Advice on garage space in a new house

My wife and I are close to signing a contract on a new house.  It's in a nice secluded spot right up against the Front Range. The lots that we like are down to two options, and one can't have the model we want.  Neither are a large lot, so options for building a shop are non-existant.  Originally, We were planning on adding an extra single garage to the house, making for a single car and a three car garage.  As it turns out, the one lot we've settled on is a few feet short of allowing that option.  Bummer.

My question is this.  Will adding a 4- post lift in the single garage and a future 2-post lift in the double make up for the missing floor space?  I can store the TR6 on the 4-post lift in the single garage, but my concern is that spreading a motorcycle (next project) across the floor under it may not be a good idea.  The house will have a walkout basement, but all basement space will be finished to make room for kids and offices.  Otherwise, the bike would be stripped apart down there.

Having rented shop space 30 minutes away for many years, I'm resistant to doing that again.  There are some possible locations within 15 minutes, but that's even more $$$ on top of buying the house.  But this is stilll a possible option.

Would the single car garage be closed or open to the rest of the garages?

In reply to Stampie :

It's a separate single garage attached to the house.  The dimensions are a little small (20' x 13.5'), but a 4-post lift would fit.

A motorcycle in pieces will take up more room than a car put together.

You can tackle a motorcycle project in a single-car garage -- I've built a couple that way -- but it's not super fun. I wouldn't worry about storing it under a lift, though, as you'll lock off the lift before walking away. It just means that you'll have capital-W Work to do before you bring the car down.

What's the bike project? 

JoeTR6 said:

In reply to Stampie :

It's a separate single garage attached to the house.  The dimensions are a little small (20' x 13.5'), but a 4-post lift would fit.

At 20 x 13.5 the lift will take up the whole space.  If an intention of this lift is to work on cars, you're going to have tight accommodations. 

JoeTR6 said "Originally, We were planning on adding an extra single garage to the house, making for a single car and a three car garage."AND "Will adding a 4- post lift in the single garage and a future 2-post lift in the double make up for the missing floor space?" 

How many houses are you building??

I presume the intended result is something similar to this.  

I have been hashing around the idea of building a small home.  One thing I really want to have next is a man-door into the garage.  In our last house, our main point of entry for us (not formal guests) was to enter the house through the garage.  Door up, door down every time.  I'd really just like the have a man-door to the garage for easy entry. 

Does your site allow for something like this where though it is 3 doors the one side is double deep?  

The house will look like this...

At least it was going to before we found out the lot is too narrow.  The additional garage is on the right side.  So that is not being built.  The only option for additional garage space is that shown.

The bike project is my dad's old 1968 Triumph T100C.  It's a high-pipe 500cc enduro bike.  It should be fun for bumping along on the dirt roads that go up into the mountains.

Get rid of that jog in the front garage wall. Delete the single garage on the right side and extend the double garage and roof line over to the right side property line setback. Next figure out the Over Head (O.H.) door arrangement, maybe one 18' O.H. door or two 10' doors. You should wind up with 2-1/2 stalls on the right side.

Look up Garage Portal Frame Wall Bracing so that you can minimize the front garage wall shear wall bracing width and maximize the O.H. door sizes: Bing.com: garage portal frame wall bracing

How much ceiling height do you need for a car lift?

John's answer of a deeper garage may be the best solution but I will still suggest a roll-up or overhead door on the basement for project cars, motorcycles. Lots of homes around me have that arrangement as a "boat " garage.

Kids will move out someday and they won't miss another living space in the basement.

It's your house not theirs!

Is altering the footprint allowed?  Is either a 2 1/2 car garage or an extra deep one possible?

Are you considering working on the motorcycle project UNDER a car on the lift?  That's a hard no for me. 

Adding a future 2 post lift in the 2 car garage will probably kill the possibility of getting 2 cars in there. The 2 post takes more than 11' in width, but needs to be installed at least 3' off the wall. That would eat up about 14'. 

Does not look like a neighborhood that a roll-up door would be allowed facing the street.  

My experience is that if you store a car on a 4-post lift, it rarely gets a chance to come down.  The project being worked on below is always blocking.

