Attached GARAGE (homeowner) thoughts

[milkman636]

Well, The question in the title kind of sums it up! Lets dig deeper.....

Say you have a full size truck and regardless if you live in the country or suburbia, your truck seems tight in your garage! I am looking for those folks who have trucks that manage to park in the garage! What size door will fit that 3500 chevy, or the 350 ford? I know that situations change when you own a dual rear wheel truck. However, it seems that garages are shrinking and trucks can't fit in there. What are your thoughts, suggestions? Do you live in a house that you gotta park it outside, or were forced to build a barn/shop to park your vehicle? I am thinking that (9' overhead and 8' wide "will fit" a full size truck? Is this too small....Or?


Pic is for reference:

10’ wide x 9’ high work well for my truck and 3500 van. 10’ wide is also the minimum to allow my boat and utility trailer to back in with some clearance, and there are times that I park them in the garage for different purposes.

 

[drajj5]

Thank you all for your replies! I am amazed that folks would even park an electric vehicle in a garage and attempt to charge them... Most of us had NI-Cad chargers in the 80's and they would warm up using the charger from Radio Shack. The garage is attached and will contain (pre-1980) vehicles, young folks call them Antiques; I call them "easy to work on"! Thanks for posting pictures of your truck in a garage and disclosing the size of the door. In GA (gated communities) seem to all have spec houses and attached garages. Most can't get a truck inside - or use the space as storage instead.

 

[Rockbadchild]

As many pointed out insurance don’t like attached garage and if you are planning to get a welder in there, forget it. To me attached garage end up being a man cave and a shed plus the wife is too close so you end up building a real garage further back.

 

[bdhsfz6]

When I built my house in 1979, vehicles were getting smaller due to higher gas prices. I had just traded my full size Chevy pickup for a mid size S10. Thinking they would be adequate, I installed 8' x 8' doors on the attached garage, and very soon regretted it.

Vehicles got bigger again, and within 5 years, I was back to driving a full size pickup. Although the truck would fit through the 8' wide doors, the mirrors had to be folded to do it. This was before remote folding mirrors were an option, and it had to be done manually. Big pain in the neck.

Although I was able to get full size vehicles through an 8' door, my wife & kids had a lot of trouble. Lots of scrapes and broken mirrors over the years.

Lesson learned. Now, I wouldn't consider anything narrower than 10'.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I put a 16 foot door in my shop; I love it. Can get two cars in easy (after I move my planer, joiner, radial arm saw, mower and band saw.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Around here most 2 car garages have 1 big door. Mine on the house is 18x7 tall. 7' tall is the standard... I have 18x10 tall on my shop. No problems at all.

 

[WinterDeere]

I have two attached, three detached, and even one off-site. Guess which vehicles get used almost 100% of the time? The ones in the attached garage, out of sheer convenience.

That said, if building my own house, I’d just have 6 garage bays all detached. A breezeway would be nice, but is also a connection to the main house over which fire can travel.

I have doors ranging from 7 feet to 10 feet wide, all 7’ high. The pickup truck fits thru the 8 ft wide doors, but with less than an inch spare to the mirrors on each side. It works when needed, but not a great option for daily use. 9ft or wider would be fine for most trucks, and my 10 ft wide door works well for trailers.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I have two attached, three detached, and even one off-site. Guess which vehicles get used almost 100% of the time? The ones in the attached garage, out of sheer convenience.

That said, if building my own house, I’d just have 6 garage bays all detached. A breezeway would be nice, but is also a connection to the main house over which fire can travel.

I have doors ranging from 7 feet to 10 feet wide, all 7’ high. The pickup truck fits thru the 8 ft wide doors, but with less than an inch spare to the mirrors on each side. It works when needed, but not a great option for daily use. 9ft or wider would be fine for most trucks, and my 10 ft wide door works well for trailers.

You are a engineer right ? I guess that's what I should've done for a living...

 

[ruffdog]

Just because you don't own and EV, doesn't mean you are all right with parking in an attached garage.
I read a few stories a while back about Ford having sensors on the brake master cylinder that would cause a vehicle fire.

