New Garage

[VroomVroom]

In the works of building a new garage. However, I'm out to sea at the moment and will not be in . I'm drawing up plans just to see what it would look like. It has to be 24 feet wide, but it can be any length. I was thinking 40 feet. With a 6 on 12 pitch. I was going to put it on 4 feet of cement plus 8 foot walls, giving me 12 feet. What do you think of that size? Anyone have pictures or thoughts on their garages and wishes that might of had.

 

[dragoneggs]

Sounds good to me. I would love to have 12ft ceilings instead of my current 8ft. At least in the shop part of the garage or for an RV spot. While you are at it with your design, plan in electrical and plumbing and maybe air line with a compressor area that has it's own space to keep noise out of your shop. I am assuming this is going to be more that just a vehicle storage area?

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Having just built a "multipurpose" garage (shop area, maintanance area, tractor house, etc..) go a little bit wider, IMHO, at least 28 ft wide. A 4' side space, 8' garage door, 4' space, 8' garage door, and 4' space. This allows storage for stuff along the sidewalls without interfering with opening car doors, simply more space. I did mine 30' wide, with 2' on the outer ends, 6' between the doors. The 6' center section is actually 2 story, but the second floor is only 6'6" ceiling height. Used primarily for attic storage.

 

[bigtiller]

I built a 24' wide garage years ago and never again. It was just to narrow. With two 10' wide doors, the car doors would bang on the wall we weren't careful. 26' would have cured that problem.

Also, a skinny, tall building may look a little odd......depends on the building site, and the beholder's eyes I guess.

 

[Fuddy1952]

In the 80s I had a nice big garage built and I can offer a few tips. The main section was to be 40'x60', six garage doors. I thought 12 cars...which it holds. Problem was that was outside measurement, so only about 2-3ft. walk through middle. I should have made it at least 6-8ft deeper. Then I had a 24x40 section added, one wide door. That is really nice, plenty of room. The best is a close but separate garage just 15x30. That's my favorite for one car, work bench in back, well insulated so easy to heat. Shade trees so cool in summer. Main section is two story...fantastic for parts, etc. Last bay near walk in door is very tall so opens up to upstairs, very tall garage door. Then small section about 10x20 off other side bath, shower, water heater, washer.
A few things to think about, mainly 2 story super nice, but sometimes adding 4-8ft can make a huge difference.
Off of front is an overhang for 6 cars so out of the weather, cars you drive a lot, great place to work on a running car.

 

[RNeumann]

4’ concrete stem walls is a very specific “commercial” type building and one that is going to add significantly to the cost. Most wouldn’t go to that extreme unless exterior conditions required it.

99.9% of shops end up with all the tools, toys, shelves and junk on the exterior walls. This means the chance of structural damage is very minimal.

Beyond that- I’d vote for a tall single door say 18-20’ wide. and make the shop as deep as you can go or afford. I’d also consider bumping out to 26’ so you can run the shelves, junk etc mentioned above down the sides and still get 2 vehicles in side by side.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Your 12' high ceiling idea would be awesome. If that was the case, definitely put in 10' high garage doors.

 

[two_bit_score]

Good recommendations.

 

[VroomVroom]

Well, I could go 2 feet cement, his forms on their sides, instead of standing up. Then put 10 foot 2x6's for the walls, still giving me the 12 feet interior height. As for the 24 foot width. It was initially for a 24 x 36 steel garage, so the blast rock was laid for that and no wider. For me to make it wider for a good solid foundation means I'd have to put off the whole thing. Which normally wouldn't be a problem but much happened to our homestead home, and I'd just like to get something up now. But yes, I almost wished now it was wider as I'd extend one eve out 8 or 10 feet with posts so I could stack wood or park something out of the rain etc. I also read about a narrow building looking too tall, and I am concerned of that. I did draw to scale, the front profile, 24 wide with 12 up to the eves, and then put a 6 x 12 pitch roof on that with 18 inch eves, just to see what it looked like. I didn't look like the best in the world, but not that bad either. It just gives me the height inside, so I don't know what else to do except to widen it which at the moment is out of the question. I am concerned of that though. I drew it with multiple different doors and I think the most practical would be a 10 foot high by 14 foot door.

 

[VroomVroom]

 

[RNeumann]

A standard 2 car garage is 20’ wide. So 24’ is good.

 

[RalphVa]

In the works of building a new garage. However, I'm out to sea at the moment and will not be in . I'm drawing up plans just to see what it would look like. It has to be 24 feet wide, but it can be any length. I was thinking 40 feet. With a 6 on 12 pitch. I was going to put it on 4 feet of cement plus 8 foot walls, giving me 12 feet. What do you think of that size? Anyone have pictures or thoughts on their garages and wishes that might of had.

Don't forget a "people" door. We built what we call our carriage house with 2 garage doors but forgot a people door. Should have switched one of the windows for a door.

Ours is full basement (drive out) underneath, 2 garages on main floor and full walk-up attic.

Roof has solar panels on top now.

