I am planning on having a garge built this spring. My lot will onky handle a 20ft wide garage. I originally wanted at least 24x24 but looks like all I can manage is 20x24. Wanted 16 ft door and a 6ft area to one side for shop area. Now I wonder if I should use at 12ft door instead to keep the shop area strickly shop, or should I still keep the 16ft door and live with it partly opening into the shop area. The shop part is going to be both woodworking and car shop - not generally at the same time! (I've learned not to take on too many projects at once.)

12 or 16 foot door?

 

Well the question is are you gonna wall off the shop part or leave it open if you are gonna wall it off, then go with the 12' if you are gonna leave it open then the 16' would work good because it would then be easier to get things in, and out of that part of the garage. just my .02 worth.

 

Unless it would ruin some other plan, I'd go with the 16' door. You don't HAVE to use the full door width, but it's there if you want to. Also, not that I advocate building for other people, but the next owner of your house will probably want ( and pay more for) a 2 stall garage instead of an oversized 1 stall.

 

plan on the future. do you think you might get a motorhome or trailer 5 to 10 years down the road? If so go for the 16. If not the 12. Also you didn't say how high you was going with the door. I would go for a 8 ft door if you are not going to have anything high in the future. If you even think you might get a large vehicle get a 12 ft door. It is very hard to change once you get the building up.

 

make sure you have a perfect plan before you nail one board up. changig things during the building project is a pain. plan on where the compresser is going as well as the other tools such as torch mig arc etc. HAVE A PLAN !

 

That's the reason I even am thinking of a 12ft door - a little more room for equipment.

If I do use a 12ft door, I'm going to see if they will put in a header and jam for a 16ft door too. So if I did want to convert from 12 to 16, it would be an easier operation.

The slope to my alley is probably going to be the deciding factor. The alley slopes too, so one side of the drive is going to be steeper than the other.