Garage Width, What's The Minimum?

[Mountain Man]

Tim's post on another string got me thinking, and I just had to ask..... what do you consider to be the minimum width of a TWO car garage? I ask because we have some old 16 foot wides that agents call a two car garage. Also have some garages that include a door for a golf cart, that the agents call 2 car garages.

What say Ye?

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

We have plenty of homes here with 10-14 foot garage doors that are billed as 2 car garages. My theory is that you should be able to fit two normal sized cars inside and still be able to open the doors to get out. Can you really market a home as having two car utility if two Taurus' would not fit? Otherwise, certain car owners would not buy the house. You could have two 8 foot doors or one 16 foot door in my dream appraisal world.

Luckily, these homes are always tract homes with tract home neighborhoods. So, most of the comps are usually the same. I just make the comment that the subject will really only hold one car and the comps will really only hold one car unlike hour they are billed.

I had one today a partial garage conversion. One side of the garage had less than 12 feet between the garage door and the back wall. How many cars will really fit in that space. It appears to be a two car garage from the exterior, but it will not hold the same number of normal size cars as the neighboring homes. The owner told me the last appraiser said that was good enough and called it a two car garage. I did not, I deducted for garage utility. But they did get credit for the expanded living area in the bedroom.

 

[Scott Kibler]

I've had a couple recently that were billed as three car garages. 22 feet wide at the door, half the garage 36 feet deep, half 22 feet deep. You can fit three cars in it but only two by the door. Definately not the functionality of what I would consider a true three car garage.

This is probably a good example of an actual 2 1/2 car garage. :lol:

 

[Mountain Man]

Naw Scott, you forgot about the riding mower, kid's bikes, clothes rack-excersise machine, and spare computer parts storage area. That's what that 1/2 car space is for.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

We have lots of new houses here with 19' exterior measure width garages.

Better have compact cars.

 

[Verne Hebert]

A 7 x 16 is a standard two car garage door. this cannot be physically framed into a 16 foot wide garage.

 

[SmilingDog]

It depends on your local building codes.

 

[Scott Kibler]

Originally posted by M Leggett@Mar 10 2004, 11:04 PM
Naw Scott, you forgot about the riding mower, kid's bikes, clothes rack-excersise machine, and spare computer parts storage area. That's what that 1/2 car space is for.

Sounds like my house.

 

[John Wilson]

Originally posted by Scott Kibler@Mar 10 2004, 11:50 PM
I've had a couple recently that were billed as three car garages. 22 feet wide at the door, half the garage 36 feet deep, half 22 feet deep. You can fit three cars in it but only two by the door. Definately not the functionality of what I would consider a true three car garage.

These are sprouting up all over No. IL. as new construction options. Most I have seen are billed as 3 car tandems.

The option comes when that extra garage space is given up to the GLA of the house. You may only get the 2 car garage, but the house ends up with and extra 250 Sft of GLA. Looks the same from the front either way.

 

[Oregon Doug]

Depends on local building code. A real Hummer (not that new yuppie version) takes 9ft 3in. I know that 'cause I built my garage with that in mind - now, if I can just afford the Hummer!

In San Francisco, I remember seeing a lot of 2 car tandum garages - basically 1 car wide & 2 cars long. Most new tract houses I see out here have 20ft wide garages with an 18 ft opening. In the olden days, carrage garages were considerely smaller but some did include a box stall for the motor, er.... horse. (so, I've read - Im not THAT old.) Must have smelled really good on a hot Summer afternoon.

There is a House up on Scott Street in San Francisco that has a six car "round house" garage. I assume the owner stayed home on Sunday but must have driven a different car each of the remaining days of the week. He could drive onto a rotating turntable, and park each car in its own little garage space already turned around and ready to go the following week. Musta been 'cause there wasn't enough space to turn a car around on the street - not because the garage took up about half a city block. Ya think?

Oregon Doug