How big is your garage and can you work on your 4Runner in it comfortably?

Building a new home and the 2 car garages are on the smaller side. From the prints of the house, it looks like the garage will be 20 feet deep. I’m a little concerned about the HOA making a fuss over changing the oil in the driveway and would like to be able to do routine maintenance myself in the garage with the door closed but it seems like it might be tight. How big is your garage and what are your experiences?

 

Why are you building a home in an area governed by an HOA? That'll be the root of all your headaches on a permanent basis.

 

We custom built our house 24 yrs ago, standard blue print was 20'x20' I changed that to 24'x24'. Side entry 16' door. Have Harley Davidson by frt by window, top/bottom W/side cabinet tool box, on the front side of the house. Luann door for work bench, ATV or Tractor (depending on season) & Snappy cabinet rollaway in "front wall" where we pull or back in towards. Numerous other items either hanging or on floor. W/Wife's car out no problems changing oil, rotating tires. Water drain in center. I insulated the out side walls & all interior during construction. saved couple hundred bucks but mainly gave me something to do & I painted walls/ceiling too.. I didn't do the garage ceiling "should've" still can, just have to move stuff up there.

 

22’ is plenty for a 4runner.

 

I have a 20x20’ garage and what you want to do is doable. I leave the door up because of the heat down here .
Agree about the HOA . Some won’t even let you wash your car in the driveway.

 

I’m very happy with mine. Added on to our home years ago. Since you are building. If you can do it and plan on washing your vehicles in there also I have radiant heat in my concrete floor and my garage is almost 1000 square ft. Just giving you some good info to do it the correct way the first time before its gets started.

 

Thanks! I measured it out and I’ll have about 40 inches in front of my 4Runner with the door closed. Kind of tight but I think it will doable. Would love to have the door open since I’m in Florida too so I’ll give it a shot and see if the HOA complains.

I really wanted to avoid an HOA but being in Florida, it seems impossible to find a neighborhood that doesn’t have one.

 

I think no HOA is risky. I live in no HOA neighborhood but everyone around me are nice, mostly retired and keep the neighborhood clean. If there was bad people who trash the neighborhood there in no one to control. The city won't care for small things when there are many other big problems.

 

My garage is also 20'x20' - there's room in front of the 4R with the door closed. I recently built a 12'x20' shop (open air but not drivable) on the back of the garage. Now, all of my tools, bikes, etc. are out of the main garage. That makes that 20x20 garage feel much (!) bigger. Is that an option for you - adding some standard load (framed floor) space on the back of the garage?

This is the only pic I have, but it illustrates what I'm trying to describe...

 

When I built my house, 24' was the minimum depth I wanted to go. In the end it was 28' feet on the 2 car side, 24' on the single car side. I wish I had thought of going to 34' deep to match the back of the house and add the extra space. I'm retired and over the years I have learned that there is no such thing as "too big" of a garage. You aquire stuff and you're gonna need the storage space for it. I had to build a shed on the back of said garage to store all my shit.

 

Agree. Garage space is like engine HP. No such thing as too much .

 

The size of a garage has shrunk over the years.

It use to be 24 x 24; then 20 x 20; In Texas a lot of new home builders (not the custom home builders or one-off builders) that build massive tract homes/subdivisions routinely make them 18 x 18. Then you have a bump out for the 40/50gallon water tank and you lose another foot on one side of the garage.

A full size truck cannot fit in today's garage. Luckily our 4Runners are barely 16ft long, so you'll have lots of space.

Oh, HOA's aren't all bad. I know you hear about them making the news from time to time, but only the bad news makes it on. I joined my HOA when I moved in 6yrs ago, and have risen up through the ranks over the years. Now, I'm the president. Yup, president Borracho!

Our rules and covenants follow local city laws. Basic stuff. We aren't nit picky at all about "You must have this type of mailbox or this many bushes.." Our rules are: Don't paint your house a weird color, don't park on your lawn and mow your grass and trim your bushes/trees before they get out of control. It's an older neighborhood and thankfully everyone keeps up their yards. Being the prez' is an easy job. I do tell people READ the CCR's BEFORE you join that HOA. I have seen some weird and super strict rules.

 

There are days when I wish I had an HOA so that some in my neighborhood might show a little pride in ownership (or at lease be forced to upkeep as if they do) but for the most part, yeah, HOA's suck.

For me garage footprint isn't the issue - it's clearance to the underside of my garage door. I can get the 4Runner in, be really can't jack it up much.

 

The owner of the mint green house three doors down from me needs a visit from President Borracho.

 

I would never live in a neighborhood like that, total insanity.

 

Too many motorcycles and tools. I work on the 4Runner outside.

Jason

 

I have a 3 car garage and between a home gym, ATV, motorcycle, and wood working equipment, I have too many toys for the 4Runner to park in there.

 

30x40 witha lift. Love it

 

No replacement for displacement

 

Plenty of room in my 30x50 pole barn, lol.

 

4runner gets worked on outside

 

I envy you guys so much. That is what I want. A barndominium with an attached 30 x 40 or 30 x 50 shop/garage (and 14ft or higher ceilings - so I can add a two post lift).

 

I’ve seen HOAs that prohibited owning motorcycles. And not even a fancy pants area, just a typical neighborhood in the burbs.

edit: I suppose you could own one, but you could not have one on the property.

 

At my next HOA meeting I'm going to ban stickers on vehicles and raptor lights.

 

“Be the change you want to be”

I’m sure your strong leadership weighs heavily.

 

I kind of expected this size garage in San Jose. I feel for you, Jason.

 

Somehow, I expected this for you. There is some nice stuff in here. But you need bigger!

 

I got a condo 8x20 carport. Sucks to work on my Runner there!

 

Mine is 20 x 20 with 4 ft kick out where the fridge is. And we're in an HOA with no real issues about changing oil or working on truck in the garage. But don't let a fucking weed grow or mulch in the wrong spot without permission.

HOAs suck and have ZERO valuable contributions to humanity just suck your money . All who support them should be publicly beaten mercilessly with no quarter.

 

No sympathy needed, it is very well organized and I have everything I need from hand tools to welders, presses, and a lathe. For twenty years I worked out of industrial buildings in Brooklyn and Philly where I had tons of space but always had to drive back and forth between the shop and home. Now I'm back to basics and get more work done.

Jason