...and now they have vehicles that have cracked fuel injectors that leak fuel and could cause fires (don't park in garage).

My garage has 9 ft wide doors that are 7 ft tall. The truck with tow mirrors fits no problem.

 

[Paddy]

Well, The question in the title kind of sums it up! Lets dig deeper.....

Say you have a full size truck and regardless if you live in the country or suburbia, your truck seems tight in your garage! I am looking for those folks who have trucks that manage to park in the garage! What size door will fit that 3500 chevy, or the 350 ford? I know that situations change when you own a dual rear wheel truck. However, it seems that garages are shrinking and trucks can't fit in there. What are your thoughts, suggestions? Do you live in a house that you gotta park it outside, or were forced to build a barn/shop to park your vehicle? I am thinking that (9' overhead and 8' wide "will fit" a full size truck? Is this too small....Or?


Pic is for reference:

Our garage has a 16 ft and a 10 ft wide doors. truck is parked in the 16 ft bay!

It's not just how wide doors are, you also have "stuff". Our layout is

end wall/5 foot space/10 ft door/ 3 ft space/16 ft door/3 ft space/end wall. All 24 ft deep

It is attached to house at the kitchen door for easy unloading. Fire protection; house has sprinkler system, garage separated from house by 8 inch poured ICF concrete wall.

we park a Subaru and a Tahoe in it. lots of room

 

[KennyG]

Detached garages, etc. make a lot of sense. However, in our area the zoning is very restrictive on added structures. My 2000 square foot pole barn is actually non-conforming on my 4 acres but is grandfathered in. A friend of mine had to design a covered walkway to his pole barn to get it permitted. However, he never got around to finishing the walkway.

 

[WinterDeere]

You are a engineer right ? I guess that's what I should've done for a living...

Yes, engineer, but with a few coincidental factors that allow us to afford more than expected. Not that we're living in a palace, but I will admit we have more than most.

Living in a region where pay is above average, and working in an industry where pay is higher than the average even for the region, and then buying a house in a township where housing and land cost is below average for the region, all adds up. We have also been lucky on timing and mortgage rates, both with regard to this house and the prior, although some planning went into making that luck for ourselves.

Oh, and on the garage thing... I take back what I said about having only a 6-car detached, if I were to build my own. If I were single, that'd surely be the way to go for me, but my wife likes the security of the attached garage. On the rare occasion I travel for business, she likes pulling into the garage and having the door close behind her, without having to walk outside.

I definitely agree with "no EV's in attached garage" for now, though. Hopefully that tech will get to a place where it's even safer than ICE's, as ICE's also catch fire in garages today. But for now, I don't think I'd be comfortable with any 2024 EV charging in my attached garage, while I sleep.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Also plan where you will have your workbench, and plan your length in consequence, lots of folks have their workbench at the end of the garage (in front of the door) and once your truck is in the bumper is against the workbench making it useless while you truck is in the garage.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Yes, engineer, but with a few coincidental factors that allow us to afford more than expected. Not that we're living in a palace, but I will admit we have more than most.

Living in a region where pay is above average, and working in an industry where pay is higher than the average even for the region, and then buying a house in a township where housing and land cost is below average for the region, all adds up. We have also been lucky on timing and mortgage rates, both with regard to this house and the prior, although some planning went into making that luck for ourselves.

Oh, and on the garage thing... I take back what I said about having only a 6-car detached, if I were to build my own. If I were single, that'd surely be the way to go for me, but my wife likes the security of the attached garage. On the rare occasion I travel for business, she likes pulling into the garage and having the door close behind her, without having to walk outside.

I definitely agree with "no EV's in attached garage" for now, though. Hopefully that tech will get to a place where it's even safer than ICE's, as ICE's also catch fire in garages today. But for now, I don't think I'd be comfortable with any 2024 EV charging in my attached garage, while I sleep.

