Ideal 3 Car Garage Size Video Explanation – Proper Dimensions & Layout

Hey there! This is Pat from Garage How To and today, we’re going to talk about the Ideal 3 Car Garage size. If you are more interested in ideal 2 car garage sizing, please watch my 2 car garage video instead.

So, what is the ideal 3 car garage size?

Starting with the 20×30 garage, there is a door in the top left corner that is 36 inches wide. Your garage may have a door in a different place, but it’s all relative.Here are two 3 car garage mock ups. One is 20 feet deep x 30 feet wide and one is 24 feet x 36 feet.

Since every garage needs a workbench, here is one that is 2 feet deep and 8 feet long.

The green rectangles along the walls are garage shelves that are 18 inches wide by 8 feet long. There are 2 on this side and 2 on this side.

Then we have cars. You know, the high value items most people park outside so they can store their crap inside? OK, back to the cars.

The 2012 Ford Explorer here is 16 1/2 feet long by 6 1/2 feet wide and the 2013 Chevy Malibu is 16 feet long by 6 feet wide. The third vehicle that clearly does not fit is a 2013 Chevy Crew Cab pickup with a standard bed at 20 feet long by 6 feet 8 inces wide.

The little red mark here is 30 inches wide, showing you the ideal space between 2 cars in the garage, allowing you to open the car door and get out. The problem, as you can see, is not in the center, but over hear on the side.

If your parents look like this (picture of a stick person), this won’t be a problem. However, if you are like the rest of us, you won’t be able to get out of the car on this side.

Let take a look at the 24 by 36 garage to compare.

You can see the same workbench, the same garage shelving and the same 3 vehicles, but the larger 3 car garage dimensions work a lot better.

Here is our 30 inch wide line to show you have room for opening doors. Between these two cars, we actually have 60 inches represented by this blue line. With 3 vehicles, that’s 90 inches or 7 1/2 feet, leaving 28 1/2 feet.

Next, we have one vehicle at 6 feet wide, one at 6 1/2 and one at almost 6 3/4. That’s 19 1/4 feet, leaving 9 1/4.

Next, we have 2 sections of 18 in wide shelving for a total of 3 feet, leaving you 6 1/4 feet. If you divide that by 2, you have over 3 feet here and here, giving you plenty of room to get in and out of your vehicles.

If you have more stuff to store, you could even bump your garage shelving up to 2 feet wide and still have 3 feet of clearance for car doors.

With 3 car garage dimensions at 24 feet by 36 feet, you can park all three vehicles inside, have lot of room for storage, and even open your car doors to get in and out of your car or unload your groceries without battling the rain or any other elements.

Lest we forget the front to back dimensions, the 20 by 30 garage really isn’t worth talking about. Even if Mr. and Mrs. Schtick are your parents, it just doesn’t work.

The 24 by 36 garage, on the other hand, does work, and here are the numbers:

24 feet minus even 20 feet of pickup leaves you 4 feet front to back in this third bay.

In the other two bays, you have 24 feet minus 16 1/2 feet of car, leaving 7 1/2 feet for a garage workbench.

With 2 feet for the workbench, you still have 5 1/2 feet to spare. If you allow at least 6 inches at the back of the car so you can close the garage door, you still have 5 feet up front to work at your workbench, change the oil in your car, or do anything else you want to do in this area.

Oh, I almost forgot to let you in on a little secret.

The single door on the 20 x 30 garage is only 8 feet wide and the double door is 16 feet wide. That is the absolute minimum width for squeezing your cars inside.

On this 24 X 36 garage, the single door is 10 feet wide and the double door is 18 feet wide, making it much easier to pull in and out of the garage. The ability to install wider garage doors is, in itself, a great reason to build a larger garage.

What’s the bottom line (the ideal 3 car garage size)?

The ideal 3 car garage dimension, in my opinion, is at least 24 deep by 36 feet wide. Anything smaller leaves you wanting for more. If you want to go even bigger, go bigger. Just don’t do it to store more crap (in my humble opinion).

That’s it for now. I hope this helped. This is Pat from GarageHowTo.com.