1000 square foot garage ideas

[67 GTX]

Hello All,

I asked about garage building in a prior thread (Garage Planning Questions) and everyone was very helpful!

I was hoping to get people's thoughts on the following:

I am allowed 1000 square feet, and 16 feet tall at the tallest point.
I would like to be able to fit 4 cars and have a lift.
Would be nice to also have some storage on the sides and a work bench in the back as well.

Looking to do a metal pole building at this point.

Can anyone please give me some thoughts on dimensions to best utilize the space?

 

[ckessel]

Check out mine. 1125 sqft, attached to the main house.
Lessons in patience to me

 

[sam dupont]

Basement? They are nice on hot days. Gambrel roof is the most efficient use of space with a height limit.

 

[dvw]

Mine is 40 wide 24 deep. 3 bays, 1 with a hoist. the remaining area has a full counter with upper cabinents and a sink. There is enough room in front of each stall for the blast cabinent, drill press, mig welder, lathe, bolt cabinent, tool box, and tool cabinents. Even with only 3 bays torches, oil drain, trans jack is stored in between bays. Above the work area is a 24×8 enclosed storage area. There is a swinging hoist and electric winch that will raise engines up into it. There are dual stairways to gain access to storage of 4 foot wide shelves and an upper storage area above the bays. It would've been great to be 1-2 ft deeper but it's the max sq/ft we were allowed. If you are going to actual work and have a lot of tools no way 4 cars will fiy comfortably. Even my extended cab dually will go up on the hoist. But I have to slide the bolt cabinent and tool box over. I do a lot of work out of mine along with rotating 3 hotrods between the shop and the enclosed trailer. Can be a little snug at times but It's more area than a lot of people have.
Doug

 

[Bighouse]

38 wide and 26 deep would put you at 988 sqft.

I’m 40 wide x 28 deep and can get my crew cab Long bed truck in for repairs. 26 would be doable without a bench in front.

I think 2 feet shorter than 40 on the width would be less of a sacrifice than 2 feet on the depth.

Where in NY are you?

 

[Sahara]

Mine is 24x40, or 960 sq. ft.
not enough room for two cars and work space, really. You could do it, but with three or four cars I think it would be too crowded.

 

[kiwigtx]

Can anyone please give me some thoughts on dimensions to best utilize the space?

Based upon an assumed footprint of 25'x40', if you become a Maytag Repairman, you could stack 960 washing machines in the workshop - assuming they are all standard sized 2'x2' and 3' tall. This would allow enough room for a service bench to carry out the repairs, as well as some wiggle room to walk between the rows.

 

[eldubb440]

40 deep is the key........ my 30x40 space fits 6 and a bench.......if everything is on dollies, and pushed to the sides, there is room to work

there are 5 full size cars in this picture lol

 

[Richard Cranium]

Mine measures 50' wide X 46' deep (2,300 square feet) and it still isn't big enough. Should have made it 60' X 60'.

 

[Bighouse]

Jay Leno’s garage is a decent model. Complete with a body shop and staff.

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

you could stack a car on a lift.

 

[Dave6T4]

Mine is 25' wide and 50' deep, attached to my ranch house. I have hot water heat in the floor, so no hoist (my neighbour across the road has a 4-poster that I can use). Two cars wide X two cars deep, so it doesn't look stupid from the road. Four cars fit OK.
A four post hoist would allow you to stack a car.

 

[YY1]

My "pole sharage" is 30 wide by 26 deep- 780 sq ft.

Two 9 foot wide doors.

All my 17 foot long cars and trucks fit in with 2 feet walk behind for trunk and garage door access and enough room in front to have roll around tool boxes and a couple 24" deep work benches and still work under the hood comfortably with room for two people to pass easily..

Wide enough for both cars to have both doors open at the same time (I planed that mathematically before construction), or to cram a third car in.

If I had a taller roof and lifts 4 cars would fit easy. Just a smidge wider and a third door would allow three cars on the floor and one on a lift.

The wider than typical doors allow an angled entry (important since I have a sharp 90* turn leading into the building) and also allow carting things in and out without worrying about bumping the car inside. I actually drive my 46" lawn mower in and out beside one of the cars.

