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OT: Garage doors- 2 single doors vs 1 double door

Sorry if I missed what is above the garage. If it’s living space, they will design for proper load in pounds per sq ft. A lot of time that space is wasted space with no design load. The bottom chord is the wood member that forms the base of the triangulated truss. When it is deeper (like 2x8 vs 2x4), it can handle more load.
Got it. Yes, there will be livable space above the garage. Then I assume some small attic space above it.
 
I would assume you are having the ceiling system (second floor) and header's for the garage doors determined by a reputable individual. 30' residential live loading clear spans without mid supports will be more costly and require more depth to the supporting members and add more height to your garage, requiring more material. If cost is not an issue, go for it.

Have to go to bed now.
Cost is always an issue, I guess it just depends on how much cost. I have a designer doing the plans for the project and he provides floor plans, elevations, construction drawings, and engineered drawings.
 
If it's possible to go to 26' wide rather than 24', it's worth doing.
 
Bit then I’ll need a beam in the middle of the garage, or major upsizing on manufactured floor joists.

I'm not sure why these structural questions are coming up. Aren't you having an architect and engineer design this garage addition for you? These should be easy issues for them to answer for you. Bottomline, 24x30 spans are beyond the capability of standard 2x framing and you'll need columns (in wall) and a wood or steel beam bisecting one of spans, or you can use floor trusses or glulam framing and they'll determine the appropriate sizes and spacing for you. Seems like floor trusses is the direction you'll be going, of course they will likely cost you more.

Are the walls of the garage 2x4's or 2x6's?

Will the floor above the garage have to match up with the floor in the existing house or is the space above separate from the rest of the house where the height doesn't matter?

ps.... putting livable space above a garage makes me nervous because the space will be more difficult to cool and heat. I would over insulate the ceiling of the garage using spray foam insulation.
 
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I'm not sure why these structural questions are coming up. Aren't you having an architect and engineer design this garage addition for you? These should be easy issues for them to answer for you. Bottomline, 24x30 spans are beyond the capability of standard 2x framing and you'll need columns (in wall) and a wood or steel beam bisecting one of spans, or you can use floor trusses or glulam framing and they'll determine the appropriate sizes and spacing for you. Seems like floor trusses is the direction you'll be going, of course they will likely cost you more.

Are the walls of the garage 2x4's or 2x6's?

Will the floor above the garage have to match up with the floor in the existing house or is the space above separate from the rest of the house where the height doesn't matter?

ps.... putting livable space above a garage makes me nervous because the space will be more difficult to cool and heat. I would over insulate the ceiling of the garage using spray foam insulation.

You are correct, the spans and engineering can easily be done by my guy. I just don't want to go with a size that REQUIRES me to have a post in the center of my garage.
As for the living space, it won't be heated and aired to full capacity 24/7. It'll be done on an "as needed" basis. That space will mostly be used for accommodating house guests.
Most stick built houses and additions are 2x4's down here. I hope I can do 2x4's with this project.
 
You are correct, the spans and engineering can easily be done by my guy. I just don't want to go with a size that REQUIRES me to have a post in the center of my garage.
As for the living space, it won't be heated and aired to full capacity 24/7. It'll be done on an "as needed" basis. That space will mostly be used for accommodating house guests.
Most stick built houses and additions are 2x4's down here. I hope I can do 2x4's with this project.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't think that you'll need a column in the center of the garage, just a beam down the center supported at the ends with hidden columns in the wall. You're not objecting to an beam below the ceiling are you? The beam can be steel or glue-laminated lumber. I have a steel beam down the center of my garage that's wrapped in drywall, I have a three car garage that's 30' wide by 20' deep (with about a quarter of the space above that part of the second floor livable space).
 
I have 2 doors with 4' on each side and 4' in between the doors. I have a Tundra truck and my wife has a normal sized SUV that we park in the garage. We have no worries when we open our vehicle doors hitting anything we have stored or the other vehicle. Plenty of room to move around the garage even with the vehicles and storage inside. This is how we purchased the home, not how we made it. I love it and the only thing I would think about altering if we built from scratch would be the possibility of using a slightly wider door. There is only a couple inches outside of the truck mirrors on the door opening when pulling in.
When a friend built his house, he based his garage design off of mine. He also used 2 doors but larger ones and only put 3' on the sides and 3' in between.
 
I’ve had homes with both types and prefer the 2 single car garages. Regardless, the decision you make will be based on available space and economics. However, if neither is an issue get the single car garages.
 
As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't think that you'll need a column in the center of the garage, just a beam down the center supported at the ends with hidden columns in the wall. You're not objecting to an beam below the ceiling are you? The beam can be steel or glue-laminated lumber. I have a steel beam down the center of my garage that's wrapped in drywall, I have a three car garage that's 30' wide by 20' deep (with about a quarter of the space above that part of the second floor livable space).
Correct- I do not object to a lowered beam in the ceiling. Just not wanting something to bang car doors against. Thx!
 
