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What is the typical double garage door width on newer homes in different states?
I have a 45 years old home in California, and it has a 16ft garage door.
Maybe 45 years ago the cars were narrower.
My car is about 6'8" wide, and want to park a second car in there. I could not. It would only allow (16'-2*6'8")/4=8" clearance for each rear view mirror. To avoid crashing my car every day, I would have to drive it in/out with a <4" precision, successfully repeated 365 times every year. That is impossible.
Even if I could drive with a 4" precision, the garage is 19ft wide inside, I could not open the car door.
I'm thinking on moving to another state, into a new or newer home.
Do builders make more sensible 18ft garage openings these days, or I really have to drive with 4" accuracy?
No very few do an 18ft GD. Most garages in TX are now slightly less than 20x20 and the normal standard door is 16ft. You want to get 1 door instead of 2 since it will allow you some extra wiggle room. Many times you'll pay extra for the single garage door with a builder because it takes a stronger transom especially on brick homes.
Yes you can pay extra to build wider and taller if you have the room and you're building a home.
So buy a vehicle that has auto fold mirrors. Also learn to back 1 vehicle in so both drivers side doors open toward the middle if you have 2 cars.
If building a garage you could do two single garage doors with space between them (and possibly more space on either side to allow doors to be open. I have seen houses built that way pretty regularly.
Builders have always made garages as narrow as they could get away with. A previous house I owned had a single car garage with an 8' wide door there was only about 1' on either side of the doorway when you were inside the garage. The fact you couldn't open the door of my chevy station wagon didn't matter because there were two concrete steps down from the laundry room (entrance to the house) that ended exactly where my front right tire would have to set to get the car inside the garage (3" clearance in front and rear) Needless to say it was used for bikes, lawn mower, tools and everything but a car.
My current '2 car garage' might hold 2 cars if one of them was a SMART Car or Fiat 600. The one bay is too short even for the Chevy Cobalt I used to use for a commuting car.
In Alaska doubles are 18' wide and 8' high. Singles are 9' wide and 8' high. In Arizona the standard height is 7'. My Alaska garage is 25.5' deep on one side and 23.5' deep on the other. It's 23' wide. Because I have two single doors I can open doors on both vehicles without hitting each other. My builder told me he won't build a garage that can't hold his 3/4 ton crew cab with 8' bed. My Arizona house is 33' deep on one side, with the side by side furnace and water heater taking up about 20 inches, and about 21' deep on the other side. I'm guessing it's about 21' wide. If you're building, definitely go for at least 8' in height.
Double doors are usually 16’ wide, at least from what I’ve seen.
I hate them. They are so big that when power goes out, operating the door manually is a major undertaking. I hate them.
In our last house, I insisted on two single doors (9’ wide) with plenty of space between them so that doors would not hit the other vehicle, and so that bikes and other things could safely be moved in and out between the vehicles. The doors were manual, and I could lift and lower them myself without difficulty.
The present garage, oversize for one vehicle plus “stuff”, has a manual door 10’ wide, which is even better.
Is it related to the square footage of the house or the lot?
Or the home site width?
I mean available space for the garage, rather than building material cost saving.
For example a townhome in san jose has 1700 sqft, on a 2000 sqft lot, while a big house in Houston has 3500 sqft living space on a 15000 sqft lot that is 70ft wide.
Is it related to the square footage of the house or the lot?
Or the home site width?
I mean available space for the garage, rather than building material cost saving.
For example a townhome in san jose has 1700 sqft, on a 2000 sqft lot, while a big house in Houston has 3500 sqft living space on a 15000 sqft lot that is 70ft wide.
Well to a degree, it IS indirectly related to the home SF, but relating to cost.
People get so hung up on $$$/SF when buying, builder trim $$$ out of houses if the $$$ don't provide heated SF.
That is why you see tiny decks and porches, narrow driveways, and many other minimal home design features, including tight garages.
And, with the popularity of today's postage stamp lots, the size of the building footprint is a consideration.
Another consideration, locally to me, is the calculation of impermeable surfaces on a lot. Only a certain percentage of the ground surface of a lot or subdivision can be impermeable, i.e., not absorbing rainwater.
This is for stormwater management considerations.
Smaller garage = less impermeable surface on the lot.
My parents live in a 2400 sf house built in the mid 70's...they fit a 4 Runner and a Subaru outback easily...At one time they fit a minivan and an SUV. Two Car garage, one large garage door, and the garage still fit our bikes and whatnot. I guess it could have been a custom upgrade when it was built, but most of the neighbors fit similar vehicles in their garage.
My Grandparents lived in a nearby town and had a 1960's ranch...Also had a 2 car garage, though I don't recall the Garage door configuration. They fit two full size sedans (Cadillacs and Buicks.) I don't remember it being tight in there.
Now, a mile or two away my Great Aunt lived in a house built in the late 40's. That had a one car garage that was really tight for her Buicks (and she always drove BIG Buicks.) She could get out but she couldn't swing the door wide, and if you were a passenger she'd have to back it out. BUT, in the Chicago winter it was invaluable not to have to brush the car off before work.
In my area, it depends on the price range of the house and the size of the lot. More expensive houses on larger lots tend to have more 9' and 18' doors. Less expensive houses or houses on smaller lots tend to have 8' and 16' doors.
My husband and I both drive sedans and our cars both fit fine in our garage with a 16' door. But big trucks, no, they probably wouldn't fit.
Double doors are usually 16’ wide, at least from what I’ve seen.
I hate them. They are so big that when power goes out, operating the door manually is a major undertaking. I hate them.
Pull the red ripcord and the door should open very easily. If it doesn't, then the springs are not tensioned correctly.
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