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Double car garage - door width

AdrianD

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2021
Member Number
3967
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114
Currently building my 2 car garage (wife insisted we also attach a house to it....women...what can you say...) and due to various architectural, structural and deign constraints I might have to narrow the door width.
The plan is to have a 16.4 ft door (5 meters) and I might need to narrow it to 14.7ft (4.5 meters) to be able to keep the springs close to the entrance instead of over the middle of the garage

I've got a Jeep and a Miata or the wife's econobox to sit in the garage, so the cars are not that big. Would the narrower door be something I'm going to bitch about all the time? Previous single-car garage had an 8.2 ft door and it was alright for the Jeep.

And some pics just because :D

Going to have a recessed lift and a ditch
2lYZXMD.jpg


Crude sketch of some of the stuff in the garage. This is the larger opening:
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The opening between the concrete pillars is 17.3 ft now.
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What about the springs is going to require a narrower door? I'm not sure I'm following.

The wider opening is always nicer for maneuvering, but it seems that either should work.
 
The architect added some wood cladding over the garage door. Wife really likes it, so it's my job to make sure all the wood cladding is the same, meaning I will have to glue cladding to the garage door -> extra weight -> stronger springs.

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The structural designer added a beam across the garage about 4 feet back from the entrance, meaning the door rails will sit 8 inches lower.

The door manufacturers contacted so far said:
Heavy door and springs need an axial motor.
Axial motor mounted above the entrance needs about 16 inches of clearance above the door, which would bring down the door opening from 7.5 feet to 6.5 feet. And the rails would also sit low
Axial motor + springs mounted at the far end of the rails can work with the 7.5 feet height but that means right in the middle of the garage the height would drop to 7 feet
A smaller axial motor could be installed above the entrance and keep the door opening height if the door is narrowed.

In the end, the main wrench in the gears is the beam across the garage, which we already thinned 2 inches to have the minimum clearance to install a 7.5 foot tall door.


The garage is 19.65 ft deep and almost 23 ft wide, never having driven though a 2-car garage door I can't tell if the missing 50cm feet from the door would give me a hard time.
 
I'd hate to have that shallow of a garage. Mine is 26ft deep (actual is like 24.8 feet because of the 6" walls and garage door) and it would really need at least another 4 feet. If I pull a truck in, the bumper needs to be against the door to have room to work on the engine.
 
AKnate said:
I'd hate to have that shallow of a garage. Mine is 26ft deep (actual is like 24.8 feet because of the 6" walls and garage door) and it would really need at least another 4 feet. If I pull a truck in, the bumper needs to be against the door to have room to work on the engine.
Click to expand...
He looks to be in Europe, that's probably the equivalent of a 40x60 here :lmao:
 
It'd stick with the 16. Mine is around there and there is enough room for the passenger to get out of one with out hitting the door of the next, but that is with both vehicles parked as close to the sides as possible. Passangers in the right side spot have to get out before entering garage, possible to park it with room for them to get out but it's tight on both sides.
 
AKnate said:
I'd hate to have that shallow of a garage. Mine is 26ft deep (actual is like 24.8 feet because of the 6" walls and garage door) and it would really need at least another 4 feet. If I pull a truck in, the bumper needs to be against the door to have room to work on the engine.
Click to expand...

Heh, I got some flak from the wife for the garage size after the foundation was poured. Trust me, I'd love to have 12ft ceilings and an extra 3ft all around but this is how much I can work with. Unless I tear down the rear wall after all is done and then I can extend another 10ft towards the neighbors :))

We've got smaller cars and "trucks" here. Biggest I'd buy would be a Gladiator and that would indeed make it feel a bit too shallow. But apart from that, my Miata or the wife's econobox will barely feel there compared to what I'm used to:

puluTOw.jpg


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Fish-eye lens makes it look big but if I parked to have room to open the rear hatch I couldn't fit around the front of the Jeep. I had almost 4ft of room on the right and almost 3ft on the left, that was cramped.


Weasel said:
It'd stick with the 16. Mine is around there and there is enough room for the passenger to get out of one with out hitting the door of the next, but that is with both vehicles parked as close to the sides as possible. Passangers in the right side spot have to get out before entering garage, possible to park it with room for them to get out but it's tight on both sides.
Click to expand...

16ft wide door you mean?
 
Ok, so narrower door for less weight to cut down on requirements for springs and operator.

I'm sure that you can get by with the narrower door - just have to be aware of it when you're going in and out so you don't take off a side mirror or such.
 
I would look into those side of door openers, not sure what the official name is for them. I would do anything I could to get the 16ft door
 
SomeGuy said:
I have a 16 foot that I park two vehicles in...that's a darn tight entrance for two vehicles.
Click to expand...

I would also like to keep the wider door but if it's not possible, I wanted some feedback on how narrow would too narrow be :D

GLTHFJ60 said:
Jackshaft door openers, like the liftmaster 8500
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That's the original plan of the door reseller/installer. But so far the manufacturers they contacted had weird combinations of heights.
They do have one manufacturer that makes a door to work height-wise but not sure yet if they will want to install stiffer springs to counter the weight of the door cladding.
 
Fricking finally, the reseller found a manufacturer willing to add the right springs, install the jackshaft above the opening but it's going to use one of those rail mounted motors, in the back.
The motor and it's rail won't hurt my plans, the car on the lift will fit right in between the door rails and the motor rail!

