Measurements For A Single Car Garage?

I'm about to build a single car garage and have a couple of measurements to choose from. I would like to have some sort of lift system predominately for mid engined cars. I'll build a small barn/storage building for other stuff later.

There is a 20' from the building to the property line restriction but the zoning lady likes what I'm doing and has given me the go ahead for getting closer. Plus I own the adjoining commercial property. Sometimes it's who you know.

The length will be around 22' - 23 1/2', stopping about 1' or 2' from the front window. The width will most likely be either 12' (inside diameter) or 14' (outside diameter). If 12', I can include a 6' x 12' bump out but will only be 6' tall, so a bench/shop would go there. Pic belows shows 12', 14' lines along with the 6' bump out. The entire side above the bump out will be windows. Or, go 14' out without a bump out. HVAC will be moved. Rear window (bedroom) will possibly become a 1 hour fire door or just get removed. 

Front will be about 1 1/2' behind side window next to truck. A door will hopefully replace window as that is my office and it would be awesome to be in the garage and hop into the office when needed - I will practically spend most of my time in this garage. A covered carport will continue forward above where truck is.

A lift is in the cards. Not sure what kind, preferably a full two post to access a mid engine configuration? Lowest point of 12' wide ceiling will be about 9 1/2" - 10'. I would do a pit but the 130' oak would prefer that I not.

Walls will be built with 2x6 and 6x6 or 6x8 wood, r40 minimum, r60 min. roof - load bearing walls and ceiling. Conditioned with one fire rated vent. 110 and 220 wiring. 

1920s double front garage door with 3 or 4 windows on each door up high. Not sure about rear access, a pedestrian door or maybe a smaller garage door for golf cart/riding mower accessibility.

My biggest concerns are;

- which width

- tool/equipment placement for mid engined cars (Boxster, X 1/9, etc.). I will need room for a small portable Lincoln 220 welder, compressor, etc., so it will be tight. There is a slight chance I may be allowed to go 14' full height but doubt it, haven't checked.

Oh, there is also access to the crawlspace (behind hvac) if that is a plus.

Really excited about this project! What say the hive?

Make it bigger!

Figure out what lift you want and go from there. Most 2-posts are 11-12' wide, so 14' would be minimum. 4-posts aren't as wide and 12' could work, but I would still prefer the extra width. Check with the lift manufacturer, but 4" thick, 3,000 PSI slab should work for most lifts. I'd go 6" to be safe.  Is 12' clear height possible? That's needed for most 2-posts and will allow you to walk under most cars.

My shop is 24' x 24' and it's just big enough for the big stuff I own. My wife's 1970 Continental is 20' bumper-to-bumper.

When I was house shopping I discovered that many people were building metric garages these days and 17' simply isn't enough.

Lifts usually require a 6” slab, but that only has to be at the lift itself.  

40' x 60'.

Anything less is too small. Trust me. 

The "work bay" in my garage is 11.5 feet wide on the inside. I have a Max Jax set to hold all of the cars I've worked on. With one of the towers almost touching the wall I can kind of squeeze around the other tower if nothing is in the way. Generally I have to walk through the other part of the garage to get from the front to the rear of the car. It is not ideal. 

Pick you lift and build to that spec. You need to be able to get around one of the posts for safety reasons if nothing else. You don't want something to catch on fire and not be able to get around. If I was building from scratch and didn't have to deal with an existing structure I would go as wide as I could on a bay with a lift. 

Take a measuring tape, open both of the doors all the way and measure to see how wide a car really is. I just did this on my NA Miata. It's a bit over 12 feet wide. 

Toyman01 said:

40' x 60'.

Anything less is too small. Trust me. 

 

And here I was gonna say at least 50x100...

I'll do a 6" slab.

Length is ok, Boxster will be a little over 13' and X 1/9 about 11 1/2' iirc. Not stock lengths, obviously.

I can get around 11' ceiling height at the tallest point of the car. 6' 2" plus 46" at roof center leaves 1' between me and the car bottom. Maybe sister some rafters to create a taller area above the car.Hmm,

The lowest side of the ceiling would be about 10'6". A quick check and one two post example is 9'4" tall and 11' wide. Pretty darn tight and probably a nuisance to work around but doable. It would probably be better to get a wider lift so the posts are tighter to the walls?  

https://procarreviews.com/best-car-lift/

Mazdeuce, 11.5' is about the same as mine. I would have to walk under the car and posts to "go around". I'll probably have a pedestrian door on the back side, though. But it needs to be a comfortable area.

I will also have a secondary garage/yard barn/ storage as the next project on the other side of the house.

I guess I need to have a chat with zoning and see if she will let me go any wider.

Not sure if it's at all on the radar but think about in-floor heat.

We have it at work and it's fantastic, much better than the usual shop unit heaters.

Make sure you run the pipes around where you plan to bolt the lift down, we have to have the floors x-rayed before we can move a two-post lift.

Look at the specs for several two post lifts, I think a lot of them require at least 10 1/2 feet clearance just for the posts and that's not counting overall clearance for the car's roof.

As for the setback from the property line, make sure to get something in writing that verifies what the zoning person said....you never know if she'll change her mind, or if someone else who isn't as accomodating will take her place.

In these kinds of threads people will tell you how huge the garage needs to be, along with all the extras you can't live without (bathrooms, deluxe HVAC systems, 200 amp electric services, big screen TVs or whatever) but take all that stuff with a grain of salt - you have to work within the available space and your own budget.