Ralph

 

[bunyip]

Before we moved here we had a one car garage with a bit of room at the end which I used as a workshop, when we moved I had a 6mx12m shed built which was cavernous compared to what we had, as I enjoy woodwork I started putting in stationary machinery that I picked up along the way and I really wish that I had gone twice the size, having said that if I had an aircraft hangar I would probably have the same problem.
We have 10' walls to help combat the heat and insulation, we had 3 skylights either side which I would not do again as they make the shed way too hot although we overcame part of the problem by installing 5kw of solar panels on one side of the roof.
Our shed is steel with a 6" concrete floor with reo, that cost more than the shed.
Really consider that the size you think you want is adequate as so many people fall into the same trap.

 

[VroomVroom]

Bunyip, oh I can guarantee I won稚 think it痴 montrous and be afraid to build bigger. It痴 mostly money and I plan on building a house next to it so just wondering the happy medium. I don稚 think many people realize how much room things take up. Just the small tractor with the backhoe attached must surely be 18-20 feet. I have a snowmobile and atv, throw in a wood furnace and workbench, might even put in a toilet! All these things you want some space around them so pretty soon the whole garage is taken up. Not sure if you could ever make it too big if money or heating costs didn稚 hold you back. Or land size.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Don't forget a "people" door. We built what we call our carriage house with 2 garage doors but forgot a people door. Should have switched one of the windows for a door.

Ours is full basement (drive out) underneath, 2 garages on main floor and full walk-up attic.

Roof has solar panels on top now.

Ralph

That's very pretty! I like it.

 

[Fuddy1952]

We had to stop by where I grew up 15 miles from here today and took these pictures. Cinder block barn built in 1942. I always thought although small it was interesting design by granddad next door. Main section I'm guessing 30ft wide, 24 deep. Two story. Overhang side 3 cars. Another overhang on other side would have been better. Top door has a beam and hoist.
Just for kicks anyone building a garage get a price on second story. Extra space means a lot. Oh! One SUPER important thing! A major goof with my garage was moving stuff in too quickly. Then working around stuff to insulate, wire, etc. was a nightmare! I did wiring, plumbing myself.
You cannot have too many outlets, and they're inexpensive. I wired in switched outlets in ceiling for fluorescent lights made it so easy.
Wherever you build think about rain, snow.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I also did 24' wide. I was constrained by setback. Wider would be nice. Not enough side storage space at 24'.

 

[kenmac]

I also has a 24' wide garage when I lived in the city. It was too narrow. Now that I have moved to the farm. I have a 40x80 16'tall at the peak. 16' is Tall enough, that I was able to install a 2 post lift with plenty of room to spare at the peak.

Have you considered a pole barn as a garage ? This is what I did

 

[shui5612]

I built my garage two years ago,
And essentially it came out to be about 28x32 with a 6:12 roof.

However I did about 30 inches of cement wall (the concrete slab took away 10inches or so) and 12ft lumber to give me about 13.8ft of ceiling height. The benefit of lumber is that it is easier and can result in better insulation options as opposed to concrete (which would be limited to mostly rigid foam boards on the inside or outside or both).

For the door I went with a single door of 12ft high by 16 wide. Allows me to park something in a slight diagonal for "storage" I.e. boat and the main section clear for the tractor.

Don't forget that a garage door hangs about 16-18inches lower than the ceiling unless you get special low profile and extended rails...

 

[VroomVroom]

Yeah I didn't call about the garage door. I drew up a plan just to have about a 14 foot wide door by 10 feet tall, although that should give me enough hanger height because i'll have 4 feet of concrete walls, plus the 8 foot studs to give a total of 12. As for the width, I am nervous I won't find it enough. Unfortunately the ball rolling, maybe enough today, the 28th to start the footer. Long story, but my parents passed away 6 years ago in which we shared several buildings. Family issues and now I'm 100 miles away, for near that many years and no where to put anything but a tiny shed. The little tractor I purchased for her, that was red and shiny and kept in unless it was a nice summers night, has been outdoors for that many years. The blast rock that was laid down for the steel building, was maybe 26 or 27 feet so I'm stuck at 24 feet to ensure the footer had good compaction. I love the overhangs on the garage Fuddy1952 took a pic of. But I'm stuck at the moment of having to accept its going to be a regular rectangle building of 24 x 40. The land was cleared last fall and it was very difficult to get a contractor to do the land work. When the guy laid the stone last year theres a bit of a sharp rise to the right of the building and wooded also now. The left side is fairly level and I could of cleared it easy for an overhand on the side. I was busy this time off the boat doing drop ceiling. Even if I did clear it , it might of been a task to get someone to bring the stone. 24 x 40 looks like it. I'm just hoping it don't look too high now with the width being 24 and the height to the peak being 18 or 19 feet. 4 foot cement, 8 foot wood walls, 6 x 12 roof truss. I posted a scaled front view drawing up above. 24 cm wide, by the heights I mentioned. I doesn't look too bad at least with a 14 foot door or larger.