 

[PlymCrazy]

1000 sq ft is too small for what you want to do with it IMO. Could you make it all fit? I'm sure you could but it would be tight. Folks always told me "You can never go big enough when building a garage or barn".
I'm finding now they were right. Even at 36' x 48' x 12' I still wish I had more space. We always seem to fill what we build. Build what you can and work with it.

 

[YY1]

It sounds like the OP has some square footage constraints, possibly an HOA or deed restriction.

In my area, you can't have a garage or outbuilding that has more square footage than the residence.

However, that restriction says nothing about multi-story or a restricted height.

So, a really high building can leverage a lift (or two, or three) to get more cars inside.

 

[#41]

1000 SF will be a little tight for four cars, but doable. Under the constraints you have given, I would go 40 wide x 24 deep. Build a parts loft 7 to 8 feet up and 2-3 feet wide on the entire 40 foot wall opposite the garage doors with the 10-15 foot work bench underneath. Put the lift in the stall at either end of a 24 foot wall. You will need to have no storage on the 24 foot sides, because you need the full 40 foot width to fit 4 cars abreast. Imagine - each car is 6 feet wide, so this gives you just under 2 feet of space between the car and the wall at either end, and 4 feet of space between each car. More would be better, but with only 1000 SF to work with, you are limited.

This is essentially how I have my 24x36 shop set up. I have plenty of loft storage, room to store heavy stuff in front of the cars, enough room in front of the cars to pull engines, and the loft is out of the way of a lift.

If you find that you really need more storage and more garage floor space, then consider adding a separate shed. Most jurisdiction allow sheds around 100SF +/- without any permits or requirements.

 

[sam dupont]

No basement? A walk-in basement was discussed during planning for my 32x26 shop. Wish I had it now.

 

[eldubb440]

I added 18x40 to the side and made it a "clean" room...... on the other side I dropped a 40x8 cargo container for tools and parts, I had 9 feet of space to the fence

56x40 total

 

[Fran Blacker]

I put a 6" I-beam with a trolley in the rafters to lift engines. Used it for rear diff's, don't want to drop a nut. Think you should go 1200 sqft or you'll need a 4 post lift to stack a car as said earlier.

 

[67 GTX]

Basement? They are nice on hot days. Gambrel roof is the most efficient use of space with a height limit.

Not sure a basement is allowed. I'll look into that. And thank you for the roof idea.

Mine is 40 wide 24 deep. 3 bays, 1 with a hoist. the remaining area has a full counter with upper cabinents and a sink. There is enough room in front of each stall for the blast cabinent, drill press, mig welder, lathe, bolt cabinent, tool box, and tool cabinents. Even with only 3 bays torches, oil drain, trans jack is stored in between bays. Above the work area is a 24×8 enclosed storage area. There is a swinging hoist and electric winch that will raise engines up into it. There are dual stairways to gain access to storage of 4 foot wide shelves and an upper storage area above the bays. It would've been great to be 1-2 ft deeper but it's the max sq/ft we were allowed. If you are going to actual work and have a lot of tools no way 4 cars will fiy comfortably. Even my extended cab dually will go up on the hoist. But I have to slide the bolt cabinent and tool box over. I do a lot of work out of mine along with rotating 3 hotrods between the shop and the enclosed trailer. Can be a little snug at times but It's more area than a lot of people have.
Doug

How tall is your building? The area for overhead storage is a good idea.

38 wide and 26 deep would put you at 988 sqft.
I’m 40 wide x 28 deep and can get my crew cab Long bed truck in for repairs. 26 would be doable without a bench in front.
I think 2 feet shorter than 40 on the width would be less of a sacrifice than 2 feet on the depth.
Where in NY are you?

Ya I was originally thinking 40 wide by 25 deep to max out the 1000. I can see how having more depth would be benefitial. But then taking away from the wide means tighter between cars (and harder to open doors). I know, everything is a compromise.
Used to be in Brooklyn.

Mine is 24x40, or 960 sq. ft.
not enough room for two cars and work space, really. You could do it, but with three or four cars I think it would be too crowded.

Are you 24' wide?