3 car garage size?

[Just_A_GT]

So I'm in the process of building a home. Hoping to get a 3-garage on the lot, and the builder is proposing a garage with a width of 28'6". It'll be one 16' door and another 8'. This only leaves about 18 inches between each garage door and the side walls. Is this adequate or should I just push for an oversized 2-car garage (same width but with a single 18' door)? Worried that the current 3 car proposal won't leave much room to open car doors...


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[Screw-Rice]

Seems a little tight for a 3 car, but if they're smaller cars than it's doable. Anyway to add depth to the third garage? I looked at one two weeks ago and had an extra deep 3rd car, and it was awesome. Room for a bench, tools, etc without eating any parking spaces.

 

[zak88lx]

Always go bigger if the lot size is adequate, and the budget agrees.
When we built our home, it came with an attached 18' wide 2-car garage, with one 16' door.
This was way to small, so we paid extra and widened the garage to 20' wide.

20' is wide enough for two cars, and another 10' would allow for a 3rd vehicle, so I would go with a 30' minimum width for a 3 car.
Is the builder saying the max width for your lot is 28'6"?
If that's the case I would go with an oversized 2 car, with a tandem stall if the depth is there.

Edit: Here's a plan similar to what you mentioned, and they have gone 36' wide, and 26' deep.

 

[black92]

I personally would do something similar to what Zak listed. I have an extra wide 2 car garage and love being able to open the car doors fully without hitting the walls or other car. My father in law has a three car garage similar to your dimension and it's a tight fit. If possible, add more width because you'll be glad you did later.

 

[KingBlack]

depends on the car. my current home has a 3 car garage, one single and double door. the single door was for something like an audi TT but it is still tight

go bigger if you can possibley do it. remember, its always cheaper to do it now than down the road

 

[derklug]

Given your choices, I would go with the 2 car. The three car is ok if the third bay is for lawn equipment, but it makes it tight on the other two cars. I had a friend that went deeper, two cars wide, two deep. He parks his Corvette and Jeep in the back as they are rarely used, and his 2 DD's go in front.

 

[oldmodman]

Just spend a little more and go with the three car, but make it so wide that every car can have all the doors open with space between them.

I saw a garage on a custom house that had three bays, each was so wide it had a normal two car door. That garage was enormous. And it was also incredibly deep. At least 35 feet.

 

[Just_A_GT]

Seems a little tight for a 3 car, but if they're smaller cars than it's doable. Anyway to add depth to the third garage? I looked at one two weeks ago and had an extra deep 3rd car, and it was awesome. Room for a bench, tools, etc without eating any parking spaces.

Unfortunately going deeper isn't an option. The lots aren't huge - 75 x 135, and given the floor plan of the home on the lot, it's just not an option. Builder originally said he'd try to get 30' width, but apparently that was just to get me to sign the purchase agreement. We're already locked in on the construction loan and house was appraised to be a 3-car, just having some remorse that it's too tight of a 3-car.

Cars we have now are just a 2012 Ford Focus and a 2016 Jeep Cherokee. Third car bay will be used for whatever toy I buy next summer (likely a C6 grand sport/z06).

 

[Mpoitrast87]

Always go bigger if the lot size is adequate, and the budget agrees.
When we built our home, it came with an attached 18' wide 2-car garage, with one 16' door.
This was way to small, so we paid extra and widened the garage to 20' wide.

20' is wide enough for two cars, and another 10' would allow for a 3rd vehicle, so I would go with a 30' minimum width for a 3 car.
Is the builder saying the max width for your lot is 28'6"?
If that's the case I would go with an oversized 2 car, with a tandem stall if the depth is there.

Edit: Here's a plan similar to what you mentioned, and they have gone 36' wide, and 26' deep.

My parents have this set up and its not good lol. We can only fit 2 cars cause there is so much other junk in the garage. id go bigger.

 

[03'Darin]

As most people have already said go as big as the space and budget will allow. Keep I mind once it's done you'll probably have to deal with it for a very long time.

