What Size Garage Door

[ToddLahey]

One of my buddies ia planing on building a house he wants to be able to put a real boat it the garage someday. He is thinking that 12 foot high doors would be high enough. I told him I thought he could get away with 10 for most power boats that he would ever own. So my question is how tall do some of your boats sit on the trailer? A boats that he would like to own would be a 38 gun, the garage is going to be 55 feet deep so that is not a issue as long as it fits under the door!
Thanks
Todd

[Otis311]

Todd, I just built a house that sits on top of my 36x70 garage. I thought about this same thing for a while and came to this conclusion. The legal road height limit is 13'6" So I put 14x14' garage doors on so that ANYTHING road legal could fit in comfortably

[nattioffshore]

An Offshore vee hull with fairing will probabably sit between 8'-6" and 9' foot above the ground on the trailer. My 32' on a tri-axel is 8'-4" . Most "stock" residential garage doors are 7' or 8'. A 9' or taller door would be custom or a commercial door.

[Griff]

My 32 Active Thunder is right about 8' tall on the trailer. I have a 9' door. I think a 12' tall door would be plenty for any perf boat.

[cig1988]

They do not need to be commercial. I went from a double standard to a single steel isulated jusy shy of 9'.

[Ratickle]

I have 12' tall for the BT. It would not fit under a 10'. My neighbor built one with 12" tall and we had to dig trenches for his motorhome. Luckily it was a gravel floor.

[Trim'd Up]

I just had a 10 x 18 put in. The height doesen't add considerably to the cost and you can get a residential door up to 12' tall no problem. I had to go commercail because of the 18' width. There aren't many performance boats that won't fit under a 10'. but alot of campers won't.

[scottc]

First what will the ceiling height be? For a 12' door you should have @14 ceilings. I have 12' doors and love them. Try Clopay doors or steelbuilding.com for door options. I had them shipped to me. Bought from the factory. They are insulated and have one row of glass.

[Bobcat]

:26 My neighbor built one with 12" tall and we had to dig trenches for his motorhome. Luckily it was a gravel floor.

he must be a a very small person:26:

[MattBMiller]

I'd recommend going with a 14' tall door. When he decides to sell it will be more marketable to people wanting to store a motorhome.

[Madcow]

My 42 Sonic with an arch would NOT fit in a 10' door.

[Sunsation96]

Go 14' worth the extra money, don't think what if I get a larger boat think when...

[Wobble]

Another vote for 14, you can always park a bus in there with a 14 tall, The width should be the max you can go. 10 is tight unless you have a straight shot

[Sydwayz]

10' tall and 12' wide is the minimum that I would recommend. I have two 10x12 doors on mine. I cannot get an arched boat in there though. I am babysitting a Donzi fish boat for a couple seasons while the owner is in Europe, and unfortunately its sitting outside.

James aka 'excursion' is able to get his 43BT under/through a 10' tall door. He had to dig out a "valley" in his gravel driveway. The valley is at the point where the rear wheels on truck dip low so the at the same distance when windscreen on the boat barely slides under the door to the barn. It's not actually not a bad thing as the slope draws water away from the building.

10' high doors normally require a 12' ceiling; as such almost any normal door install requires 2' between the top of the door and the bottom of the rafters. You can get low ceiling doors that tuck up into the rafters, but those are normally roll-up commercial doors.

Picture of mine JUST after the build crew left:

[old377guy]

I have 14' but its overkill

[phragle]

just put hinges on one side of the wall. someday you will be glad you did.

[Perlmudder]

bigger is better...except in women.

[Swede]

It might be a little harder to find but you could go 13' on the door and keep 14' ceilings. I think when I was checking this out before most motorhomes are around 12'-6". If he were to ever have to sell the house it would be much more marketable. There is a lot more people out there looking for a house that would store a motorhome verses a 30' plus boats.

[Mark]

bigger is better...except in women.


True that! :biggrinjester:

[phragle]

that depends on how you catagorize 'bigger', now if we are taking bigger like that blonde olympic volleyball player where big euqates to tall (6'2" legs)

[Trim'd Up]

You need at least 18"-21" above the door for a standard headroom door but they usually will tell you 24" to be safe. You can get low headroom doors that look and function just like a standard door but they are more expensive.

[Ratickle]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratickle

:26 My neighbor built one with 12" tall and we had to dig trenches for his motorhome. Luckily it was a gravel floor.


he must be a a very small person:26:

You wish you were a "small 12" person.

[Buoy]

You need at least 18"-21" above the door for a standard headroom door but they usually will tell you 24" to be safe. You can get low headroom doors that look and function just like a standard door but they are more expensive.

My first real job was installing garage doors and fireplaces.
You can get away with 12" of headroom and that will allow enough for a door opener above the door.

They do make low-headroom track kits where the top roller of the top panel rides in a separate track, but if you're building new, avoid this - they don't work as well as conventional. On extreme applications, you can get into rear-torsion low-headroom (where the spring(s)) are mounted all the way at the back of the horizontal track.

You can stay with a residential door - they usually are made in 18"-21"-24" panels, and you CAN mix them to achieve the desired height of the opening.
Cosmetically, If you do it right, it looks fine.
It's then a simple calculation of the weight and height of the door to properly spring it.

Todd, If I can be any help PM me, I'll send you my #.

[Madpoodle]

If your a gonna do it, do it right... (http://www.bifold.com/photo_air_parks.php?i=2)

[go4broke]

My doors are 10x18. Sonic 386 on a triple axle fit in with lots of room to spare. And never mind door opener tracks, I put in a jackshaft opener by liftmaster. Takes up almost no room and works very well and quiet.

Make sure you build bigger than you want. My garage is almost 2000 sq', and I wish I had made it larger 1.5 years after building it.

[go4broke]

http://www.bifold.com/assets/airpark3.jpg

Very cool!

[Birdog]

Hey Todd....Mine is 18x12...If that helps..And..Garages are NEVER big enough !...Mine is 50 ft deep and barely fits...Go 60ft..

[Otis311]

Mine is 70 deep and getting smaller by the day

[Clustergear]

Just like the lady said BIGGER IS BETTER
"Its not how you use it Its how BIG it is"

[ToddLahey]

That for the info it makes sense I will pass it along!