Ask the Builder: An inconvenient truth about garages

Eighteen months ago, I recorded a 30-second video that went viral on YouTube. It’s received hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments. Well over 98% of the comments said I had no idea what I was talking about. I never expected this negative outpouring of opinion. I thought many would agree with me.

You can view the video here. Be sure to type the word “go” followed by a period: http://go.askthebuilder.com/garage

I surveyed my 20,000 newsletter subscribers a year ago, after the short video went viral. The response was exactly what I had expected. Many of my subscribers have lived in multiple houses over their lifetimes. They were frustrated with the narrow and shallow standard-sized garages that are more prolific than dandelion seeds floating in the air on a breezy late-spring day.

The inspiration for the video came to me as I drove past a new home under construction near my house. The foundation had just been poured and backfilled. It was obvious the house had an attached garage based on the 16-foot-wide notch in the foundation for the garage door. The property had a "For Sale" sign posted. This allowed me to inspect the property and foundation without trespassing.

The foundation size and shape communicated two glaring errors to me. I mention this in light of the insatiable appetite of many homeowners, including myself, to accumulate possessions, adult toys, gardening tools, etc. I knew from decades of parking in similar garages that the side walls of the garage were too close to the edge of the garage door. Adding insult to injury, the garage depth would barely allow a common pickup truck to fit with the garage door closed.

You might have hot buttons in your life about any number of things. Perhaps you’re bothered by the design of kitchen tools. Your blood pressure might spike when your life partner once again annoys you with a pesky habit. For me, it’s garage design. Millions of garages, in my opinion, are far too small. The sad thing is that unfinished garage space is one of the least expensive parts of a house to build.

I’m trying to do my part to educate young and old architects, builders, designers and homeowners about the secondary effects of having a garage that’s too small. My goal is to challenge them to do the math, comparing the cost of building a slightly larger garage vs. paying decades of ever-increasing fees for on and off-site storage. I’m asking them to ponder the size of cars, trucks, lawn mowers, wheelbarrows, garbage cans, etc. These are common things many homeowners store in a garage.

Days ago, I passed a detached garage being built near my home. Once again, I saw the narrow 2-foot-wide concrete walls on either side of the garage door opening. The 2-foot-on-center spacing of the 13 steep roof trusses told me the outside depth of the garage was 24 feet. Subtract the depth of the 2x6 walls, and the inside of this garage is but 23 feet. The best-selling pickup truck in the USA, with the popular 4-door cab configuration, is just over 20 feet long, bumper to bumper. Imagine trying to walk around the truck with the garage door closed!

It’s possible this garage was as big as the local zoning laws would permit. I served on the zoning and planning board of my small village in Ohio for six years. I know a thing or two about zoning and variances. It’s also possible the homeowner didn’t think it through as to what he or she plans to put in the garage.

The detached garage I passed days ago had at least one thing going for it. The architect, builder or homeowner requested a very steep roof. This allowed for a giant room above the garage to store things. The factory-built trusses had a large rectangular space created within the webbing. The extra price for each truss is about the same as what the homeowner would pay each month locally to rent a tiny 5x5x8-foot storage space!

Lurking in the shadows of this detached garage is another specter. Without looking at the plans or walking onto the property, I have no idea how the homeowner will gain access to this large space above the parked vehicles. Traditional stairs against the rear wall will shorten one of the two parking slots. A narrow and steep fold-down staircase may be the solution. These can be extremely dangerous if you’re going up or down with a medium to large box in your hands.

I priced a few 16x24-foot pre-built outdoor sheds. Each one was more than $10,000.00. These sheds require ongoing maintenance just as your home would. Local zoning laws often stipulate where these can be on your lot. These sheds often have substandard floors that can rot out. The price doesn’t include a strong, level and square foundation.

You should think about all of these things if you’re building a new home. Do you rent a storage pod for your current possessions, or do you rent an off-site storage space? What are you paying each year for this? How much will the rent go up in the next five or 10 years? Based on the prices I see around my home, I can assure you that people near me will be spending about $40,000 in the next 10 years for an off-site storage space that’s less than 200 square feet.

I helped my daughter design a very spacious garage for her home. The garage is 26 feet deep. It has attic trusses above it, creating a huge room. The faces of the interior side walls of the garage are 3 feet away from the edges of the 10-foot-wide garage doors. The space between the two garage doors is 3 feet. She can open the doors of her large SUV and not hit the car in the other slot or the shelves along the walls. All of this extra space only cost her $6,000 at the time the house was built.

We did the math before she built. You, your builder and your architect should do the same. I’m confident you’ll discover it makes much greater financial sense to build a larger garage, assuming your lot will accommodate it.

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