New double garage - is 5m door genuinely enough?
Discussion
I’m currently going through options for a new build double garage with attached store/workshop.
Overall building width will be 9m so I’m lucky to have a decent plot.
I’d initially settled on a design with a 5m wide door as this seemed more than adequate to comfortably drive in 2 cars side by side and would allow for a roller door thereby maximising usable width and height. This would also still allow for a generous sized separate store to the side within the overall dimensions. Some of the garage door suppliers have also suggested 4.8m wide is certainly enough but I’m not persuaded at all.
I’ve seen a few garage projects where wider openings have been used and now wondering whether I should sacrifice some of the proposed storage to allow for a 5.5m opening. I’ve seen this in a couple of pictures with two large cars in situ and it just looks like there’s a lot more room afforded by that extra half metre - without stating the obvious.
To be honest I’ve not seen much online evidence of double garages with a 5m opening and two cars parked inside to use as a comparison. Any real world examples would be appreciated.
As I have the space then there’s no bar to going for the bigger size except for giving up some of the segregated storage. It does seem like there’s a couple of considerations though:
Up to 5m width I could go for a roller or sectional door.
Over 5m it’s sectional only due to weight apparently.
Really no idea at this stage what the cost difference would be like for like but again happy for any opinion or previous experience to draw upon.
Thanks in advance.
Overall building width will be 9m so I’m lucky to have a decent plot.
I’d initially settled on a design with a 5m wide door as this seemed more than adequate to comfortably drive in 2 cars side by side and would allow for a roller door thereby maximising usable width and height. This would also still allow for a generous sized separate store to the side within the overall dimensions. Some of the garage door suppliers have also suggested 4.8m wide is certainly enough but I’m not persuaded at all.
I’ve seen a few garage projects where wider openings have been used and now wondering whether I should sacrifice some of the proposed storage to allow for a 5.5m opening. I’ve seen this in a couple of pictures with two large cars in situ and it just looks like there’s a lot more room afforded by that extra half metre - without stating the obvious.
To be honest I’ve not seen much online evidence of double garages with a 5m opening and two cars parked inside to use as a comparison. Any real world examples would be appreciated.
As I have the space then there’s no bar to going for the bigger size except for giving up some of the segregated storage. It does seem like there’s a couple of considerations though:
Up to 5m width I could go for a roller or sectional door.
Over 5m it’s sectional only due to weight apparently.
Really no idea at this stage what the cost difference would be like for like but again happy for any opinion or previous experience to draw upon.
Thanks in advance.
I've got a 5m garage door and I find it a bit of a pain to park my cars in it. I have to do a little wiggle to get one past the other and then enough room to get out. It's not like I can go back a long way as I've only got 6m of depth to play with, both cars end up parked at a slight angle.
If you've got an MX5 and a supermini you'll be fine but anything normal sized you'll struggle. If you plan on using it daily then I'd get the 5.5m door.
If you've got an MX5 and a supermini you'll be fine but anything normal sized you'll struggle. If you plan on using it daily then I'd get the 5.5m door.
Appreciate replies guys.
I’m replying on my mobile so apologies for not quoting individual comments:
Ref having 3 single doors - I started with this idea but felt by the time the middle support and two wall returns at each side were factored in then each door would be on the tight side. Crucially my other half really didn’t like the idea of 3 garage doors so that kind of put that one to bed!
As well as being able to comfortably store 2 large family cars I also want to be able to put a car right in the middle and have good room at either side to do any work on cars. Again, the single large door suits this plan.
Depth won’t be huge - around 6.5m - so there’s not the option to do much manoeuvring once past the door.
So far you’re all confirming my thoughts about going for a 5.5m wide door.
I’m replying on my mobile so apologies for not quoting individual comments:
Ref having 3 single doors - I started with this idea but felt by the time the middle support and two wall returns at each side were factored in then each door would be on the tight side. Crucially my other half really didn’t like the idea of 3 garage doors so that kind of put that one to bed!
As well as being able to comfortably store 2 large family cars I also want to be able to put a car right in the middle and have good room at either side to do any work on cars. Again, the single large door suits this plan.
Depth won’t be huge - around 6.5m - so there’s not the option to do much manoeuvring once past the door.
So far you’re all confirming my thoughts about going for a 5.5m wide door.
MAVROS said:
I've got a 5m garage door and I find it a bit of a pain to park my cars in it. I have to do a little wiggle to get one past the other and then enough room to get out. It's not like I can go back a long way as I've only got 6m of depth to play with, both cars end up parked at a slight angle.
If you've got an MX5 and a supermini you'll be fine but anything normal sized you'll struggle. If you plan on using it daily then I'd get the 5.5m door.
I have a 8m x 6m and foolishly went for a 4.5M door and the above post mirrors my situation exactly, particularly as there is now so much cr*p filling up the garage. hindsight.......... If you've got an MX5 and a supermini you'll be fine but anything normal sized you'll struggle. If you plan on using it daily then I'd get the 5.5m door.
dscam said:
Appreciate replies guys.
I’m replying on my mobile so apologies for not quoting individual comments:
Ref having 3 single doors - I started with this idea but felt by the time the middle support and two wall returns at each side were factored in then each door would be on the tight side. Crucially my other half really didn’t like the idea of 3 garage doors so that kind of put that one to bed!
As well as being able to comfortably store 2 large family cars I also want to be able to put a car right in the middle and have good room at either side to do any work on cars. Again, the single large door suits this plan.
