Selecting the Right Garage Plans: Everything You Should Consider

Are you considering increasing the value, usability, and storage space of your home by building a garage? Home improvements and remodeling projects continue to be popular investments for homeowners of all ages, and a new garage can meet many different needs.

Here’s some important information you should consider when looking into garage plans for your upcoming project.

Why Do You Want to Build a Garage?

The first thing you need to consider is what you’ll be using your new addition for. Is building a new garage going to meet your current needs?

The main reasons homeowners have a garage built would include: sheltering a new car or boat, creating a work space for a hobby or business or providing some attractive on-site storage space.

Many homeowners build garages to improve their enjoyment of their home for a long time. You can convert your garage into another living space, bar, gym or anything else you can think of.

Figuring out the answer to this question will help you decide what size and style of garage plans to select.

Attached or Detached: Where to Build Your Garage

Garages aren’t just for cars. Today, we use them for a variety of purposes – exercise, play space for kids, hobbies such as woodworking or crafting and even guest houses.

If you’ll be in and out a lot, consider an attached garage. If you’ll be parking your regular vehicle in it, consider attached so that you may walk from house to vehicle in inclement weather.

If you’ll be using it as a storage or recreational space, or as a guest house, an attractive detached garage may be more suitable.

A detached garage will at least need to coordinate with the house, while an attached garage must blend in perfectly with the color and style of your home in order to not look awkward or out of place.

What Size Garage Do You Need?

Many people assume that a standard, two car 20×20 garage plan offers plenty of room to park a vehicle and store a couple of things. However, when considering space needs and resale value, you might want to take another look. How many cars would you like to park inside your garage?

You need to think about not only the size of the vehicles, but also how much room you need to comfortably walk around them. Do you need to get large items in and out of the vehicles? Infant seats? Wheelchairs or other medical equipment?

Select plans that cover all the bases and don’t make you feel cramped. If you need closets, shelves or a work bench, extra space will have to be allotted for those as well.

Legal Considerations When Building a Garage

Before selecting your garage plans, look up your area’s zoning laws. Depending on where you live, there may be requirements regarding where you can put a garage, what size it can be and others.

If your neighborhood has a homeowners’ association, they may also have requirements for roofing material, siding, colors used, etc. You can search for garage plans according to what’s allowed once you have the list of requirements.

Do You Need to Build a Driveway?

If you’re building a garage and don’t already have one, it’s probably fine to use an existing driveway. However, if you don’t already have one, you need to consider the cost and logistics of putting in a new driveway that goes all the way to the street.

A single car garage requires a 10 foot wide driveway, while a double requires approximately 24 feet of width. Also, consider how busy your street is and whether or not you need to factor in extra space for turning around.

Garage Building Logistics

You need to consider some logistics before coming up with your garage plans. First, do you have a ventilation plan? You may need to consider an exhaust fan if you’ll be doing any fume-emitting projects or warming up the car before driving, so you don’t cause harm to you or your family.

If you’ll be using the space for more than just parking a vehicle, think about good insulation and an efficient heating and cooling system. Finally, your electrician can help finalize the details, but you also need to plan for the lighting and outlets accordingly.

Educating yourself as a consumer is always the best way to go, regardless of who ends up performing the actual labor.

Are Free Garage Plans a Good Idea?

You may see some enticing ads on the internet for free garage plans, but here’s why you should think carefully before going that route. First, free garage plans may be incomplete.

You may download them to discover that they don’t include a list of materials or a foundation plan.

Second, your local zoning laws and HOA restrictions may have additional requirements that are not found in free plans and can end up causing you to incur a lot of extra costs for consulting.

Finally, with something like this you often get what you pay for. You may not be able to do any customizing or find something really special that fits your needs both aesthetically and practically.

How to Select the Best Garage Plans

Once you have gone through all of these considerations and know exactly what you want, it’s time to start looking through the available plans and garage builders.

You can search online by category, including style and size. If you aren’t sure you’ve found the right one, ask the customer service representative if they can recommend the right blueprints to fit your criteria.

Depending on what you purchase, you can receive a download or order something to be shipped to you.

What is Included with Garage Plans?

While the individual purchases you make can vary, you can count on the blueprints including enough information for you to build a garage: foundation plans, roof plans, electricity requirements floor plans.

You should also receive a list of materials needed. Different designers create varying levels of detail in their blueprints.

What you should know, however, is that when it comes down to it, garage blueprints are not step by step instructions: the project is intended to be undertaken by someone trained in construction.

If you’re looking for the best garages in Chicago and the surrounding areas, your search ends at Danley’s. We’ll work with you to create the perfect garage that fits all your specific needs.

Since 1959, we’ve built over 100,000 garages and would love to help you with your project. Get a free quote online to start your project with the best.