Garage: How tight is your fit?

[renmure]

I am in the process of having a new garage designed and put up with 3 doors. The door with will be 213cm. The widest car to go in is 197cm. That works out at 8cm (3 inches) breathing space each side on the way in / out. Lots of room when inside to open car doors but obviously it is a tight squeeze on the way through the doors. Anyone do this sort of reversing on a regular(ish) basis? Am I being a pussy to be concerned or should I stock up on wing mirrors?

(Unfortunately space is tight and if I want 3 doors that is the width they have to be)

 

[ALFIE CONN]

I am in the process of having a new garage designed and put up with 3 doors. The door with will be 213cm. The widest car to go in is 197cm. That works out at 8cm (3 inches) breathing space each side on the way in / out. Lots of room when inside to open car doors but obviously it is a tight squeeze on the way through the doors. Anyone do this sort of reversing on a regular(ish) basis? Am I being a pussy to be concerned or should I stock up on wing mirrors?

(Unfortunately space is tight and if I want 3 doors that is the width they have to be)

I think, if you have enough room in front of the garage, to "manouver?" the car into a straight position, you should have enough to save your wing mirrors.

P.S. This advice is for Men ONLY

 

[Ade B]

Have you considered side sectional doors which will get rid of the intermediate posts? Presumably cheaper than Ferrari mirrors


Ade

 

[ADY1983]

Loooads of room

I can't physically get my 124 though my garage door the mk1 golf just fits, I do have plans to rebuild it one day though.

Can you not fit a double door and a single?

Good luck with the build...

 

[Dieselman]

3" each side is plenty. My garages have less than this and I use them everyday and have only brushed the mirrors a few times, when not concentrating...which I suppose is better than reversing into a skip on the drive when on the phone one day......

 

[renmure]

Have you considered side sectional doors which will get rid of the intermediate posts? Presumably cheaper than Ferrari mirrors
Ade

It will be a steel building type garage similar to the pic so I am stuck with roller doors and supporting posts.

My g/f "practiced" parking in the same width this afternoon.... I now need 3 new broom handles and some StReSs relieving pills. She also advised that I "had better come up with another solution!!" (I didn't mention the obvious solution that was going through my head at the time since the broken bits of stick were within her reach.)

 

[Ade B]

Are you getting the garage designed by the supplier?

It may be worth considering a bespoke solution, it doesn't always cost more and will usually suit your needs better.

You might need planning consent btw.

Ade

 

[grober]

With the increasing emphasis on side impact protection cars are getting wider- not the dimensions inside but the doors are getting thicker. Might be worth thinking ahead to cars you might own in the future?
e.g.
Current Mercedes E class with mirrors out-2063mm
Current Mercedes M class with mirrors out-2127mm

 

[reflexboy]

Be very very careful with steel garages-My neighbour has a small one for his Harley and now no longer keeps his harley in it as the condensation drips from the roof constantly. Mirror wise, you will be fine. I get a Grand Cherokee in my garage, but only with the door mirrors folded in otherwise they will hit-Boy, am I glad they fold electrically!

 

[BTB 500]

Is there a particular reason why you need to reverse in?

My garage is tight ... less than 2" clearance each side ... and I find it much less stressful to drive in forwards and reverse out. Particularly at night.

 

[AFCNEAL]

Watch out for the lenght as well. My CL will only just fit in my 'standard size' garage with an old orthapaedic cushion on the end wall and having dismantled the door mechanism.......it will just close!..........

 

[jaymanek]

It also depends if you have a straight run into the garage... with my garage the drive goes round a curve, so im still reverse turning to get into my garage... can make things a bit tricky...

if you are reversing in a straight line, its fairly easy to judge..

 

[Ade B]

Be very very careful with steel garages-My neighbour has a small one for his Harley and now no longer keeps his harley in it as the condensation drips from the roof constantly. Mirror wise, you will be fine. I get a Grand Cherokee in my garage, but only with the door mirrors folded in otherwise they will hit-Boy, am I glad they fold electrically!

If he lined the garage with insulation and made sure of some ventilation, this problem should go away.

Ade

 

[recycled]

Most people like it tight.
that way it is a nice snug fit into the space and shows off their driving in skills.

But if you own a coupe with wider front doors than a saloon, it may be a bit of a problem.
i suggest 5m x 2m should be just about right

 

[renmure]

Thanks to all for the feedback. Garage will be steel because it is cheap. You actually get a LOT of garage for the money. It will be fitted with anti-condensation sheeting and insulated as standard so thats not a problem. 6m depth will be more than plenty.

I had planned a 9m x 6m deep garage giving 3 doors with comfortable sizes for the door, but, this needed a wee bit of flexibility from a neighbouring farmer in relation to a 1m x 6m strip of boundary land. The neighbour is now "concerned" about loosing this strip (he only has an additional 1470 acres) so to avoid him feeling claustrophobic I am limited to a 7.6m base length which is enough, but less comfortable, in terms of door widths. At the moment I reverse through a 6m door width so the thought of a 2.notalot m door is

Back to the designer guy tomorrow I guess to price a BIG door and a wee door.

 

[jaymanek]

where are you getting the garage from? Im looking at something similar at work as a valeting bay/ extra workshop...

Thanks

 

[LastMinute]

I find it much less stressful to drive in forwards

That's interesting. A W124 is quite a tight fit into my garage, and there's no way to drive straight in either forwards or backwards. I scraped both sides of my old car trying to go in forwards (nothing major - just transferred paint from the wooden door frame onto the plastic side slabs), and found that reversing is much easier.

At the moment I reverse through a 6m door width

Can the gf manage that?

 

[cjab98]

My garage is a bit of a tight squeeze, not sure how much either side, but once the car is in I can only access the drivers door. The rear door is by a pillar so no chance of getting anyone in, and the passenger side is parked closer to the wall so I can get in and out.

Small garages seems to be an issue all over england, I've never seen it in other countries. Its even worse with newer houses that have a garage where you would strugle to get a Fiesta in. Its not like I live in a built up area where there is no space either, I guess its just builders being greedy and putting as many houses as they can on a plot of land and advertising the houses as having a "garage", when its really just a bricked up shed for keeping bycicles and lawnmowers. We should have regulations for garages, if a LWB S class doesn't fit comfortably it shouldn't be called a garage.

 

[Flash]

All three cars fit nicely into my tripple garage and the doors are 8FT wide and the depth of the garage is very deep and I am easily able to wax/polish all the cars with loads of spare space with them all parked inside.

 

[jaymanek]

All three cars fit nicely into my tripple garage and the doors are 8FT wide and the depth of the garage is very deep and I am easily able to wax/polish all the cars with loads of spare space with them all parked inside.

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