I have 2 doors with 4' on each side and 4' in between the doors. I have a Tundra truck and my wife has a normal sized SUV that we park in the garage. We have no worries when we open our vehicle doors hitting anything we have stored or the other vehicle. Plenty of room to move around the garage even with the vehicles and storage inside. This is how we purchased the home, not how we made it. I love it and the only thing I would think about altering if we built from scratch would be the possibility of using a slightly wider door. There is only a couple inches outside of the truck mirrors on the door opening when pulling in.
When a friend built his house, he based his garage design off of mine. He also used 2 doors but larger ones and only put 3' on the sides and 3' in between.
I assume you have 8' doors? It sounds like you have a 28' wide garage? 4+4+4+8+8, correct?
 
You are correct, the spans and engineering can easily be done by my guy. I just don't want to go with a size that REQUIRES me to have a post in the center of my garage.
As for the living space, it won't be heated and aired to full capacity 24/7. It'll be done on an "as needed" basis. That space will mostly be used for accommodating house guests.
Most stick built houses and additions are 2x4's down here. I hope I can do 2x4's with this project.

There is no size that vREQUIRES a center post. Have you never seen a domed stadium. If your garage is smaller than that v you need no post.

But the truth is that your not be asking v these questions b at v all, certainly not here, if your "guy" was any good. You'd already know all this.
 
There is no size that vREQUIRES a center post. Have you never seen a domed stadium. If your garage is smaller than that v you need no post.

But the truth is that your not be asking v these questions b at v all, certainly not here, if your "guy" was any good. You'd already know all this.

Thanks v for your b input. It was v so valuable to me b. Please don't mind b that I don't v reply to you v going forward b as I won't see your posts in the future.
 
Bit then I’ll need a beam in the middle of the garage, or major upsizing on manufactured floor joists.
not a big deal- an lvl or steel beam running front to back in the garage, no post in the middle, still plenty of headroom under the beam (where it's not needed, BTW) or use engineered joists or attic trusses and just span the whole thing- lots of ways to skin the cat- your engineer will know all of them, I'm sure
 
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Btw- if your roof ridge runs left to right rather than front to rear, making the garage wider would have ne effect on the floor joist span anyway- I have been assuming the ridge runs front to rear, in which case the span IS impacted
 
My garage has 2 single doors and partial living space above, so there is an I-Beam running down the middle. The posts are on either end, one between the garage doors and the other in the wall between the garage and home office. The I-Beam through the garage is framed and wrapped with drywall as the entire interior of the garage is insulated and finished... I painted it because I can't stand the look of taped and mudded drywall without paint. LOL

My wife and I are building a new home, so this topic is of great interest to me! Lots of good info in here!
 
Btw- if your roof ridge runs left to right rather than front to rear, making the garage wider would have ne effect on the floor joist span anyway- I have been assuming the ridge runs front to rear, in which case the span IS impacted
Probably something along the lines of this.
51e575824a10b7bebf51d46f5af4720a.jpg
 
My garage has 2 single doors and partial living space above, so there is an I-Beam running down the middle. The posts are on either end, one between the garage doors and the other in the wall between the garage and home office. The I-Beam through the garage is framed and wrapped with drywall as the entire interior of the garage is insulated and finished... I painted it because I can't stand the look of taped and mudded drywall without paint. LOL

My wife and I are building a new home, so this topic is of great interest to me! Lots of good info in here!

This solution would be absolutely acceptable to me. Yes, lots of good info in this thread. Good luck with your new build!
 
I would go with the single door. More options in terms of getting things in and out. Also in a pinch you could probably even squeeze 3 cars in if you needed to. (Hail Storm, Big Snowstorm) I agree two doors probably looks better but in my experience the single door is more practical.

In regards to the width. I'm guessing on of the main reasons it is 24' is because standard building materials come in 8 foot lengths. If you go to 26 or 28 you'll end up costing a lot more and end up wasting a bunch of material as it just gets cut off.

I once built a house with a 22' garage. The builder told me he could have just as easily made it 24' for no additional cost and actually would have saved him time in labor.
 
I would go with the single door. More options in terms of getting things in and out. Also in a pinch you could probably even squeeze 3 cars in if you needed to. (Hail Storm, Big Snowstorm) I agree two doors probably looks better but in my experience the single door is more practical.

In regards to the width. I'm guessing on of the main reasons it is 24' is because standard building materials come in 8 foot lengths. If you go to 26 or 28 you'll end up costing a lot more and end up wasting a bunch of material as it just gets cut off.

I once built a house with a 22' garage. The builder told me he could have just as easily made it 24' for no additional cost and actually would have saved him time in labor.
Good info. Thx for response. Yes, 24' is a nice even number in the construction trade :)
 
One issue you will have is that room above the garage will always be colder than the others unless you really target that room with its own heating/AC unit. (assuming you live in a northern climate) As such, I always recommend two doors to mitigate lost heat when a car needs to move out. I also like the two door look.
 
