Garage door sizes: minimum, optimal

If before building a garage you want to save on gates, then you should immediately decide on their size. The fact is that buying a gate of a standard size will cost much less than those made to order for a non-standard opening. It is also worth knowing that for gates of different types and systems, the “standard size” does not match. So it’s worth deciding in advance which gates will be installed.

Types of garage doors

As we have already said, the type of gate must be decided even before the construction of the garage begins. And not just because of the size. Some types require strengthening the foundation in certain places, otherwise their correct installation is impossible. So what are garage doors?

• Swinging machines gate to the garage. Most popular and cheapest. The disadvantage is that it requires a place to open the doors. Sometimes this is a problem. The second disadvantage is that it is difficult to automate, so you have to get out of the car to open / close.
• Lifting.
  • Roll-up garage doors (roller doors). These are lamellas of small width, which, when opened, are wound onto a drum installed in the upper part of the opening. They work similarly to window shutters. Operated manually or automatically. Popular in production garages due to space savings, fast response and relatively low price. The disadvantage is that it is quite difficult to make high-quality insulation. If maintaining temperature is important, this is not your option. The second minus is low burglary resistance. You can find more reliable ones, but the price will be high.
    

  • Sectional. These are also horizontal lamellas, but 15 cm wide and more. Usually these are two layers of metal, between which there is a heater. They have guides on the sides of the opening, which, smoothly curving, go under the ceiling. When the gate is raised, the slats move upward along the guides. This type of gate requires a higher height of the garage: the rails must be at some distance from the ceiling.
    

• lifting and turning. There are several types – with guides and without them. The general difference is that the door leaf is one-piece (not made of slats) and it is completely moved under the ceiling or goes outside. Elevators of various designs are used to lift a solid web. This is the type of garage door that requires strengthening of the foundation in the area of ​​​​their installation.
  

• lifting-folding Garage Doors. The door leaf is divided vertically into two parts (there may be more parts, but the system will turn out to be too complicated) and are movably connected. When lifting, they fold, go out and rise up. When open, they resemble a canopy over the entrance.
  

In order to determine the size of the garage door, you first need to choose their type. For those views that fold under the ceiling, a higher ceiling height is required in the garage. Some (all lifting) have width and weight restrictions.

How to determine the size of the garage

The size of the garage is chosen depending on the number of cars and their dimensions. The minimum required for comfortable car maintenance is 0,5 meters in front and behind a standing car. There should be about a meter on the sides – it should be possible to fully open the doors, for this you need about 80 cm on both sides. These are the minimum dimensions for parking one car. It turns out that with a car length of 5 m, the garage should be at least 6 * 3,6 meters, and there is no question of convenience. You can park your car and get out sideways. Even sometimes it will be problematic to get through without getting dirty.

For an optimal garage size, you need more space, at least in width. The wider the garage, the easier it is to pass from the side with the car doors open. One meter from the car on all sides – 6 * 4 meters – this is the best option. It will also be possible to carry out elementary car maintenance operations.

For one car

As already mentioned, with an average car size of 5 * 2 meters (± a few centimeters), the minimum size of a garage for a passenger car “emerges” from the above is 6 * 4 meters. It is with these dimensions in mind that garage cooperatives are built for parking cars.

So, 6 by 4 meters is the minimum size of the garage, excluding the installation of shelving and equipment. If you plan to have something like a workshop, add footage in length or width. It depends on the available space on the site.

To make preliminary estimates, you can put a car, something that imitates a rack, a workbench, equipment, put a supply of tires, equipment that you would like to put in the garage. Try to walk between all this goodness. Imagine that you have to work, import / export equipment when the car is in the garage. So decide how much to add to the minimum size and where exactly – in length or width.

For two cars

If you plan to put two cars in the garage, you can leave the depth the same – about 6 meters, and the minimum width of the garage for two cars – 5,5-6 meters. In this case, you will have 0,5 meters to the walls on both sides and a meter between the cars. But with the doors it will be necessary to be more careful: open alternately and not to the full width. And this is the width of the garage. That is, car storage. No maintenance work. You can’t even check the oil level if it’s not dirty.

If you want to open the doors in both cars without fear and following the order, add at least 0,7 meters, a meter is better. And the optimal size of a garage for two cars is 6 * 8 meters. And, again, this does not include space for a workshop or garden / garage equipment. Someone makes 6*10 or 6*12 and doesn’t think that there is a lot of space.

Garage door dimensions

Actually, for the passage of a passenger car, it is enough that the net width of the gate opening is 2,5 meters. Even with the mirrors, most cars fit into such a passage. We are talking about the minimum width, so an inexperienced driver simply may not fit.

There are times when the car is only halfway in the garage and you have to walk past it. For such cases, the opening must be at least 3 meters. This is the optimal width of the opening for the passage of one car. In this case, entry will be free and hassle-free.

And the maximum width of the garage door is the entire width of the garage, taking into account the need to install side posts, posts or rails. Also, the maximum width is determined by the type of garage door you choose.

Gate width for two cars

If you are planning a garage for two cars, you can make two gates of a “standard” size (2,5-3 m wide) or one wide one. If you decide to make two entrances, separate the gate with a wall of at least a meter. This is both aesthetically and practically justified. A meter is the minimum convenient distance between cars. If they are closer, it will be necessary to constantly control the doors when opening.

For the passage of two cars through one gate, a minimum of 4,9-5,5 meters is required, optimally – 6 m. And a maximum – across the entire width of the building.

How to do it better? One gate or two? According to finances, it is more profitable to put one wide. Two of the same size will cost 20-30% more. How more convenient? Two entrances are more convenient due to direct parking – no need to taxi to the side in a small space.

garage door height

A few words about the height of the garage door and the ceiling in the garage. For sedans and combi, the ceiling height in the garage is not critical, since they are no taller than human height and calmly pass through the opening of 2 meters. But the optimal or “standard” height of the lintel is today considered to be 2250 cm or 2375 cm. Below they did it a long time ago, only when the cars were very low.

If you have an SUV, then the highest of them have a height of 2,2-2,3 meters. So the height of the gate for SUVs should be at least 2,5 meters. Ceilings in the garage, respectively, even higher.

You should also not forget that some types of gates will occupy part of the opening (rolling, lifting). So when laying the lintel, consider the design features of the mechanisms.