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Minnie Me Garage

| Posted in General Discussion on March 12, 2003 12:58pm

I own an older house with a “2 car” detached garage.  I use quotes because the garage is only 18 feet deep front to back so I can only fit a compact car in there.  The truck stays outside.  I’ve been contemplating adding on another 6 feet or so to make the garage deeper (front to back) but I think the hip roof will make the addition a real bear (I don’t want it to look like an abortion after the addition). 

I had another thought.  The garage is about 23 feet wide and I could conceivably rearrange the garage door so that the garage loads from the side.  If I did that, the garage would be 23 feet deep and 18 feet wide (I know, tricky math).  In an ideal world, it’s still a little small but I’m trying to figure out an economical solution.  Any ideas out there?  Which option is better?  Thanks in advance. 

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  1. johnhardy | Mar 12, 2003 01:08am | #1

    You don't talk about the configuration of the driveway or the access you have to the "side" which could become the "front".

    To me, even if this would work, you'll have to reserve a tremendous amount of turn-around space for the cars, and this will need paving. Not cheap by any means.

    What's wrong with putting the addition in and rebuilding the roof so it's 6 feet longer and you simply move the hip portion 6 feet farther along the roof? Is there something I'm not getting?

    John

    1. stonebm | Mar 13, 2003 08:12pm | #4

      I agree that John's suggestion can be done and maybe that's what I have to do.  I'm not a framing contractor or anything but it looks like that approach would require reframing nearly all of the roof.  This hip roof has about 6 feet of ridge that runs parallel to the front of the garage.  If I added on to the back of the garage, I think I'd end up with a flat area in the center of the roof, unless I used a flatter pitch on the back half of the garage.  It's confusing to explain but apparent in person.  I guess I didn't expect any radical new ideas from anyone but thought I'd throw it out there anyway.  Thanks all for the input.

      As to the one reply questioning the dimension of the truck, it's only an S-10 and it's about 205 inches long, leaving me a whopping 11 inches to spare.  A little tight for me.  I need room to walk in front or behind unless I want to slide across the hood "Bo and Luke Duke" style.  There's a lot of trucks out there way longer than an S-10.  If yours is 7.5 feet wide, I'd bet it's a fair bit longer than you think.

      1. johnhardy | Mar 13, 2003 08:54pm | #5

        My original suggestion assumed (wrongly) that the ridge ran front to back. since it runs side to side, if you expand backwards you'll have a weird roof unless you basically reframe the entire roof. In that case, it may make more sense to put on a gabled roof and you could run the ridge either front to back or side to side.

        Or, (and I'm having a hard time visualizing this) you could reframe the back side to be a section of roof that has its own hip and a ridge that is perpendicular to the current ridge. That leaves more than half of the current roof in place.

        John

        Edited 3/13/2003 2:01:04 PM ET by johnhardy

  2. pm22 | Mar 12, 2003 04:52am | #2

    Stone Beam -- or is it Stone Bum -- or Stone BM?,

    My vehicle is 18 1/2' long and I'm sure it is longer than most peoples'. [7.5' wide and 10.5' tall and 4 tons.] But the floor is covered with three feet of stuff because I have no place else to put it. I disdain those who have a garage and then waste all that good storage/ shop space on stupid cars. Cars are waterproof, don't ya know?

    Perhaps you could get a house mover to help you rotate your garage 90º. But I don't see how most vehicles can't fit into 18'.

    ~Peter

    The Cubit = God's personal dimension = 19.2".

  3. MarkH128 | Mar 12, 2003 12:52pm | #3

    I've seen a lot of little shed type warts put on the back of garages for the nose of a vehicle to poke into. Sometimes about 3-4 foot extensions will be enough. This is common in older neighborhoods.

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