Is my potential double garage build too small?

Hi, I asked for a big garage but this is what the builder sent to me. Is this too small? He was saying the size shown is the internal size and it’s 100mm bigger than the minimum requirements width wise.

What do you guys think? We currently only have 2 small cars (toyota corollas) but you never know in the future.

very small garage. should be at least 6x6

That’s the internal measurements. Adds 200mm for the walls and the final measurements come to 5.9x6.8, well thats what the sales guy said. Not sure if thats true or not because it looks small

That's going to be tight.
Width wise is the problem. Getting in and out of cars without damaging doors and squeezing through is my challenge. I've got very similar width 5.5m and i find that one car needs to be backed in so I can park hard up against the right hand side to allow the driver's door to have good open access with the opposite car also having good access in the middle.
Not ideal as our children need to get in and shuffle over and the front passenger need to wait outside.....
The next challenge I have is depth. To access my internal door I have a brick on the ground so I can park close enough to the door, but still open and swing it.
Personally I'd say 6x6 would be perfect for a tandem for 90% of vehicles.
Btw. You need to base your measurements off internal dimensions.

Very tight garage, especially if you want to open your doors and get out!

I agree that 6 x 6 should be a minimum otherwise there wont be any room to store tools or a lawnmower etc

Where are you building? As a building designer I know in QLD the Queensland Development Code (QDC) specifies the minimum requirements for a double garage to be 5.70m wide x 6.00m deep. Anything less is non compliant. However very few certifiers and draftspersons pick up on this...

Check your local regulations because what's currently drawn I would consider unusable even with 2 small cars.

Hope this helps,
Laurence

Thanks for the replies, ill ask if the builder could maybe shave some room off of the other rooms to make the garage 200mm bigger width wise so it comes to 5.7m internal (6.1m total) width wise.

Apologies the scale threw me off! On closer inspection, the width of your garage is 5.75m wide excluding the engaged brick piers. Depth is 6.41m so you'll have approximately half a meter of storage area to the rear of your garage.

One question, is the storage area a covenant requirement? If so the assessor may calculate it differently to what is shown (allowing 6.0m for the depth of the garage and the remainder as storage). Again depends where you're building.

[quote="l_vanslyke":25rilsp4]Apologies the scale threw me off! On closer inspection, the width of your garage is 5.75m wide excluding the engaged brick piers. Depth is 6.41m so you'll have approximately half a meter of storage area to the rear of your garage.

One question, is the storage area a covenant requirement? If so the assessor may calculate it differently to what is shown (allowing 6.0m for the depth of the garage and the remainder as storage). Again depends where you're building.[/quote:25rilsp4]

Yes storage is a council requirement. Only issue i have if i make the garage 200mm bigger, where would i get that extra space, the rooms are already pretty small ;(


[img:3tldood7]https://forum.homeone.com.au/u/89639_1559003959.jpeg[/img:3tldood7]

I find some double garages are almost impossible to get two cars into due to small garage doors,we went for bd widest width door which allows you to use more of your garages width,many I have seen don't park two cars in due to garage door width.

I guess optimal door width should be around 4.8-5.0 m?

Correct, standard would be 4.8m wide.

Okay the builder will now take 10cm off BED2 to add 10cm to the garage. Garage will now be 6.00 x 6.80. Bedroom 2 will be a bit tight but I think the extra space in the garage will be worth it.

You guys mentioned 4.8m is the standard garage door width, however should i get a 5m wide garage door since the garage will now be 6m wide? any thoughts?

Okay the builder will now take 10cm off BED2 to add 10cm to the garage. Garage will now be 6.00 x 6.80. Bedroom 2 will be a bit tight but I think the extra space in the garage will be worth it.

You guys mentioned 4.8m is the standard garage door width, however should i get a 5m wide garage door since the garage will now be 6m wide? any thoughts?[/quote]Absolutely wider door or bigger garage will be in vain.

I reckon the garage door is already close to 5.0m wide.

I'd also put a door out the back of the garage. It makes it easier to get gardening equipment and supplies to the back of the house rather than walking around.
Best bet is to have an opening and put a small roller door on it. It will be a wider opening and save you on going maintenance for a standard door.

Minimum double garage width according to Australian standards is 5.4x5.4m.

Generally you allow 2.4m width for the car plus 30cm clearance between cars and walls. More space makes a big difference though.

[quote="Bobjane":dwhsl0if]You guys mentioned 4.8m is the standard garage door width, however should i get a 5m wide garage door since the garage will now be 6m wide? any thoughts?[/quote:dwhsl0if]

Where did you end up with on the garage door width. Our garage in our planned build is also 6.0 wide by 6.5 deep and our plans show a 4800 wide door. Thinking this needs to be wider but don't have any experience with double doors to base this off.

Also curious to how it will look visually.

4.8m door is ok for a nice straight driveway, if you need to swing in at all an extra 300mm will really help

Thanks. We have the room and capacity to widen the door but also don't want to do it of 4.8 is more than enough.

We aren't a perfectly straight driveway but I don't think we'd have much issue with needing to swing in at all.

the front wall of the garage must maintain shear strength so you may not be able to go much larger on the door