My first house didn't have a garage. I built a 24' D X 36' W 3 car. 24 deep was ok if it was a car but put any kind of truck in there and you run out of room quick.

My next house I built I had the builder add an additional bay. Well I never thought about the width and when the house was done any you had a truck parked in that bay you could barely get out because the wall was so close.

My current house I did a 30 X 40 two car garage on the house and it's AWESOME. Plenty of room to move around, can have doors open on both the explorer and crew cab F150 at the same time and still walk around between them plus plenty of room to walk around the front or back of my truck when it's in there (it's a 6 1/2 bed crew cab). I don't keep much in this garage either because I have a 40 X 60 detached for everything. But this would be idea for a two car garage that you also kept normal garage stuff in.

One other thing to consider is ceiling height. If you have the ability to do a higher ceiling DO IT. There are countless advantages to having a higher ceiling. My current house was simple to do that. The house sits up on a hill so I just had them drop the floor 2 feet in the foundation. Made the driveway transition better also.

 

[oldmodman]

I am looking for a new, bigger house and one that I saw had been built by a real motor vehicle enthusiast.

It actually had a bigger garage than it did a house. Garage space for eight cars, high enough for a two post lift, and the end bay was designed for a 44 foot motorhome.
One of the parking areas doubled as a wash bay with floor drains.

The house is pretty tiny. 1600 square feet, two bedroom, two bath. But there is plenty of lot space to build on. It's on a 16 acre lot 45 minutes north of Vegas.
The realtor told me that it was custom built and the owner only lived in it for six years and then he passed away. It's so weird that I bet it will be a really tough sell.

 

[Torch10th]

18" is simply not enough. Unless you're building storage elsehwere for things like your mowers, tools etc, you'll find that every time you enter the garage or leave you're having to move stuff around. My wife and I made that mistake with our build. We deemed the garage width adequate and the cost to move the outter wall prohibitive. Now however we're constantly moving cars to get the lawn mover front to back and I have to move the trash can to get my firebird out of the garage.

IMHO you want a minimum of 24" between the edge of the garage doors and the walls or other door. 36" would be even better.

If you're fighting space on your lot, can you do a tandem 3 car? That's what we have and it's about perfect for a two cars + a toy situation. The only issue we have is we just didn't build out the garage wide enough.

 

[ON D BIT]

That seem tight. I get 13.5 at each edge.

28.6-24=4.6 or 54 inches

|_................_|_........_|

54/4 = 13.5 inches at the 4 corners. I would say 30ft garage min. 16 and 8 with 18 inch at each of the 4 edges.

 

[Just_A_GT]

That seem tight. I get 13.5 at each edge.

28.6-24=4.6 or 54 inches

|_................_|_........_|

54/4 = 13.5 inches at the 4 corners. I would say 30ft garage min. 16 and 8 with 18 inch at each of the 4 edges.

Exactly my thoughts...builder has assured me he's going to get me at or as close to 30' as he can...thinking my next step is to get that in writing.

 

[Gravik]

3 car garages are tiny :/

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[DriftwoodSVT]

Our the home we are currently building, here's our 3 car garage specs: We did 8 x 9 on the single door and 8 x 18 on the double door. Width is 36' and depth is 27'. Total garage sq ft is a little over 1000, including the little decorative niche area.

 

[ford fanatic]

We're just finishing up our three car garage.

Our county only allows a detached garage to be half the square feet of the finished square feet of your house.

That said, we went exactly that and it came out to be 28.5' X 40' with three 10' X 10' doors and 12' ceiling for a lift. It seems plenty deep enough, but I would have preferred it to be a little wider.

Do some research here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ there is a wealth of information.

 

[GM Nitemare]

3 car garage= 36x26 minimum, with a 14' ceiling.

 

[DriftwoodSVT]

3 car garage= 36x26 minimum, with a 14' ceiling.

You'd be very hard pressed to get a 14' ceiling in an attached garage.

 

[ford fanatic]

You'd be very hard pressed to get a 14' ceiling in an attached garage.

14' is overkill anyway.