kind of power equipment in the garage? Please add the room now
One final point.. Make your garage in multiples of 4 That gives you the most for the least.
8 feet wide uses one sheet of plywood 16 feet wide uses two feet. however if you go to 18 feet you wind up cutting a sheet in two and throwing those extra two feet away..
"If you are prepared to make your own doors and don't need overhead doors you could get by with as small as 16 x16"
I've never made garage doors. I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult. What are some of the things a person should be concerned about? How are they typically finished?
thanks,
sam
park your 2 cars side by side with the drivers doors fully opened so as it doesn't hit the other figure 24" min on the passenger side and see what you end up with... if you are look'n for the smallest that will work... I'd think of 20ft wide as a min... that will get you 2 8ft doors ... I like depth in a garage brings the front of the garage closer to the house and gives you less grass to cut behind it... even 30ft would be ok... u could have a great area in the extra 10ft for whatever... it's getting pretty common around here to finish out the interior of the garages (stamped or scored & stained floors are common) and pull'n the cars out and use'n em for "out door" gathering places for parties ect... what i have encouraged a few peole to do is go for 9ft or 10ft sidewalls and a high pitched roof...gives you a ton more storage at a pretty low price per sf... pretty easy to "dress up" a garage... arched door openings... a little trim ect...
good luck... i never had a garage that a car ever seemed to get in... but a heck of a concept
started out with nothing.... and have most of it left
pony
30 x 30
"My life is my practice"
Looking good Andy,
With all that space, why are the vans are still outside? LOL
Jon
Edited 3/24/2004 10:18 am ET by WorkshopJon
Edited 3/24/2004 10:19 am ET by WorkshopJon
Edited 3/24/2004 10:19 am ET by WorkshopJon
Andy - the place is looking good. Long Island getting some snow I see?
How's the rest of the house coming?
SJKnow a little about alot and alot about little.
Steve
Thanks. Its going great (the building part). One obstacle after the other though now between me moving the garage doors to the front rather than the side.
The historic society is seriously now on my azz as of today.......tween that and the driveway issue..ughhhhhhh.
Why do people constantly need to throw obstacles in ones way rather than help when you try and do the right thing?
Cause thats life I reckon.
BE well steve
andy
"My life is my practice"
Stan,
on this subject( garage size) you will have to take most of what these folks tell you with a "grain of salt"
by and large these guys never saw a toy,tool, or lawn tractor they didn't want to own.
I will tell you what I did---so you can keep it in perspective.
about 6 years ago I replaced a 1 car garage with a 2 car garage. My lot is fairly small----I think 40 ft. wide by 120ft. deep.------the new garage is 24ft. wide by 28 ft. deep. 8 ft. overhead door.
I park a full size truck in it with ladder racks-----and either a minivan or a small suv.( the suv is smaller than the minivan BTW). I run my business as a roofing contractor primarily from less than 1/2 of that garage. By our standards the garage is cavernous,huge,luxurious---------excessive room all around.
I seriously doubt that you are going to need 24 ft. in width----especially if we are talking about a detached garage.------I doubt you would need 24' feet in depth either. you mentioned a small lot in a historic district ----so your lawn and garden equipment requirements are probably minimal. I am guessing about 20x22 would work well for you---but park your cars side by side and measure door swings etc.---allow a skosh more and you will get a pretty good idea.
Remember----with an attached garage you would probably pull inside----all the doors will open and every one piles out of the car and goes straight into the house.
with a detached garage you don't need quite so much room inside--------usually what I see is that the driver backs the car out every one piles in and off ya go--------or the driver drops people off by the house while the automatic garage door is opening---and then pulls the car into the garage.
I would try to match the roof pitch to the house---or to surrounding houses. you may have some zoning issues to deal with regaurding the size footprint your garage can occupy relative to the size of house you own and your actual lot size. you may also have a height restriction to contend with which may restrict your ability to use as steep a roof pitch as you want.
BTW----if I was building my garage today----I would probably build one 22ft wide by 24 ft. deep----quite a bit smaller than the 24x28 foot one I had built 6 years ago.
"by and large these guys never saw a toy,tool, or lawn tractor they didn't want to own"Now I'm sure that's not true, it's an addiction, and I really do need another sander, and that new model table saw looks real nice......
Garage size:Width: (running with the car doors) enough room so that you can run cabinets down the length of one wall, plus the width of the cars, plus whatever you need to open the car doors. This will leave enough room to walk around the vehicles with your arms full of groceries, or child, or the new tool you needed, without banging the cars up.
Length: (or depth depending on how your looking at it) length of the longest car, plus 3 feet behind the car to the garage door, plus 3 feet at the front of the car to the wall, plus 3 feet because someday, someone, might want to put a bike or a lawnmower or a workbench in and this would be a nice spot, and it would still leave room to walk. Again this will leave enough room to walk around the vehicles without banging the cars up. Also some storage room, maybe some shelves.Adam Bramblet
Shazlett & Others:
Thank you for the advice. I am trying to keep the garage small for several reasons:
1. I don't want to damage the root system of a huge oak tree that is healthy and I don't want to remove any other trees that I can save.
2. My lot does not have alley frontage, but my property line begins at the street curb. I will have to get permission from the city to cut the curb and parking is a major problem in my neighborhood.
