New Construction - Garages

11 years ago

Getting down to the final details on drawings, and was looking at the garages for the home. Actually a 2 + 2 configuration. I'll say the garages are bigger than I have today, but I keep seeing all these massive garages mentioned online. We only have 3 cars, so 4th bay is a bonus. Any thoughts on size of these?

Almost 1 acre lot in subdivision, and as you can see the garage in the upper portion of the drawing (22'6 x 26'4) is at the setback. The other garage that opens into the mud room (22'6" x 22') could actually be pulled farther forward to make it larger, but I'm trying to keep the garage from sticking out too far at the front of the home.

Architectural requirements of the subdivision require front facing garages to have single doors, so pretty much forced to do the 9' wide doors on the upper garage. I'm considering a 16' or 18' wide single door on the other garage, just to simply allow my wife more room to pull in with the kids/groceries/etc. and be able to unload and get things in the house.

Comments welcome.

Featured Answer

Lavender Lass

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

You have almost an acre! Nice.

In that case, why not have a porte cochere that you drive through to access the back garage. Maybe build it back further, so it's not the first thing you see as you drive up to your home.

A map/sketch of your large lot would really help. I'm all for large garages, but since you have the space....why not make it more attractive?

Another idea would be to set the house back a bit further on the property to make more space for the front garage.

Maybe 2 1/2 car on the front garage and large 1 1/2 on the back garage? This would split your storage, but also give you more room to get out of the vehicles. Just a few ideas :)

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Comments (10)

ohfirsttimecustombuild
Original Author
11 years ago
golfergirl29
11 years ago
Measure your cars with the doors fully open. That would be my guide. Unless you don't mind the closeness of cars like you get in parking lots. Our are 23'x24' and we just realized that if we had another foot, we could fully open the doors. Our mistake, learned too late.
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amoopen1
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Ours are planned at 29'4" deep by 27'4" wide for each 2 car garage bay (2+2 like your's). After we add cabinets to the front wall, it should still allow plenty of space for maneuverability. And each garage will have a 18' door for access.
User
11 years ago
If you can not manage a side load garage logistically, then the lot is too small for a 4 car garage, even if it is configured as 2+2. Narrow doors are 3x as difficult to use as 1 single large door. Which goes back to doing a side load. Perhaps this isn't the right property for you and your interests.
User
11 years ago
If you have 1 acre, why aren't you planning a sideload?!?
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
11 years ago
Common "standard" garage is 24' X 24". Yours will be tight!
ohfirsttimecustombuild
Original Author
11 years ago
The home started as a 3 car side entry, and is now 2 car carriage and 2 car side entry. I didn't like how for 'out front' the 3 car went on the home, so he proposed the 2+2. Builder said that since we have to have an apron for the side load (28'-30') we could put the 2 car front entry.

Being that we are building in subdivision, I walked around a few houses under construction and started measuring the garages. What I found:

In the same cul-de-sac as me:

Home 1 - 3 Car Side - 32'6 W x 22'D / 18x8 and 9x8 Doors

Home 2 - 2 Car Side - 26'6W x 19'4D / 16x7 door & 1 Car Carriage 12'8W x 23'4D / 8x7 Door

In the same area:

Home 3 - 2 Car Side - 24'W x 21'8D / 18x8 door & 1 Car Carriage 13'W x 21'8D

Home 4 - 3 Car Side - 34'9W x 24'D

Home 5 - 2 Car Side 22'2W x 22'D / 18x8 door & 1 Car Carriage 14'1W x 27'4D / 9x8 Door

I was surprised a builder would do the 7' Doors. I think lot sizes, setbacks and home sizes are really driving the size of the garages, which is my situation too. At 22'6W I'm 1'6" 'short' of the 24' target. I'll ask the builder about it, but it looks like that might be what I have to do to fit on my lot. I know the single doors look great, but I'm going to change the side load to an 18' wide door, which will give just over 2' on each side of it, and allow plenty of room for my wife to pull in. Smaller cars (Accord / Camry) could fit in the 18' as well or the single door garages, leaving one entire garage for storage/mower, etc.

Not perfect, but it looks like what I'll have to do.
ohfirsttimecustombuild
Original Author
11 years ago
Just to complete this thread. By moving somethings around, we now have a 23'4" x 25'6" garage with 2 9x8 doors, and a 22'8" x 22'0" garage with an 18x9 door. Certainly not a large as some of the other garages mentioned here, but we will make it work. After all, we are building a home - the garage is just a necessary component :) Thanks for all the comments.
ohfirsttimecustombuild
Original Author
11 years ago