Probably something along the lines of this.
51e575824a10b7bebf51d46f5af4720a.jpg
what I pictured originally- so the joists or trusses will run left to right and if you widen the garage it does increase the span- but it would still be very manageable. I just don't like 24' garages- they just seem too tight to me for two vehicles plus the other stuff we all keep in garages
 
Two smaller doors always looked cheesy to me. Also, more accidents seem to occur with two smaller doors (a wife or teenager can't manage to back a car out without hitting the side of a garage, so give them the space they need). Yeah, I personally hate them. But that's JMO.
 
what I pictured originally- so the joists or trusses will run left to right and if you widen the garage it does increase the span- but it would still be very manageable. I just don't like 24' garages- they just seem too tight to me for two vehicles plus the other stuff we all keep in garages
guy down the road from me put in these glass/plastic opaque doors. You can't see in unless the garage light is on. Now, he's got a shelby cobra so that has something to do with it....but it looks awesome.

1965-Shelby-Cobra-american-classics--Car-100989783-934069d8ff541d7562488abe32bd2b00.jpg
 
I have a 2+ car garage with one big door. I recommend the big door for ease of parking large vehicles and for more flexibility (i.e. if I had to store a boat or something temporarily, I could).

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned is that if you have a big door you need a more powerful garage door opener. Even though mine is theoretically powerful enough, on very cold days, it struggles to open the large single door (sometimes I have to help the door by hand).

Just another consideration...
 
One issue you will have is that room above the garage will always be colder than the others unless you really target that room with its own heating/AC unit. (assuming you live in a northern climate) As such, I always recommend two doors to mitigate lost heat when a car needs to move out. I also like the two door look.
Although the room will most likely be on the same HVAC system, it will have it's own zone with it's own thermostat, so it shouldn't be colder than any other room. Also, it's in NC, so cold winters aren't a concern. Thx.
 
what I pictured originally- so the joists or trusses will run left to right and if you widen the garage it does increase the span- but it would still be very manageable. I just don't like 24' garages- they just seem too tight to me for two vehicles plus the other stuff we all keep in garages
Correct. Also, 24' would actually be the widest garage in my neighborhood. Most of the original garages with these houses built in the early 80's are 21' wide. Plus, being 30' deep gives me storage on the back end.
 
Two smaller doors always looked cheesy to me. Also, more accidents seem to occur with two smaller doors (a wife or teenager can't manage to back a car out without hitting the side of a garage, so give them the space they need). Yeah, I personally hate them. But that's JMO.
I guess look is a personal preference. But good points on bad drivers.
 
I have a 2+ car garage with one big door. I recommend the big door for ease of parking large vehicles and for more flexibility (i.e. if I had to store a boat or something temporarily, I could).

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned is that if you have a big door you need a more powerful garage door opener. Even though mine is theoretically powerful enough, on very cold days, it struggles to open the large single door (sometimes I have to help the door by hand).

Just another consideration...
Thanks for feedback.
 
You are correct, the spans and engineering can easily be done by my guy. I just don't want to go with a size that REQUIRES me to have a post in the center of my garage.
As for the living space, it won't be heated and aired to full capacity 24/7. It'll be done on an "as needed" basis. That space will mostly be used for accommodating house guests.
Most stick built houses and additions are 2x4's down here. I hope I can do 2x4's with this project.
Here is a pic of the garage ceiling in a house I built, which had living space above it.
I had an 8 ft and 16? ft door, and a entry door as well. I can't remember the dimensions, but was at least 24' deep and 30' wide.
I am not sure what those 'structural' beams/trusses were called, but I did not have any posts in the garage. They were probably expensive, but I was building my dream house lol and didn't care.
And the living space was not a trampoline.
Haven't seen it mentioned, but I would consider an entry door as well. Not a requirement, but something to consider.
V2Vs8h0.jpg


izCYqX8.jpg
 
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Here is a pic of the garage ceiling in a house I built, which had living space above it.
I had an 8 ft and 16? ft door, and a entry door as well. I can't remember the dimensions, but was at least 24' deep and 30' wide.
I am not sure what those 'structural' beams/trusses were called, but I did not have any posts in the garage. They were probably expensive, but I was building my dream house lol and didn't care.
And the living space was not a trampoline.
Haven't seen it mentioned, but I would consider an entry door as well. Not a requirement, but something to consider.
V2Vs8h0.jpg


izCYqX8.jpg
Great info, thanks for sharing. I will be adding a man door, but it will be on the side of the garage, not the front.
 
Great info, thanks for sharing. I will be adding a man door, but it will be on the side of the garage, not the front.
Another thing .... if you go with 2 doors, I would recommend more spacing on the outsides than between the doors. Assuming there is an entry into the house, I would want 4' on the house side (which is there if you put the front facing door which it sounds like you aren't), and the more space on the other side the better for storing all your stuff (bikes/mower/etc)
 
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