One door or two?

[BillaVista]

Going to be buying a new house soon.

It will have a double car garage - could be attached or not.

Having only ever had a single before - what are the pros and cons of 1 door vs 2?

I'm thinking one double door is better - easier to pull the rig into the center of the garage for work.

On the other hand - 2 doors might allow me to keep one side a "clean side" - perhaps have a heavy canvass curtain or something down the middle that can be drawn so I can do cutting and grinding on one side, while a clean vehicle can be driven in and out the other without disturbing me

Thoughts?

[plunkinberry]

Forgive me for not knowing you and your situation better. But, the one door vs. two will depend on how the garage is to be used. If the garage is purely your domain, then go for it and go with one. However, if you have a wife that expects to use a portion of this garage, or kids (my case) that have stuff that takes up the second bay, I'd go with 2. Actually, if this is purely theoretical, go with more. I've seen an increase in multi-vehcile homes on the market recently. Things like 2 car internal with 2 car detached are not that uncommon any more or 2 car internal with large pole barn on property...

I have 2 doors and have never wished I had one. My folks have one and I found it a pain in the ass many times growing up...

[TheTonka]

The double door would be nice for what you said. Howerver than you really only have a one car garage. Doesn't it snow where you are?

Down here they are building a lot of houses with either 2 car garages and extra space in back or on one side, or they have a little golf cart garage at an angle. The golf cart garage is set up so there is a courtyard behind it with the front door in. I like golf cart garage setup, though the wife wants it as an extra apartment.

Like this

You might think about these ideas. If there is room get the single door and add on to the side of the garage or towards the back. My parents did this with an extra room in the back of the garage. Works out well as a junk room, used to be dads train room.

[tsm1mt]

Going from a 30x30 shop with 3 singles, to a 34x28 with a double and a single..

I think I like having the double door.

While it's wider than a single door, it actually takes up less space than two singles.

One shop had a 9x9 and x7 with 5' between 'em, the new shop has a 9x9 then a 2-3' area, and then a 16x8.

2x 9x9 is more overall width than one 16x8, plus there's that space you can't use because it's right against the door.

On a 24x24 standard 2-care garage, two singles would take up 20+ft of wall space, while a single double-wide door would only take a bit over 16'

More wall space for JUNK. Good place to stash the air compressor, mebbe.

Plus the single 9' wide doors can be a little tight at times, particularly if you have something long and need to "bend it" as you go into the shop (I work on my 1T crewcab long-box from time to time, and need to pull it in and then turn to get it diagonal. Much easier through the double-door than through the single)

BIG reason for going with a double-wide door. You can back your trailer inside.

Maybe not with a rig on it (depends on the height, of course).. but you could certainly back the car trailer in with a pair of axles on it.. or a body tub.. or frame.. or...

Try that with a 9' wide door.

[64Trvlr]

I had 2 single doors on my 24' X 32' garage and hated them. I'd go with the double door if I ever do it again.

[DRM]

a Pic of mine during construction:



I know, not what you were asking But I could not imagine just one door for my shop - even a double-wide style door. My front door is 10x10, side door is a standard 9x7 garage door. Having dual access is the *only* way to go...

My buddy has a 28x36 shop where access is along the 36' side like this:

*single garage door* *double garage door* *walk-in door*

Works well - his trail truck stays on the end where the single door is, works like a single garage "bay". The double door area is the "work" area - with tools on the wall opposite the double door and sometimes it is nice being able to pull a vehicle in a bit cock-eyed, and have TONS to room to maneuver around, and work around the vehicle, etc, especially if the vehicle (or trailer, etc.) is too long to fit all the way in - and you don;t have to squeeze through a single 9' wide door to get a tire rolled outside, etc.

But IMHO - don't really ever count on using a double width garage door as 2 bays... I just don't think there is enough room. Personally - I consider them "garage & a half" doors, just a single large bay with PLENTY of room to work on either side

[ironpig70]

not what your after but at work my office "shipping and recieving" we have a single door 10'and in the shop area the doors are 12' and its amazing how much easier it can be with just 2 extra feet.

[BillaVista]

Thanks much for the good ideas and considerations.

[Colorunner]

I've got a standard 2-car garage door. First time I've had a wide garage for my truck. It's very nice to have room to drive in/out. I've had 2 4runners both on 35's in there at the same time and had plenty of room to work if necessary and it allows you to get equipment (i.e. jack, yourself) thru and outside the center of the garage rather than on the sides.

As you mentioned, I also like being able to pull the rig into the center or offset of the garage for more workspace around me.

[Colorunner]

Originally Posted by tsm1mt

Plus the single 9' wide doors can be a little tight at times, particularly if you have something long and need to "bend it" as you go into the shop (I work on my 1T crewcab long-box from time to time, and need to pull it in and then turn to get it diagonal. Much easier through the double-door than through the single)

Seems the previous owner of my house had the same problem you have. He just decided to knock down the back 2 walls of the garage (used to be 2 separate work areas roughly 200 sq. ft total accessed thru a door in the back of the parking area) I am very glad he did it. Only lame thing is he left the center wall between them, due to the electricity running in it no doubt, but he still should have pulled it and re routed it. Point of all this being I like the extra front room this hack gave me

[Firefyter_Emt]

I will also vote for the wide door. I have one in 25 x25 garage.. I would also like to point out that it would be sweet if you off center the door to one side. This will allow you to put more tools to one side giving you a deeperwork area. BTW, it is not "the garage" it is "MY garage" there is a diffrence. The wifes van stays outside, and junk is not allowed..

[BarrelRoll]

I have a 25x25 detached "shop" at school with 2 standard width x 8' tall garage doors at school and have used my parents normal sized 2 car garage with a single door at home. I like being able to have "2 bays" at school though the standard width single garage doors are too narrow. I could barely get my f150 though them i would always hit 1 mirror on either of the doors and i couldn't fit my narrow trailer into the shop eaither. Since your in the great white north i'd say try and find a single garage door incase you ever have to work on your trailer or a dually in the winter time, the wolf might not even fit through some standard width garage doors depending on how wide it is. If i ever build a shop it will probably have 2 10' or 12' wide by 12' tall doors on 2 different walls across from each other so i could pull through with a rig still on the trailer

[Flatfenderman]

Hey Billa...
You mentioned that you have the option for your shop to be detatched. If this will work for you do it. Two reasons, first if you burn down your shop you still have some place to live and second, home owners insurance will be cheaper for the same reason....

Flatty