minimum usable garage space

Toying with the idea of building a garage. Space is somewhat limited by zoning. Any garage has to be able to accommodate two cars, otherwise Mrs. Sachilles won't go for it.

I have a shed on property for my parts horde and I don't see that changing any time soon. If we can afford to build higher, we can have storage above, likely will be household stuff. What sort of space to really need at minimum? Anything is better than working in the mud pit that is my driveway.

My thought is tools and workbench at the end opposite of the door and basically nothing on the garage sides. How much working space do I really need between my car and the wall? 3ft? Enough to use a jack, and maybe swing a hammer.

I have an 02 wrx race car, 02 impreza wagon daily, wife drives an 05 legacy daily. We also have a 96 chevy van. Van and race would reside outside unless work is needed. Van may or may not fit, but I'm ok with that. I'm thinking single big door is more versatile, but two smaller garage doors would be easier to close off a bay, if ever needed. I live in a cold climate, so closing off one bay for heat wouldn't be a horrible idea.

I'm thinking 24x24 is about as big as I can get away with. 12x24 being dedicated to wife's daily and household stuff. 12x24 being "auto shop".

Of course 24x24 isn't usable space, it'll be 2x4 construction, so end up with 23+ x 23+

Give GarageJournal.com a look.

I've got a 22x22 (interior dimensions) garage just for my play toys and stuff. That's in addition to the two car attached to the house where all the yard tools and mowers reside. When we moved in here that empty second garage looked huge, but not now. If you're building new just put the biggest you can afford ,or the bylaws will allow. If I could I'd double the size of mine,or I would like a few more feet of depth as an alternative.

Whatever you do, build it as big as possible. No matter how big you think it is, you will always lack space. I thought my 22x45 was huge when I moved in. Then, last year, I built a 12x16 shed to take the overflow from the garage .

If the city codes won't allow you to build anything bigger than 24x24, could you at least put a covered area in front or beside it. Just the fact of not having to removed three feet of snow from your project when you want to work on it is a big plus.

24x24 is perfectly useable. If you can go off-square in either direction by another couple of feet, it makes workbenches and tool storage a bit nicer, but really, anything is workable.

If its going to be wifeys parking, plus your shop, think about having some sort of curtain/tarp suspended from the ceiling to shield her car from your grease, overspray, welding sparks, etc. Its not real convenient having to move stuff outside every time you want to work.

24x24 are setback restrictions relative to the code, not maximum dimensions. I know it will never be truly big enough, but better than a dirt driveway.

I won't be able to get more than 24 ft wide. MIGHT be able to get longer than 24ft, but $$$ isn't exactly free to come by.

Toying with the idea of an small addition to the square, and external closet if you will, to house the air compressor and a few other random tidbits that don't have to be touched that often.

Try drawing the floor plan to scale on grid paper or computer drafting app. Jockey around benches, tools, cars, garage doors etc to see how they fit.

My big concern is to make sure I have plenty of space so that car doors are usable 100% of the time, and I have space to get around the vehicle all the time.

The obvious answer is "as big as you can get", but in reality anything is better than nothing. In my experience, the smaller the garage the more judicious you have to be about cleaning and organization.

Mine is 28'-6" deep x 11'-6" wide. Man-door to the house in the middle. Most of my cars are small so I can usually work on one with a second stored in the back half.

I have a walk up attic where less frequently used tools are stored. Bulkier tools and spare engines and stuff are stored in the shed.

You already know that more is better. I would say 2.5 car as the minimum. That gives you room for a tool box, compressor, work bench, your project, and SWMBO's DD. If you are building, you might as well go up in size, though.

just remember... no matter how big your garage is, your car will expand to fill it when taken apart

If you are area limited, volume is the answer. The difference to go another 1 or 2' up is negligible in cost. Don't go with a conventional pitched roof. Play with the building materials of choice to find the "cheapest" solution.

I had 24 by 24. I would go with one big door, but insulate it. I would try to go a few feet deeper if possible for work bench etc. I like to keep the work benches opposite the door. Make sure it's tall enough for a hoist. Every car guy should have his ultimate goal be to have a hoist in his garage.they are cheap enough that besides space, there's no reason not to have one.