I'll keep you guys updated when the door arrives and I start gluing the wood on.

kkwo0I3.jpg


Wife said we need to finish the garage first, to be able to move all the stuff in storage in the building on the left (grey roof). I can't complain :D
 
Weasel said:
It'd stick with the 16. Mine is around there and there is enough room for the passenger to get out of one with out hitting the door of the next, but that is with both vehicles parked as close to the sides as possible. Passangers in the right side spot have to get out before entering garage, possible to park it with room for them to get out but it's tight on both sides.
Click to expand...
Yep, might see if you can put 4 springs on (one on the outside and one on the inside for each side). We have a large door at work and it has 8 springs on 2 shafts that are hooked together with a chain.

AdrianD said:
I'll keep you guys updated when the door arrives and I start gluing the wood on.
Click to expand...
On the wood, does someone make "fake wood" (from plastic or foam) that you could put on to reduce weight?


Aaron Z
 
I spoke with a company here that makes thermowood and they can make thin panels (12-14mm) which will add around 130lbs to the door. Worst case I'll just use my router and make some channels in each piece to get the weight even lower.
I checked some plastic versions and they were all heavier than the thermowood...weird...

The wood beams and panels which are custom have all been ordered, only a measly $2200 and the door, motor and installation is $4300....

Prices here are getting out of hand.
 
The door should be here in a month, the wood should be here next week.
Fun starts soon :D
 
Jack screw garage door opener with wall mounted torsion bar will solve your spring problem. As far as the wood cladding on the outside, could you have the door wrapped in vinyl with the pattern printed on it? Might be worth a shot

If you need the texture, it would be more work but you could tongue and groove foam insulation then have that wrapped in vinyl and attach it to the door
 
KacksterK5 said:
Jack screw garage door opener with wall mounted torsion bar will solve your spring problem. As far as the wood cladding on the outside, could you have the door wrapped in vinyl with the pattern printed on it? Might be worth a shot

If you need the texture, it would be more work but you could tongue and groove foam insulation then have that wrapped in vinyl and attach it to the door
Click to expand...
No manufacturer available here wanted to build a torsion bar above the door and use a jackscrew opener :|

Since there is a lot of wood on the walls, getting the color right and keeping it matching over the years is difficult, that's why I wanted to glue the cladding on.
 
I got wood!

yPQAcWr.jpg


Hx4XaLs.jpg


Just that small pile of wood actually came out to $4500 :shocked: The garage door cladding, the structural pieces above the entrance and some cladding above the entrance.

The door arrives in week 27 and as soon as it gets here I'll epoxy the cladding to it. Can't wait!
 
The door...uhmm...came... :emb4:
As promised, it arrived in week 27.
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I'm still a bit caught with finishing the roof and wiring the garage before I can start on the door cladding. Good thing is I found some epoxy by the bucket and the guys who sold me the door used pieces of door panels to support the package in transit, so I have pieces to test epoxy adherence on.
 
Since I hijacked myself, anything obvious I should consider for the wiring? We use 220v and 380v here. I need 380v for the welder.

  • 220v sockets for the work bench, 3 on each side above the bench level, 2 on each side at 18 inches from the floor
  • 380v sockets on each side of the work bench
  • 220v and 380v sockets on the back wall (center) and on each side of the door opening
  • 220v sockets in the ditch
  • wiring for the in-floor lift on the wall
  • wiring for optical sensors to stop the lift
  • wiring for optical sensors for the door
  • wiring for the door motor
  • 2 lights above the work bench
  • 4 lights above the car spots

Should I run air lines below or above the plastering on the walls? Copper or stainless? The compressor will live in the work ditch most of the time, so the plan is to have one air chuck on each side of the garage somewhere. Or even just one, on the wall closest to the compressor.
 
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AdrianD said:
Should I run air lines below or above the plastering on the walls? Copper or stainless? The compressor will live in the work ditch most of the time, so the plan is to have one air chuck on each side of the garage somewhere. Or even just one, on the wall closest to the compressor.
Click to expand...
Below as in inside the plaster? I would say above as it will move when with pressure changes and could wear through the pipe, either copper or stainless should be fine (as should PEX if you can/want to use that).

Aaron Z
 
Exactly, inside, like the electrical wiring, thanks for pointing that out :D

It will need to pass through the ditch side and below the floor (5 inches of insulation and almost 3 inches of concrete), here:
rWAtnwb.png


I'm thinking about running a hose through a larger PVC pipe, to an electrical housing in the wall for ease of replacement and from there copper to a reel above.
 
Work is SLOW, so I mapped out the wiring in sketch-up:

uEbvKWX.png


Only 5 crossover points, I think it's pretty good.

Still needs wiring for an extractor fan. Any suggestions on CFM for an extractor fan to use for welding?
 
Are you using a directed fan - like this?
exhaust.jpg


Or just an overall exhaust fan for the whole space? You'd need more cfm for the overall fan than a directed one.

And this may be based on requirements for your location, but it looks like a lot of your wiring is going through the slab? I don't typically see that done unless necessary - like for the outlets in the pit.

And around here a pit would be an issue with insurance. They typically don't like them because CO and explosive gases can sink into them an cause you issues. Then you get into explosion-proof ventilation fans and such.
 
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