Jump to content
HybridZ

Frustrated with new house... opinions please


janaka

Recommended Posts

ok so i'm building a house, yay.

Anyway, originally we had a 3 car garage, a single bay on the end and a double bay next to the house itself. The diamensions are 24.4' deep x 22' wide for the double and the single is 11.4' x 19.3' deep. Thats how I liked it as the Z got its own bay/door and the accord/civic were next to the house. I liked the idea of the double door as it makes in/out easier and less navigating etc.

As per my other post I am/was wanting to do a hoist in the garage, well with the layout I can't get enough height in the garage with the double door and single door due to the placement of the load bearing beam due to the master walk-in closet being over the most inner-garage bay. GRRR

They were saying that I can have the hoist in the furthest bay if we change the roof line to look like crap (to attain the needed height) as well as loosing 2' of width of the double bay (making it only 20' wide by 24.4' deep) and make the single wider, 13.4' x 19.3' (the single bay has less depth due to the shape of the building envelope).

 

So I'd effectively have a smaller garage and a less desirable roof-line on the house. I'd also only have 2' between the lift post and the exterior wall of the last bay (read: useless space).

 

The other option they are giving me now is to do 3 single bay doors. This keeps the same garage size 24x22 and 11x19. They say this will allow me to have 13' of height which is what is prefered for having the hoist. I'm just not sure how I feel about 3 single doors vs the double/single and how it effects the usefullness of space especially considering the hoist etc.

 

I haven't even seen the proposed drawings yet of what the 3 doors will look like.

 

Does anyone have an outside opinion on the functionability of 3 single doors ? Should I try to have the hoist in the furthest bay or the center? Which would make the most sense for usable space?

 

My head is just spinning right now. ah.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't change the roof line to accomadate a lift if it will negativitly affect the asthetics of the house.

 

3 single doors would be the way I would go. I have 2 single doors on my double garage. It works just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1. i have been designing luxury homes for 10 years. 3 single doors would be the way to go and still have the house look good. 8' wide would be minimum. im not sure if you have the room for 9' doors. those are nice. plenty of room for the occasional off center entry into the garage. plus more room for a larger vehicle. there might be other ways to get around the roof line delima as well but that is between you and the arch.

 

jimbo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jimbo;

The doors originally were 16x8 and 10x8, now they will all be 10x8's I'm told. I don't know if that is even physically possible as the total width of the garage is 33' ....

 

if I can keep 3 10' doors I guess thats not bad as I won't be too close for pulling in and backing out etc...

 

where would be the best place to put the hoist? in the middle bay then most likely?

 

Jim if you have time or were interested I could fwd you the pdf that I have of the existing layout and see what your thoughts were on this ordeal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

send me the plans. my email is jim73240z@yahoo.com . i will take a look and let you know if i see anything glaring. if you could send the structural parts as well, the framing plans that would be great. i might be able to find a solution to some of the structural as well. is this under construction or only in the drawing stages? 10' tall or 10' wide? there has to be room between the dorrs for a structural wall. 2' min is required for some walls but i like to put 3' in between the garage doors so it helps eliminate door dings. you may not have that luxury base on your site plan.

 

jimbo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Three single doors symmetricaly placed, look better than a double and single door. Don't mess with rooflines. I also think that two single doors look better than one wide door. Also allows the doors to be spaced apart for more space between the cars.

 

Beams can always be moved or re-shaped if the design/build is in early enough stages. Can you mess with the property grading to gain more height in the garage?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will forward the layout plans that I have. I do not have the structural plans yet. We are still in the design/drawing stages thankfully...

we can only do a little with regards to grading as if we raise the house much we then have to add a railing onto the front porch which we want to avoid at all costs.

and the doors are now said to be 9' wide x 8' tall not 10', i imagine that is due to the walls needed between the doors *insert eyeroll*

 

Thanks

 

edit: main floor ceilings are 9' for reference ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have much experience here, but I'd just do the three single doors, and if I were to build a house, I'd do three single doors as well. I've never seen why people prefer the double door, but I guess that just personal preference. My parents house has two 9' wide doors, and there is no navigation problem at all. However, since my dad stores his Charger against the back wall, I can see now why two double doors might be handy... although the garage would then be smaller overall.

 

Anyway, if I were in your position, I'd just do the three single doors. It'll look and function just fine. If you can though, I'd try to get 9' wide doors. My grandparents house has 8' wide doors, and while they're not hard to navigate in and out of, I like our 9' wide doors much better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too would go with 3 single doors and I think 9' will be plenty.

 

And I have to agree with those who said to put the lift in the middle stall -- from the drawings, it looks like your tool chest/work bench is going to be against the back wall. When you're wrenching on the car on the lift, everything would be a lil' closer...

 

Not trying to hijack the thread BUT... I'd put a sink in the garage. Looks like it'd be easy to do (plumbing through the wall where the bathroom off the laundry room is at).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looking at it really quick,

 

1. masonry or wood frame walls. if it is wood frame, there is a 3.5:1 height to width ratio for a shear wall (so the house will not blow down) so a 9' clg is 2'6". this means that the wall between the garage doors have to be that before the structural engineer can even look at using it for the lateral (shear walls). this is because wood is flexible. masonry is different. there is no height to width ratio since it is rigid.

 

2. conventional frame or trusses. this is for the roof. i say 2x10 @ 12" o.c. for the floor. but the roof over the garage. you could have the single car bay (as it is now) a 11-13' clg with out messing up the elevations too bad. make a copy of the elevations and cut the roof off so the single side and raise is up to the elevation. that will give you an idea of what it would look like. it would be nice to have the lift in the center but it would have to raise all of the garage roof to accomidate that. it does not affect the way it is framed ( i think) just puts it up higher. i hope that made cense.

 

jimbo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that if the trusses for the garage were redesigned with a vaulted ceiling in the center, you wouldn't have to change the actual roofline at all. I'm not an engineer or anything, just a carpenter, but I have seen an oddly vaulted truss like that used before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having a 3 car garge similar to the setup in the pics, but mine is in the back of the house on an alley, I would go w/ the way it sits. If you ever want to pull something big into the garage you will be very happy that you have 22' to manage through then 10'.

 

Don't care what it looks like. Try and navigate a 101" trailer through a 10' door, not fun.

 

Too bad the roof line is the way it is. One thing I did was swap the 20' door w/ the location of the 10' door. Let my wife have closer access to the garage door for less worries on me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My two cents:

 

Build the third garage the same depth as the double, and don't put the break in the roofline. Widen the garage enough for three 9' wide doors, and consider putting the garage and the house on the same level to eliminate the steps.

 

Also, what's going to support the beam? Are you going to have a column in the middle of the garage?

 

jt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Use scissor truss over the third stall. They create a vault that will give you more height.

I had a three stall garage and what I liked is that when you heat it in the winter, you won't lose all the heat when one door is opened for a short time. If you open a two stall, all the heat goes out fast. + three stall looks better to me.

This is a house I built several years ago. Warning, not the best camera.

885645325305_0_BG1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My two cents:

 

Build the third garage the same depth as the double, and don't put the break in the roofline. Widen the garage enough for three 9' wide doors, and consider putting the garage and the house on the same level to eliminate the steps.

 

Also, what's going to support the beam? Are you going to have a column in the middle of the garage?

 

jt

If I could I would. The building envelope on the land will not allow me to have 3 stalls with the same depth. It was either this or I get two stalls. I chose to have two + one shorter.

There are no posts in the garage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...