Building Garage/Shop - Need Opinions
 

Okay Folks - - I need some help deciding here.

We are finalizing plans for a 2-vehicle garage to be constructed (at least the slab installed) this summer. It's gonna be 26' wide x 28' long - - pretty much as large as I can go on my City property without a zoning varience.

The thing my wife and I are trying to decide right now.... one 16'x7' "double" overhead door or two 9'x7' single doors. The door(s) will be on the 26' elevation. We both like the look of the two doors better, and I like the idea of two smaller openings for heat loss during the winter. But I've heard people say that a single wider door is better for a shop.

So, I know you all have opinions, so bring 'em on...

:canada: :bowtie: :flag:

if ya ever gotta move anything big into the garage, your gonna be cursing that middle area where there is no door

to cut down on heat loss do a heated floor with the submerged tubes, i think you can do a radiant heat setup with the warmers on the roof

2 doors look better but one door is easier to deal with in my opinion. I went with a 8' high door in case I ever get a lifted truck. Something to consider. Buy the best door you can afford.

I am also hoping to build a garage this summer. I would like 4 stalls plus a little work area but I guess I will have to go for zoning to get that.


Check out the city of Winnipeg website. Do a search on there for garages, they have a whole bunch of files of people that apply for zoning changes they list everything on there, they even have pictures of the peoples yards. It might give you a good idea about the whole process you will have to go through.

I'm on the other side of the coin. I prefer two doors, I feel it's a lot easier to move in and out of the shop, just pull straight in, no pulling up, backing up, working the vehicles over to one side, because lets face it, what are the odds that our shops are going to be just wide open spaces and that easy to navigate through? Price is probably going to be about the same, so I guess that won't play into the answer. I'm building a 28 x 40 right now and i'm going with 2 - 10' doors..,............Jerry

Do the two doors, . I'd space the doors at least 2' apart. This will make it easier to access both sides of your vehicles when they are inside. I may be oversensetive to this because I have 2 kids in car seats and it is damn cold in the winter. So it would be nice to access both sides of the vehicles without door dings and cussing around the youngsters!

Just be sure you measure everything out so you can put a lift in it.

For inspiration, go to your local book store and get this book:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...0321477&itm=84

One of my coworkers has his garage in it (Chuck Higgins). The guy's garage is sick. Like, disgustingly sick.

I have 2 doors,and it's a tight fit getting the GMC in there without draggin the mirrors.

I have a 3' walk in door between the overheads,mighty useful.And you can open the whole back wall of the shop in the summer too:D

Sounds like you are stuck between a rock and a hard place with only those two choices. Personally, I would go with the larger door, because 9' wouldn't cut it for me.

Me....One Large door.

I built a 30x30 four years ago, I used 10x8 commercial doors. Cost $1000 installed, insulated commercial grade. I love having 2 doors, seems like something is always immobile in front or behind one door. Brian

what are the restrictions on the size of the building, and how do they dictate the placement of the building? my shop is 24 x 24, with a dividing wall in the middle. even if the wall wasnt there, with 2 cars in it, it would still be tight. i would go for a 28' width, and a 26' depth. that extra 2 feet can make a big difference.

The wider the better. If you go with one door put it in the center of the 28' If you put it to one side then you have a hard time gettin two cars in side by side. Mine is 30 wide and 40" deep. Now I wish I would have put the door on the 40' vs the 30'.

Mine is 32' X 32', and I went with two 10 X 10 doors. And a 3' man door in between. Definatley check into the heated-floor option. You can prolly do everything that is under the concrete for 5 or 6 hundred, and get the rest later. And lots of conduits for wiring. I put in four. One two inch for main power, and three 3/4'' for speakers, phone & data and TV cable.

one door

I would prefer 1 large door. I have a 3 car garage. 1 big door, 1 little. Cant fit the tahoe or the truck in the little door without a squeeze. Can't fit both of em in the big door since it is to one side. So little door is never used and wife parks inside. I ended up putting a huge storage rack in front of it. Would rather have the wall space for floor mounted tools and or cabinets. When I do truck stuff I put the truck in there sideways for maximum room all the way around the truck.

If you (or your Missus) are plannin on parking both drivers in there, I would do what was mentioned earlier and put the door in the middle to ease parking.