That make sense, smart people find a way to be ''lucky'' you didn't have to explain yourself I am just jealous of all of your garage but thanks for explaining. I also know you put the hours in plus you have all the liability associated with your title so you are worth your salary and you didn't get all this overnight. Also if I may add as I recall your wife is also a engineer and having to good income makes a big difference. (she probably deserve some credit )

 

[JJT]

In snow country an attached garage is a must have, in my opinion. Mine is oversized and has 8x12 doors, no issues getting any personal vehicle in/out. The detached shop has 10x10 doors, that's the minimum I would have for a shop.

 

[grsthegreat]

I dont know this for a fact…but im guessing 70-80% of US single family, framed houses have an attached garage. Its the cheapest way to add a garage, so thats why developers love them.

 

[jyoutz]

Well, The question in the title kind of sums it up! Lets dig deeper.....

Say you have a full size truck and regardless if you live in the country or suburbia, your truck seems tight in your garage! I am looking for those folks who have trucks that manage to park in the garage! What size door will fit that 3500 chevy, or the 350 ford? I know that situations change when you own a dual rear wheel truck. However, it seems that garages are shrinking and trucks can't fit in there. What are your thoughts, suggestions? Do you live in a house that you gotta park it outside, or were forced to build a barn/shop to park your vehicle? I am thinking that (9' overhead and 8' wide "will fit" a full size truck? Is this too small....Or?


Pic is for reference:

My solution: the car goes in the attached garage. The truck goes in the carport next to the barn.

 

[grsthegreat]

When i built my house in 1996, i made sure garage was overtall so i could use 8’ high doors. I have 1 - 16’ door and 1 - 8 foot wide door. I did ok with the height, but i should have designed it to use an 18’ and a 10’ wide door to fit modern rigs. Its plenty deep to allow full sized extended cab rig, but really not wide enough door wise. It only took me 28 years to drywall it. Did the drywall last winter. Its not too fancy, but i have a 30x40 and a 30x60 shop to work out of. This is strictly for rigs and wifes gardening junk.

 

[ericm979]

Also plan where you will have your workbench, and plan your length in consequence, lots of folks have their workbench at the end of the garage (in front of the door) and once your truck is in the bumper is against the workbench making it useless while you truck is in the garage.

Yep. Workbench or cabinets. Our 24' garage has both, which makes it impossible to park anything larger than a mid sized car/SUV in there.

I definitely agree with "no EV's in attached garage" for now, though. Hopefully that tech will get to a place where it's even safer than ICE's, as ICE's also catch fire in garages today. But for now, I don't think I'd be comfortable with any 2024 EV charging in my attached garage, while I sleep.

They're already there. See Electric Car Fires: What You Should Know | Edmunds

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a38225037/how-much-you-should-worry-about-ev-fires/

https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires/

As one of those says, EVs are novel so their fires get reported on while ICE car fires don't.

Of course you want a smoke detector between the garage and house even if you're not parking an EV in there.

I dont know this for a fact…but im guessing 70-80% of US single family, framed houses have an attached garage. Its the cheapest way to add a garage, so thats why developers love them.

It also takes less footprint on the lot. And it's convenient to have the garage attached.

 

[WinterDeere]

Yep. Workbench or cabinets. Our 24' garage has both, which makes it impossible to park anything larger than a mid sized car/SUV in there.

We did something a big different, owing to the fact that I don't really work on cars in the attached garage.

Attached garage: Long counter down one side wall, with overhead cabinets, and a wall of under-counter refrigerators and freezers under the counter. Heater, toy closet (surf boards, beach chairs, rollerblades, etc.), bicycle rack and snow sled rack on opposite side wall. Our attached garage is more likely to be used for entertaining (rained-out BBQ or pool party) than working on cars, and those refrigerators are also our primary house overflow. One fridge is dedicated to beer.

Detached garage: Workbench down side wall adjacent to man door, woodworking machines on mobile bases stowed down center aisle and back wall, and tool chests, compressor, and arbor presses along other side wall. This is the main space for everything from working on tractors to building doors and windows for the house.

Shed: Storage for mower, tractor, implements, seed, fertilizers, etc. All seed kept in Rubbermaid trash cans with lids, to avoid attracting rodents.