Garage dimensions, advice sought.

[Hos]

Hi all,

Having just finished Stage 1 of 3 in our extensions to our home, the next stage is the garage.

I have a maximum width of 6600mm external, so around 6360mm internal width given we are building to the boundary with a parapet wall. Current dimensions for my garage are 6.36m wide x 14.02m long (internal), with an opening of 5.1m wide at the front and a smaller door for access to the yard at the rear ( 3m opening). This will be attached to the house and have access to the house via an internal door and access to the rear entertaining area also. I will also have a toilet, basin and shower in the garage for wash up.

My concerns are whether the garage will be wide enough to be able to park two VE size cars side by side and get in and out of the cars comfortably. This is the maximum width given the space constraints. I will pad the walls if need be to prevent damage to the car doors. I have planned to have a wide door at the front of 5.1m width, advised by my builder as the widest to go without needing to put in excessive beams/lintels above the opening, to make it easier to get drive in/out.

How wide are people's double garages? And how do you go getting in and out of the cars without damage to either the other car or smacking doors on walls?We can stagger the parking if need be, just curious as to how other people manage.

I am also currently looking at having a 2.9m ceiling height in the garage, to match the rest of the house. Can anyone see any benefit in lowering that height? I am looking at raising the slab height of the garage to aid a better entry angle and also minimise the difference between floor height in the house and the garage, as currently there will be 3 steps up to the house from the garage. If i do this the ceiling height of the garage will have to be lowered to fit inunder the eave of the house..

Do people still use conventional roller doors, or are panel lift doors the go now, that retract up to the ceiling (if you get my drift).

Any help/advice/feedback will be greatly appreciated, this next stage is a couple of years away yet so still in the planning stage. Cant wait to have it built though, then i can finally store my wagon out of the weather and keep stuff clean!

Cheers,

Hos

[TAKEITEZ]

This doesnt help you at all because you dont have the room, but our double garage is 6.4m deep and I think 9.3m wide..... :s

[VYBerlinaV8]

You should be able to fit two large cars in there, but if you put anything against the walls it will get a bit tight.

In about a month we're moving into our new house which has a garage 9.5m wide by 7m deep. I bet we still fill it with crap, though...

[motorin on]

I know this may seem a simple solution but why not find an empty car park take a tape measure and some blocks or bricks and mark out the size of your garage on the tarmac then you can try to park within the markers if you go over the edges when trying to open doors then your garage is going to be too small
Also if 1 car is reversed in then the centre space is used for the opening of both drivers doors,the 2 passenger sides can be closer to the wall

[timbo888]

my double garage on a newish (5 yr old) house is 5.5m wide and 6m deep.

i park my ve ssv and my wife's hyundai ix35 suv in there. i park my car as close to the wall as i can, if i drive in i have to climb over to the passenger side to get out, so i reverse in most of the time. this leaves enough room to get the kids in and out of her car without hitting mine, but only just.

if i had built the house i would have put atleast an extra metre on the width of the garage.

[Hos]

Thanks guys. I have measured and looked and put out markers etc but still wanted others advice and experiences. There will be nothing against the walls where the cars will be parked, to allow maximum clearance, hence the 14 metre depth.

Hos

[[Mitch]]

My garage for my cars is 5.98m wide with a 4.8m panel lift door. I park my VE R8 and Holden Colorado LT-R and can open the drivers doors on both to the first "click" while still having enough clearance to not worry about hitting walls or cars.

[dgp]

;2007670']My garage for my cars is 5.98m wide with a 4.8m panel lift door. I park my VE R8 and Holden Colorado LT-R and can open the drivers doors on both to the first "click" while still having enough clearance to not worry about hitting walls or cars.

Unfortunately kids don't care about that and just throw the doors open. My eldest is 7 and she knows how much i love cars and is beginning to understand but these things do happen.
To the OP, i think you will be fine with your restricted width but you will need to park closer to the walls to avoid dings.

[RAWKUS]

I'd rather have greater headroom than worry about an extra step up to the house. Down the track you could put in overhead racking etc, plus the higher the lighting the better spread it will provide. Panel lift vs roller, purely asthetic, but roller keeps the ceiling clear of openers, tracks, doesn't cover lights when open and the rear of the door is cleaner with no channels and hinges that panel doors have. I have a panel door as it's the look I was after, but prefer roller for practical reasons as above. 14m long is very nice, so some benches and shelving can fit in quite nicely against the wall. It's great to be able to turn 90 degrees instead of all the way around to reach for tools when the bonnet is up. Just a tip, ensure the ceiling is overfixed with extra fasteners especially near the cornice. The amount of carport and garage ceilings I have seen sagged is crazy. Have fun with it mate.