Considering the typically mild winter weather in Georgia, a single space garage is probably best served with a simple electric unit heater.  Yes, electric heat is generally the most expensive, but the up front costs for the heater itself are usually the lowest, plus even the smallest natural gas heater may be really too large (especially if the space is well insulated).  Considering that you would most likely use the heater on an intermittent basis and won't be running it 24/7, the monthly operating costs won't be that bad.  Another method to consider would be to install a small split system that will also provide air conditioning in the summer - I suspect you have more cooling months than heating months, so A/C is probably more important anyway.  The heat pumps in modern split systems work down to pretty low temperatures, and you can get them all set up for installation by the homeowner so you don't need to hire an HVAC contractor to do the refrigerant installation.  One good example of this is in this video from Abom79 on YouTube.  He's in Pensacola so he has similar climate conditions.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf2XMT7Qqrg&frags=pl%2Cwn

Lots of good advice here, everyone.

The house hvac is oversized so a single vent will heat and cool the garage.

The zoning official will submit my request to the approval board.

"Who's on the board?"

"I am".

She will sign off on the application and her inspector "will give you all the advice and suggestions you need." She's really into the local architectural history and likes what I'm proposing, which will be a second story room with a front porch, this garage, a sun room, the yard barn/garage, and a 400 sq. ft. guest house.

Or..... a small operation and a scissors lift.

Hasbro said:

Lots of good advice here, everyone.

The house hvac is oversized so a single vent will heat and cool the garage.

Whether the local inspector allows it or not, tying the garage into the house HVAC system is against code and is a bad idea. Besides dust and smells it can introduce carbon monoxide into the house, plus it violates the fire barrier you need between a house and a garage. 

Hasbro said:

I'll do a 6" slab.

Length is ok, Boxster will be a little over 13' and X 1/9 about 11 1/2' iirc. Not stock lengths, obviously.

I can get around 11' ceiling height at the tallest point of the car. 6' 2" plus 46" at roof center leaves 1' between me and the car bottom. Maybe sister some rafters to create a taller area above the car.Hmm,

The lowest side of the ceiling would be about 10'6". A quick check and one two post example is 9'4" tall and 11' wide. Pretty darn tight and probably a nuisance to work around but doable. It would probably be better to get a wider lift so the posts are tighter to the walls?  

https://procarreviews.com/best-car-lift/

 

Looks like the lift in your link (along with most other lifts) has a max lifting height of 72 inches. That means if you're 6'2", it might be annoying to never be able to stand under your vehicle without crouching or ducking your head. Especially if space will be limited and you'd have to go under the car to move around in the garage.

This Challenger lift is one of the few that I've seen that's a similar, short column design, but has a max lifting height of 78.125", so you'd be able to walk and work comfortably under the vehicle. 

stuart in mn said:

Hasbro said:

Lots of good advice here, everyone.

The house hvac is oversized so a single vent will heat and cool the garage.

Whether the local inspector allows it or not, tying the garage into the house HVAC system is against code and is a bad idea. Besides dust and smells it can introduce carbon monoxide into the house, plus it violates the fire barrier you need between a house and a garage. 

It's not against code with an approved vent, doors, and walls.

Thanks, STM, I'll check it out. I suppose I could use a scissors lift to give me more room and put a lift in the future barn. 

Hasbro said:

It's not against code with an approved vent, doors, and walls.

That would be a new one to me...never heard of a vent that's approved for interconnection of a garage and residential space.  If you have a link I'd like to see it for my own education.

Stuart, they automatically close in response to a fire and must be one hour fire approved, as with walls and doors between a garage and house, unless IBC (International Building Code) has changed it. Another possibility would be to add a separate split hvac system when I add the sunroom.

I'll meet with the inspector and throw several ideas at him, then go by what he recommends (it's prudent to have a good relationship with them!).

I appreciate being able to bounce ideas off of the hive, really helps.

Update; you guys are right about making it as big as possible so this single car garage will be more of a hangout/office/small repair shop. Ac, heat, tv, stereo, fridge, lots of windows for winter plant storage. Basic car/mower/power equipment repair until the Car Barn gets built. No lift, save that for the barn. Will start next week on digging for the pour. 

I'll put the barn where the logs are stacked. The hose shows a future drive. If you have a larger screen you can see about 30 hybrid loblolly pines that will quickly be a mini forest, part of a little arboretum I'm putting together. The pines will create an area for understory Japanese maples.

My space is 24w x 22d and when I'm working it's barely a one car. A decent sized main space and plenty of "extra" with lower ceiling height will do well.

I bought a house with a one car garage. It's a none car garage. Tools to work on said car, plus construction tools have rendered it a 2 motorcycle garage. Its tight.

Well, since we are bringing up this thread from the dead, a bedroom can't open up into a garage, so it doesn't matter whether it is with a window or a door. So unless there is another spot to put an egress window, it can no longer be a bedroom. 

As always, it depends. Factor in: Opening the car doors on both sides, still having room to walk around both sides, and having stuff/benches along both walls. You'll find that the needed space gets big in a hurry. Then of course there's the amount of yard space you have to start, the budget, the size of the car itself, and on and on, but that's not our problem :)

That said, I DID build both Kimini and Midlana in one half of a standard two-car garage, so Bob's your uncle.

Its been almost 3 years - how did the shop turn out?