Two Singles? or One Double?

[Piet]

Well... third house... first garage.

I finally am going to get a garage. So I am looking for some opinions on design.

I am building a 2 1/2 car garage (24' long by 32' wide). 10 foot ceiling. 9 foot tall doors...

The question I have is; Two single doors? or One double door?

Note: I live in a cooler climate.

Opinions?

(PS. Any "If I could build it again's"?)

 

[MsSchroder]

I've had both. I think it depends on whether you plan to get automatic garage door openers (hint: the answer is YES!). One door means one opener, less expense.
If not, then a single big door is a lot heavier to open by hand and 2 would be the way to go.
I would get a single big door if I had to do it again. Correction. If I had to do it again, I'd have a 3 car garage
just my .02.

 

[corvettecrazy]

well after living in a house with a 3 1/2 car gaurage with 1 double an 1 single door and then moving into a house where you can only slide the vette in with about 8 inches to spair(total mirrors out) i would definately do a double doored gaurage.
reason, 1 easier to get in and out of , 2 no big post in center to hit 3 when doing projects on 1 car it is really nice to be able to pull into the middle and have plenty of space to work,

BTW automatic gaurage door is standard now, its like having a new car with out a remote unlock the doors, (cant live with out it)

MrsSchroder if you were to do it again you would get a 3 1/2 car gaurage, 1/2 a cars space for juck(lawn crap etc) and plenty of room for 3 cars.

 

[Rain]

I didnt have a choice. new house I am finishing(closing next wed) has a 2-car garage.
One big door - auto opener- yea, standard issue with garages these days it seems.
Working on doing the floor in there as soon as the workers get the rest of the oak down inside.
Using garage for workspace and storage this week.
We shall see what next week holds!
(sure once we all get inside our garages, we can find reasons to have a bigger one)
rain

 

[corvettecrazy]

(sure once we all get inside our garages, we can find reasons to have a bigger one)
rain

everyone else seems to find a way to fill their gaurages I am sure you will too.

 

[MsSchroder]

MrsSchroder if you were to do it again you would get a 3 1/2 car gaurage, 1/2 a cars space for juck(lawn crap etc) and plenty of room for 3 cars.

You are 100% correct!!! I will bear that in mind next time :cool

 

[Piet]

One of the things I am concerned about is -40....and a 9 ft tall door. I have heard complaints about trying to raised doors at that temperature is hard.

I am looking at aluminum clad foam doors.

 

[Dave L.]

Double insulated

I would definitely go with one big double. Much easier to move and direct cars in and out. My garage is 24 x 30 and I park 3 cars and a full size pickup inside. It wouldn't be possible with 2 single doors.

http://corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=177071

Dave

 

[Eric]

I have a 2.5 car garage too and I've parked three cars in it on tow occasions. No way I could've done that with two doors. I have one 16.5 foot door which gives me lots of room to back the cars in at angles and fit 'em all in.

-Eric

 

[Tims93]

If you go with a 16' door and it sits in a load bearing wall, make sure the header you place across the opening is strong enough to carry the wieght of the roof plus the additional wieght of snow and wind loads in your neck of the woods. I've seen way to many of the 16' doors sagging and causing problems a few years down the road. Spend a couple of extra bucks now, for a laminated beam, and save youself future headaches. If your having a contractor build it don't assume he'll do it correctly. The only other bit of advice I would give you is to try and build it so you can insulate the walls and cieling so it will hold some heat in the cold months. Good Luck and take care, Tim

 

[JohnZ]

I have 18' x 8' sectional steel/foam/steel insulated doors (1-1/2"-thick) in my garage, with an extra 24" panel on the inside of one with a "high-lift" track arrangement so I can open the door fully with a car at full working height on the lift (12' ceiling, top of tracks 9" from the ceiling).

The weight of the door shouldn't matter if the size of the torsion spring is properly specified for the door's weight and it's properly adjusted; I can open my 5-panel "high-lift" door with one hand with the operator disconnected.

 

[LarryNY]

Two singles or One double

I would go with the one double and absolutely use an insulated door. I live in Upstate NY and while it is not Canada, it gets plenty cold. The auto opener is a must as is the laminated beam. I have seen more sagging doors because they went cheap on the supports.
Good luck.

 

[JonM]

Without a doubt...1 big door...You will not believe how many times that support in the middle of the door will get in the way if you put two doors up. Don't worry about the header as mentioned above...just call the lumber company and they will tell you what size "Laminated Beam" is required. Also...go with "trusses" then you won't have that metal pole in the middle of the floor supporting the joists and rafters.

 

[Eric]

John,

Your door looks exactly like mine, is yours a Clopay brand? You're right about the spring, mine seems almost to lift itself once I get it started with just a light pull. Same closing it, no problem whatsoever.

-Eric

 

[Blade]

Remove the pull-rope from your Garage Door

I have 18' x 8' sectional steel/foam/steel insulated doors (1-1/2"-thick) in my garage, with an extra 24" panel on the inside of one with a "high-lift" track arrangement so I can open the door fully with a car at full working height on the lift (12' ceiling, top of tracks 9" from the ceiling).

A tip from the folks that installed our home security system:

Remove the pull-rope from your Garage Door, this is used during power failures to manually release and raise your door. Problem is that crooks can break-out a glass in the garage door, reach in and release the door... presto!

 

[John Mcgraw]

I agree on the single large door! I have 18' x 8' doors on both my shops, and it sure makes it easier to manuver cars. I agree with John on the high-lift door if you are ever planning on a lift. It is a lot less expensive to do when the door is being installed then doing it later! An insulated metal door is the only way to go for smooth operation and good sealing. I would strongly reccomend you reconsider rasing the ceiling height at least another foot as 10' is marginal for working on a car on a lift, you will spend a lot of time stooping over! My ceilings are almost 11' and if I had it to do over, I would stretch that to 12'. You have to plan light fixtures, ect. very carefully to give a full height lift with the car up in the air, and forget about standing up under my Tahoe when it is on the lift!
Regards, John McGraw

 

[JohnZ]

John,

Your door looks exactly like mine, is yours a Clopay brand? You're right about the spring, mine seems almost to lift itself once I get it started with just a light pull. Same closing it, no problem whatsoever.

-Eric

Mine are Taylor doors, made in West Branch, Michigan - probably similar to other insulated doors, although these also have seals/thermal breaks in the horizontal joints inbetween sections, and I had the door windows made from Lexan, not glass. It gets COLD here in the winter, and between the insulated doors, R-29 in the walls, R-58 in the ceiling, and insulating sheets under the epoxy-coated concrete, it doesn't take much to keep it comfy in the winter. The door headers are 21'-long laminated beams, and the 44'x 60' area is clear-span with no columns or poles - took some pretty slick custom-engineered trusses 64' long on 18" centers to do it, but worked out very nicely.

 

[mytoy]

My attached garage has two doors , I built a two car garage with one door I difinetly perfer the one garage door if you want you can park the car in the center of the garage if you need the room