Depth won’t be huge - around 6.5m - so there’s not the option to do much manoeuvring once past the door.
So far you’re all confirming my thoughts about going for a 5.5m wide door.
How will you park a car (circa 1.8m wide) in the middle and get a car either side as well? Surely that will be very tight even with a 5.5m door?I’m replying on my mobile so apologies for not quoting individual comments:
Ref having 3 single doors - I started with this idea but felt by the time the middle support and two wall returns at each side were factored in then each door would be on the tight side. Crucially my other half really didn’t like the idea of 3 garage doors so that kind of put that one to bed!
As well as being able to comfortably store 2 large family cars I also want to be able to put a car right in the middle and have good room at either side to do any work on cars. Again, the single large door suits this plan.
Depth won’t be huge - around 6.5m - so there’s not the option to do much manoeuvring once past the door.
So far you’re all confirming my thoughts about going for a 5.5m wide door.
Go a single 5.5m door with a semi industrial/heavy duty opener. Unfortunately the door will eat ceiling area when it's open so you're a bit limited with accessibility to ceiling hung storage (only when door closed) and lighting (door might cover lights when open) but there are ways around that.
Rosscow said:
How will you park a car (circa 1.8m wide) in the middle and get a car either side as well? Surely that will be very tight even with a 5.5m door?
He means to put just the one car in the middle while he works on it, rather than parking three cars. That said, if there's enough depth or they're short cars, you can drive the side cars in at an angle and straighten up so they're slightly to the side and can't be driven out, then get a third in between and just about get out. A hatch back you can exit via the boot if necessary.
Such a waste of space putting cars in garages though, unless they're something special that will otherwise leak or rust, garages are for workbenches and powertools surely?
paulrockliffe said:
Rosscow said:
How will you park a car (circa 1.8m wide) in the middle and get a car either side as well? Surely that will be very tight even with a 5.5m door?
He means to put just the one car in the middle while he works on it, rather than parking three cars. That said, if there's enough depth or they're short cars, you can drive the side cars in at an angle and straighten up so they're slightly to the side and can't be driven out, then get a third in between and just about get out. A hatch back you can exit via the boot if necessary.
Such a waste of space putting cars in garages though, unless they're something special that will otherwise leak or rust, garages are for workbenches and powertools surely?
I'm just in the middle of building a large extension, and we'll have an integrated double garage 6.5m wide x 6.2m deep.
We've gone for 2 doors @ 2.8m wide each.
And I will most definitely be wanting to park in the garage - you don't get wet going to/from the car, and unloading shopping is easier!
The other half will no doubt be used for storage, etc. though.
Rosscow said:
paulrockliffe said:
Rosscow said:
How will you park a car (circa 1.8m wide) in the middle and get a car either side as well? Surely that will be very tight even with a 5.5m door?
He means to put just the one car in the middle while he works on it, rather than parking three cars. That said, if there's enough depth or they're short cars, you can drive the side cars in at an angle and straighten up so they're slightly to the side and can't be driven out, then get a third in between and just about get out. A hatch back you can exit via the boot if necessary.
Such a waste of space putting cars in garages though, unless they're something special that will otherwise leak or rust, garages are for workbenches and powertools surely?
I'm just in the middle of building a large extension, and we'll have an integrated double garage 6.5m wide x 6.2m deep.
We've gone for 2 doors @ 2.8m wide each.
And I will most definitely be wanting to park in the garage - you don't get wet going to/from the car, and unloading shopping is easier!
The other half will no doubt be used for storage, etc. though.
In terms of use, it’s definitely a luxury having the available space for cars. I’ve not got anything special to store (ironically had to sell the ‘keepers’ to fund house and now garage) but I want the option in the future. In the meantime it’ll be good just to keep worst of the UK weather away from the daily cars and in winter dispense with scraping windows!l
I’m no mechanic but would like to learn and do more - hopefully having a nice work area will encourage that! I am definitely getting a few workbenches in the non-car area and finally give my power tools a proper home.
Edited by dscam on Tuesday 24th April 11:31
Rosscow said:
Personally I'd go for something like 2 doors both 3m wide.
So would I. 3m is nicely generous for a single so I'd go with 2x 3m doors and a pedestrian door on the front aspect. From a security point of view any roller over 3m is going to need a ground anchor in the middle which is a lot of faff but without it leaves the centre vulnerable to a toe or bottle jack and enough flex over the span to pop the door.mel said:
Rosscow said:
Personally I'd go for something like 2 doors both 3m wide.
So would I. 3m is nicely generous for a single so I'd go with 2x 3m doors and a pedestrian door on the front aspect. From a security point of view any roller over 3m is going to need a ground anchor in the middle which is a lot of faff but without it leaves the centre vulnerable to a toe or bottle jack and enough flex over the span to pop the door.2 x 3m doors would be generous but you are then well into a total width of around 6.5m which is robbing yet more space from the area I’d like separated for a store/workshop. As mentioned earlier it would also prevent me from using the width of the garage to work around the car by placing the car in the middle from time to time.
Ref the sliding tracks on the floor thing - that looks like a pain in the backside!!
paulrockliffe said:
The track thing would let you move the car into the middle of the garage to work on it though. With two separate doors would you not end up with one of those bays where the car has space all around it so long as the other car is out, so you don't need to put it in the middle?
Right, see what you mean. Other than aesthetics of one door versus two though I can’t see the track option not being a deterrent to using the garage with minimum of fuss. Do appreciate the different ideas though which was the point of asking for any thoughts from the PH collective!
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