As everyone else has said build as big as possible. If you are limited by lot width try building deeper. Even if you can only go an extra 3 foot deep it allows for a work bench , tool box and perhaps a drill press on the back wall. With the lenght of vans and SUV's even 24 foot deep doesn't allow for much room in front or behind the vehicle. If you can keep the shed and store all lawn mowers and lawn tools in the shed to keep the clutter in the gargae to a minimum. Keep organized with sheving or cabinets. The more you have to move stuff out of the way to work on a project the less time you will spend in the garage. Also try to have an understanding with wife/kids that the garage is not a dumping ground where things just show up or are never put away. My garage is only 20' x 20' and and has pretty much became a "shop only" with only my project car in it and work benchs tool boxes and power tools lining the walls. It is not near big enough but keeping things clean and organized with no clutter makes it workable. I am considering adding another 12 feet to the back end which would be the max I could go with the city/neighbors

24 x 24 is a pretty standard size, and makes the best use of 4x8 sheathing materials. Bigger is better, of course, but you can work with one that size.

mad_machine wrote: just remember... no matter how big your garage is, your car will expand to fill it when taken apart

I was going to head out to the shop and measure the space around my current project. It always seems Luke there is just enough. I have a large shop and no matter what the mess always manages to fill it.

I often think I need a smaller shop for that reason. I would get a lot more done if I didn't have such a 'big' mess all the time.

I'm planning a 40x60 with a parking loft and I already know it will be too small for me. 40x100 would be a better choice for me. But, like you, I'm limited by size of my lot and zoning. I could go a little bigger than 40x60 but I'm already risking the property looking dominated next to my 24x24 house.

Here is a quick and dirty (not to code) CAD image of what I'm planning. This drawing is of a 40x40, but I'm going to stretch the left/right dimensions to 60'

Try Googling garage plans for more ideas. Typically they'll show elevation and floor plans from 1-4 cars, workshop, lofts, drive through, door configurations etc.

As everyone has said, go as big as possible. I haven't measured mine perfectly, but I'd guess that I have about a 21' wide by 22' deep garage. There's a four foot wide landing and staircase into the house that cuts one bay's length by that amount, and the other is full length. II can just barely squeak my '06 Ram Quad Cab (6.5 ft bed) in lengthwise in the full bay. Width-wise it's tight with either the truck or the Odyssey in the bay. 24' by 24' would give you some much needed room in all directions, especially if you want it to be more of a working garage than a parking garage.

There are lots of ways to get around zoning. Can you find anything anywhere near you that isn't up to zoning, you can argue for bending the rules. Depending on the city you can get away with lots of variances. You can also take it to the zoning board.

As others have noted, with proper garage organization, a 24x24 is plenty usable, especially compared to nothing at all. Alot depends on the size of cars you plan to wrench on, and if you're trying to cram a hoist in there. That said, I would do whatever they allow you to get away with, while still keeping some aesthetic appeal for resale and wife happiness.

My current garage is a 20x20, I put the bench/toolbox/shelving at the wall opposite the garage door, and nothing on the sides. The sides are lined with pegboard and broom racks and what not to keep everything off the floor.

It's been plenty of room for my VW hatchbacks and my wife's Volvo V50 wagon. Typically I back in tight to the "left" wall so my drivers' door is in the middle, and she pulls the family car into the remaining space so the kid can swing open the doors without banging the wall or my car. Another 4' would be very nice, but honestly we do just fine with the space we have (though we have fairly small vehicles by modern standards)

That said, I do find that if I'm doing heavy work in the garage (like right now I'm swapping a transmission) I tend to pull the car towards the middle and just park hers outside. It's not so much a necessity as much as it is just easy to have more room to sling tools, air lines, etc. without tripping over stuff.

I would NOT put a wall down the middle of a 2-car garage with single doors. I live in Michigan, it gets plenty cold. It's easy to heat up a 2-car garage if it's insulated, not worth the hassle of restricting yourself to an ~11' work width to try to save a few bucks on heat.

i'm working in 26x32 and it's not enough.

rules when we bought the house:

1: GARAGE IS MINE

2: YOU PARK OUTSIDE

3: NO HOUSE CRAP IN MY GARAGE

we stick to that and it works for us. i suggest laying out similar ground rules and see how it works for you. do not blame me if you end up divorced.

My garage is 35' wide (with a 16' and an 8' door) and 25' deep. It's too berkeleying small. I need another 8x10 for tool box, cabinets, air compressor, press, welder and other misc crap that takes up too much space.

The old house we had was a 18x19 garage. It would BARELY hold 2 cars and a motorcycle, and you had to squeeze out of the cars to not smash the doors into the other car or the garage wall.

I have a 9X20 addition to the 24X28, that was all that was allowed by code. Amazing how much stuff you can actually cram in it... lawn mowers, tractor, generator, snow blower, compressor, MC, ladders, spare parts etc. And shelves... lotta shelves. It frees up a lotta space from the garage BUT for every new space you create that too shall become crammed w/ more stuff. It's some kind of law of the universe.

buy a 5 acre hobby farm that has a few sheds for working/storage and a 2 car garage for parking.. it's really the easiest way to get the space you need..