Garage Size: NN-7

NN-7 Garage Carport Size

There’s no standard size for a garage. There should be. There’s not.

FOR EXAMPLE (wrong, by the way) –
The perception by the general public is that a customer will tell the architect/designer/planner to include a “double garage.” Then, the planner will consult some sort of building-code-related chart to get the size needed to meet the universal condition for “double,” then transfer that specific size from the chart into the plans. But this doesn’t happen…ever.

WHAT WAS IS  :
The American Dwelling Industry is a creature of habit, though this applies all over the world. What was will continue to be, no matter how goofy it is. Ever since the original, oldtime wheeled carts, and horse-drawn buggies were first parked under a portico, or in a shed, size has been a problem. Since it’s invention, the drive-in buggy parking-hut has been sized to hold a vehicle made compact and light, so a horse could pull it;  and with tiny doors (or no doors) because they only had to fit a compact carriage.

In addition, cost has been of equal importance in every generation since time began. Budgets had to be protected, then as now. The importance of money allocated to hold a vehicle had to be weighed against other aspects of home, like wall finishes, fireplaces, furnishings, and the quality of the owner’s life in that home. Too much money spent on a place for a wagon to stay meant spending too little on the rooms where people should stay. For the builder, profit had to  be guarded because that builder had to live on whatever money was left, after construction was finished. A balance had to be found.

So, owners, architects and builders only had the limited freedom given by a tiny budget and the need to guard profit, to use hardly any money to build just barely enough space for a little wagon with no doors – a room that, though unworthy of its name, could still be called a garage, even if it wasn’t actually big enough.

Look around at any old mansion, or manor house, with a drive-through portico, or backyard car-shed. See how undersized they are. See the itty bitty buggy repository in action.

FLASH FORWARD:
Nothing has changed. Money still talks, and says, “I know it’s too small, but call it a Garage, anyway.” There are still no standards, though attempts have been made.

In the middle of the twentieth century, the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with the Veterans Administration (VA), attempted to create a broad set of standards for home construction called The Manual of Accepted Practices. It defined the minimum allowed area for single vehicles at 8’x18½’. It was too small, even then, because the standard vehicle size adopted was borrowed directly from the construction practices and habits of the nineteenth century. Well, at least they tried; and it was a valiant effort, even though the Manual of Accepted Practices was abolished in the 1990’s, removing the requirement even for a garage too small.

NOW WHAT?
Go to grid NN-7 on the Home Building Timeline to see numerous diagrams for sizing a carport, or garage.

There’s still no standard for garage size. Those who plan houses, by and large, still don’t agree on a certain size for a certain number of cars or trucks. But, at least there’s a source of information, Home Building Timeline. Go to grid NN-7 to see numerous diagrams for sizing a carport, or garage. Included are considerations for vehicle body size, door swings, column placement, headroom, and more than one vehicle. Study the diagrams.

CRITICAL POINT
Measure your vehicle. Consider that the area for the car must accommodate the vehicle you have now AND whatever you hope to park in the future, AND with open doors, AND room to walk around the car with open doors. Take notes. Give those notes to whoever is planning your house.

HERE\’S MY STANDARD : 11’ wide by 22½’ deep, and with a 7’ tall garage door, per mid-sized family sedan.

• For a Single Garage, allow at least 11’ wide by 22½’ deep. This will hold a mid-sized, family sedan.
• For a Double Garage, allow at least 22½’  wide by 22½’ deep. This will hold two mid-sized, family sedans.
• For a Triple Garage, allow at least 33’  wide by 22½’ deep. This will hold three mid-sized, family sedans.

Parking extended-cab trucks, vans, and boats requires extra room and height.

• For each extended cab truck, or van, allow at least 12’ wide by 24½‘ deep. Verify the needed door height.
• For each boat allow at least 11’ wide by 28½’ deep. This will hold most fishing-type boats, the ones with the glitter finish, as long as the motor/propeller is in the ‘down’ position. Assure a garage door height that will allow the easy passage through of windshields, canopies, fixed running lights, and any other boat part which can’t be collapsed.

IT\’S UP TO YOU
It’s up to you to tell the architect/designer/planner/builder exactly how big your garage must be. Follow up, often, to assure that the parking room you need is what will be built and available from the first time a vehicle is driven into its space in the Garage. You’ll be parking your very quality of life, not an itty bitty buggy.

[hbt_cta]