The floor plan is pretty much set with this house.  So not a lot of options there.  What I'm trying to determine is what the options are with what I'll have, and it sounds like not much.  I think the 2-post lift is out due to space considerations and not being able to store under it (Bendpak does not recommend this).  So I'm left with a 4-post lift in the single garage for extra storage space and tight working conditions.  Not ideal, but it should work.

At least the 2-car garage has extra depth.  It's 21' wide with a 23.5' depth.  If I can keep shelves and other junk from accumulating there, that may be where the workbench goes.  My office will be downstairs accesible via a walkout, so the motorcycle parts can always be stored there.  My dad did much worse things, so there's some precedent.  And yes, we will eventually recoup one of the bedrooms that may become a basement workshop.

Thanks for all of the advice.

What modern builders are calling a "two car garage" is a joke.  Used to be 24' wide and 28' deep.

For reference; a 2024 Ford Expedition is 17.5' long.   With a 24" bench at the back, one will have 2' behind and 2' in front.

A '67 Cadillac was close to 19' long.  

Here's a different idea...

How about using a 4 post lift AS a work bench?

Turn it sideways against the front wall of the garage. Put a plywood top on it, and put the bike and associated parts on top. When you want to use it, back a car out of the garage and lower it to workbench height. 
 

If you put it on wheels (yes, 4 posts can be put on wheels), you will be able to walk under it, and use it in the future for a lift.

Its an expensive workbench, but it could make an awesome raise-able storage. 

Would setbacks allow making the single garage more forward of the main house and therefore wider?  Possibly even into a 2 car?  It doesn't look like the design of the house would be altered much to accommodate.   That said it looks like it's possibly one of those situations where the house can't be set deeper on the lot, and front setbacks probably will prevent coming forward.

If you have a motorcycle apart stored under the lift that will give you two projects that you can't do anything with, without moving the motorcycle bits to get to the car.  And you can't work on the motorcycle with out the car & lift being in the way.

Rule number 1) The floor is NOT a shelf.

Rule number 2) Organize

In reply to nocones :

Probably not as it changes the roof structure.  But I can ask.

The builder did investigate putting the extra garage on the side.  Technically, it will fit if we push the house all the way back (lot tapers towards the front), if we rotate the back of the house away from the mountains, and if we paid an extra $75k.  The walkout would then be 8 feet off the ground with lots of added foundation concrete.  None of that is going to happen.   So here we are.

Unfortunately, we really want this view and location to get away from rampant development and Interstate/traffic noise.  Good space is running out fast here, and I do not want to live in western Kansas.

In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :

I hear you.  My house in Virginia had a 22'x24' garage, and that was fine.  Of course, a TR6 is only 13' long.

Park a car in the single garage, and put the TR6 and the motorcycle in one of the bays of the double car, because it's deeper, and TR6's are small. 
 

When you need a little more workspace, roll the TR6 out. 
 

Add a door (or just an opening) between the 2 garages so you can expand the work space into the single car garage if you ever change your parking needs. 

In reply to nocones :

Looks like it might be a tract home. If it is, there probably won't be any changes to the footprint of the building. NONE. AT ALL. 

In reply to SV reX :

How can you delete the right side garage bay then if the plans are set in stone? I think that it is just as much trouble to delete the right garage bay than it would be to delete the jog and extend the 2 bay framing another 1/2 bay. I would complain and explain that to the builder/developer considering they plotted out a lot that was too small for their spec houses in the first place.

I am a part time custom house designer and every house I do has about 4 different garage arrangements.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

I'm not saying there can't be alternates, I'm saying most tracts now avoid customization. 
 

I just bought a (good) tract house.  It was shocking how hard core they were about anything custom. 

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

What SV reX said. They are loath to change the plans.  The 4th garage space is a fixed option.  The single garage across the front of the house and the two car garage are standard.  Nothing here is custom.  It doesn't help that the roof we like is a pyramid, making a custom change in size difficult.  And yes, I'm a little peeved that they sell lots that won't fit the house we want.  But not enough to say forget the whole deal.  If we didn't want the better views, this would be easier.

We just got back from the model.  I took a tape measure to verify the garage dimensions and ceiling height.  Both ceilings are at least 11' 6", with the smaller garage having a bump up in height at the front to 13'+.  Perfect for a hard top hoist.

In reply to JoeTR6 :

Well, Ok then, no optimal garages for you. (spoken with the Jerry Seinfeld soup nazi accent.)