Garage - what is a usable size?

ScoobyDoo69

ScoobyDoo69

ScoobyDoo69

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Hi guys,

I'll be planning to start looking for a new home seriously after Summer and one of the criteria (of course) is an ample garage. I don't want a garage where I can just about get out of the car once the car is inside the garage but instead something I can use to work on the car!

In an ideal world I'd get a property with a double garage, but that's easier said than done after having a quick browse.

So what dimensions would a decent single garage be to enable me to have "enough" space to work on the average sized car? I'd thinking around 3m wide?

Thoughts?
 
Take whatever garage you think will "definitely" be enough. Then scale it up by at least 15%. Then you might have it right.

I've worked on a 1962 Beetle in a 24ft by 11ft garage and it wasn't enough room at times.
 
I am currently working in a single garage which is wide enough to get both doors on my MK3 Capri almost fully open and it has a room on the back too.

It's too damn small!

There is the possibility of us moving in the next few years & the only things I want as a necessity out of the move is a big enough garden for the dog's and a double garage!
 
For the last 2 years I've had a 6m x 2.7m garage which has been painfully small and actually resulted in me selling a project car as I totally lost my mojo for it. For the years preceeding that, I had a 8m x 5m garage which was great and certainly the minimum size I'd want in the future.
 
I've never seen a single garage which is even wide enough to open one door properly, never mind both. And watch out for internal pillars which reduce the room even more. Good luck on your search.
 
In my experience, UK garages are never big enough for the size of our cars these days. Even new-build houses with garages are far too small and would only be suitable for a supermini.
 
I have a double garage and it is big enough to park 2 cars, or work on one.

Very rare to get a single garage big enough to comfortably work on a car.
 
Rilot said:
In my experience, UK garages are never big enough for the size of our cars these days. Even new-build houses with garages are far too small and would only be suitable for a supermini.
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Ive just moved into my first house. It has a garage but its only 2.44 metres wide. I can get the car in but its a struggle getting out especially as theres a pillar jutting out right where the door is :rolleyes: The most it will get used for is tool and bike storage, and maybe to put the car in if we go on holiday, but its too much of a faff to use day to day.

Annoyingly the drive is steeply sloped as well, so working on the car outside is going to be nigh on immpossible if I need to jack it up.

This is on a house thats 18 years old so not exactly brand new. Still I agree and wish house builders would put a bit more thought into garages. Some of us still want to put cars in them. What a novel idea!
 
We have just bought a new build in Wiltshire.Our single garage internal size is approx 6.050m long and 3.1m wide.The narrowest point is the main swing door.We can fit our F31 in,at a push.
 
Conscript said:
Ive just moved into my first house. It has a garage but its only 2.44 metres wide. I can get the car in but its a struggle getting out especially as theres a pillar jutting out right where the door is :rolleyes: The most it will get used for is tool and bike storage, and maybe to put the car in if we go on holiday, but its too much of a faff to use day to day.

Annoyingly the drive is steeply sloped as well, so working on the car outside is going to be nigh on immpossible if I need to jack it up.

This is on a house thats 18 years old so not exactly brand new. Still I agree and wish house builders would put a bit more thought into garages. Some of us still want to put cars in them. What a novel idea!
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They put plenty of thought into garages, As they do with the other rooms in the house! They make them all as small as they can get away with!

(Particularly frustrating as cars are actually getting bigger, even the small ones! I reckon there are BMW "Minis" out there that have the same "Footprint" as my old Range Rover!)

My old copy of "Oldhams book of Motoring" (1930's) recommends that the "Motor House" should be at least 3Ft larger than the Car all round with more space being better!
 
I think that answers the question nicely. Get a double garage.

The wife has said that the one thing I really want in a house is a decent garage, so why compromise, and she's right.

Most modern houses do seem to forget about cars all together it would seem, single garage with a single space or no garage, two spaces. I think I'll probably always have 3 cars, if not more, so definitely something I ought not to compromise on.

What I find odd is just how many bungalows have double garages and big drives suitable for my motoring needs :D
 
ScoobyDoo69 said:
I think that answers the question nicely. Get a double garage.

The wife has said that the one thing I really want in a house is a decent garage, so why compromise, and she's right.

Most modern houses do seem to forget about cars all together it would seem, single garage with a single space or no garage, two spaces. I think I'll probably always have 3 cars, if not more, so definitely something I ought not to compromise on.

What I find odd is just how many bungalows have double garages and big drives suitable for my motoring needs :D
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Despite my earlier comment, it isn't always the developers fault! Most local authorities planning guidelines actually prevent developers from making sensible parking provisions on new developments.

(Some sort of central government green nonsense about "Attempting to reduce car dependency")
 
It is a bit of a nightmare looking for houses if you have more than 2 cars or want to work on a car. It might be worth also looking for hosues with room to build your own garage, you can build quite a big one using permitted development without having to get planning permission, as long as you factor it in with the price of the house it could open up more options to you.

One of the reasons the wife and I decided to build a house is that we just couldn't find anything that actually met our needs for a reasonable price, so that way i'll get the big garage (complete with car lift) that i actually want.

Edit: The bungalow thing is weird, i live in a bungalow and it has a huge drive that easily fits 3 cars unfortunately only a small single garage :(
 
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Interesting that you mention the building your own house. I won't go into too many questions, but I'm assuming you get the mortgage for the full cost of the projected costs before any building etc. starts?
 
You can get different kinds, the usual is a key release mortgage so you agree the total ammount you need and they release it as you go. example would be the land you want to buy is 100k and it'll cost 200k to build the house. They give you 100k to buy the land, you then use whatever deposit you have saved to start the build, they then come out and value it all at the foundation stage and release say another 100k, and again when the house starts to go up they'll give you the rest to finish it all off. The good thing is they tend to be interest only til you move in and you're only paying interest of what you've actually borrowed up to that point, so if you need to borrow 250k in total for the first year whilst it's being built you only have say 150k so are paying less interest.
 
I am in the same position as you.

Luckily the wife is on board as I made the effort to move over here and pretty much made it the only condition of the house we buy. It's also mandatory that we have some sort of garage, as I can't really bring the Evo over from the UK until I have a garage around it.

Don't want to speak too soon, but we're currently at the contracts stage with a place that has "ample" garage space. Like ridiculously ample.

I'd say that you pretty much are looking at a double garage at least for comfortable, non-claustrophobic car work. Cramped conditions would really affect my motivation to get out there in the bad weather and do car jobs. Then there is always the lighting issue. If the access around the side of the car is tight then light distribution from main and natural sources probably will be poor. Sure, you can have all manner of lamps, but having worked next to a portable-sun-esque floodlight-on-a-stand jobby whilst changing the clutch on the Evo - things can get a little warm ;)
 
Interesting. Makes keeping another home during the build more viable that's for sure. Appreciate the information. Thanks.

Glad I'm not the only one in the looking for the right garage with a house then, Dave! :D
 
ScoobyDoo69 said:
Glad I'm not the only one in the looking for the right garage with a house then, Dave! :D
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Haha totally.

House requirements:

If it doesn't leak, and it's warm - I don't care.

Must be big enough though so that the dog and I don't want to kill each other after 5 mins.

Garage requirements:

Must be a palace.
 
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