Thanks Again Guys
Stan
Stan,
Sounds like my situation last year. My referb house needed a new garage after I subdivided and demo'ed the old one. I have a 9' wide drive to the back yard. The lot is only 50' wide so I opt'ed for the smallest functional garage. I choose a 20'X20'. I increased the width of the drive to the full 20' wide infront of the garage to the back of the house about 30' for a turn around, works for my corolla but not the panel van.
When constructing build the right side with a 1' side wall. Assuming one passenger in this car, can swing their car door open. The left side should have a 3' deep side wall. This is using a standard 16' door. (A 17' would be better) I built the walls @ 9' and put the door header under the top plate, and installed windows above the standard 7' high door. This gives the option, next owner, to easily increase the door hieght. Some mention in the past notes of tall SUV's parked outside.
This size just works, but as everone has pointed out, if you have toys or garden/yard equipment. You won't have room. One option is to go 24' deep and put a service door (3-0) on the back.
I too had to remove a tree for my drive. Make sure you hire an experience excavator to remove the root and compaction in layers.
Good luck,
Stan,
I thought of a few other things for you to keep in mind.
find out what minimum setbacks are required regaurding the property lines( side and rear)
those are gonna affect exactly where on the lot you can locate the garage.
I mention this because-------after I had my garage built about 6 years ago----I ended up doing a lot of work as a subcontractor for the garage builder who actually put up the garage. that garage builder specialized in garages----built nothing else but garages----and the company did anywhere from about 60-100 garages a year------so I was on A LOT of garages for them.
several times I saw garages built that were positioned so that it was ALWAYS going to be a dailey battle to swing the car over to get in the far side stall-------If in fact it could EVER be manuevered.
specifically----imagine a single width driveway on a tight lot running down the left side of a house. once past the house you need to flare the driveway out to at least double width to access the right hand side of the garage. If the garage is too close to the house you are never gonna be able to make that swing---especially if a vehicle is already in the left hand side of the garage. And it is always gonna be tense backing out of the right hand side in that situation---trying to avoid hitting the house. I saw several garages built where one side was gonna be virtually inaccesible.
On a tight lot---adding extra space at the rear of the garage,combined with a setback may push the front of the garage too close to the house for comfort.
BTW---with both vehicles in my garage there seems to be ACRES of space left on the far right side . I could have EASILY lopped 2 ft. off the width of my 24ft. wide and had plenty of storage space.
also BTW---I would avoid 2 single overhead doors and go with 1 double----and I would spend a little money to try to make the garage overhangs/soffit details compatible with the house.
Stan,
I think the size of your garage is inconsequential. You need a garage big enough to function properly and that is easily defensible (probably 24 x 24 or so). How you make that structure fit with the rest of the environment is really the issue. I think if you present a plan that harmonizes well with the surrounding buildings and landscape, you will be able to build just about any size garage.
Rob Kress
I'm with the guys who say 24 X 24 is a good minimum.
You can get by with less - Even 20 X 20. But what about other things you might want to keep in there? Like rakes and shovels, lawn mowers, etc. You need some space on the sides for that stuff.
For my birthday I got a humidifier and a dehumidifier. I put them in the same room and watch them fight it out.
"I plan to sub out the footings and concrete slab and will do the remaining work myself. Any size suggestions?"
Stan,
Why do you need footings? Since you seem concerned about harm to that adjacent oak, go with a monolithic slap, which is usually allowed for smaller detached garages.
Jon
WorkshopJon:
I am not familar with the term monolithic slab. Does this mean a rebar reinforced 4 or 6 inch thick slab. My backyard is slightly elevated above the adjacent concrete sidewalk (approx. 15 inches). I planned to build a concrete wall around the slab about 24" in height and to start the framing work on top of this wall. Are you saying that this wall can rest on the slab instead of a concrete footing?
Thanks,
Stan
With a monolithic slab, the footings and slab are all one piece.
From JLC-Online construction dictionary:
"Also called mono-pour, it means "one-pour". A MONOLITHIC POUR includes the FOOTINGS, FOUNDATION, and floor slab. They are all formed and then poured at the same time. REBAR is installed either before or during the placement of the wet CONCRETE at the same positions it is found in other types of foundation/floor system construction where multiple pours are used."
from an inspection website:
"Slab-on-grade foundation is used when the structure is built directly on the ground. Monolithic slab-on-grade foundations require a wide base and steel reinforcement. A floating slab is a reinforced slab placed between two walls and footings."
also see:
http://www.denvergov.org/admin/template3/forms/Advisory%20Slab.pdf%201%2029%2004.pdf
"I am not familar with the term monolithic slab. Does this mean a rebar reinforced 4 or 6 inch thick slab. My backyard is slightly elevated above the adjacent concrete sidewalk"
Stan,
CaseyR did a good job coming up with a definition of what one is for you.
Yes they can be placed into a sloping [grade] area. Here are 2 pics of mine. 24'x26'wide by 40' long 4' diagonal grade.
Jon
donald j berg aia has an excellent site
his address is po box 698
rockville center ny 11571
very nice colonial designs his # is 1-800-887-2833
but please try & find his site first no sense making it cost him if you dont intend to purchase palns form him
Stan,
Also, At least here in SE Wisconsin (It gets cold here in the winter) footings need to go down 40" minimum, a monolithic slab only 8". Cheaper and less harm to surrounding vegetation.
Jon