The Bizarre Reason American Garages Are Shrinking

You’re not crazy, your garage is probably smaller than the one you grew up with. The reasons are many, and more complicated than I ever knew- see what I’m talking about!

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00:00 Intro
00:59 50 Years of Bigger Garages
02:17 Bigger & Bigger Vehicles
03:38 I Had Help Learning This
04:15 The Perfect Storm
06:15 The 1 Acre Breakdown
10:34 The Home Layout Affects Garage Size
12:16 Why Garages Don't Fit Our Cars
14:38 So We End Up Doing... This

[palmermccall]

I'm a licensed home inspector in North Carolina. When I find a garage door that is less than 18' wide, I point out to my clients that it is a "one and a half" garage, i.e. intended for one car and then storage, workshop, or golf cart, etc. I find this to be a deceptive building practice, *especially* given the bloat of vehicle size in the last 25 years.

[JimfromIndy]

Your analysis misses one point. Production home builders have learned that they can sell homes for $x per square foot of living space. They get no living square footage credit for closets, storage rooms, and garages. They maximize square feet of living area by eliminating closets (no more coat closets, for example) and utility rooms (put the water heater in the garage, the furnace in the attic....) That's another reason why garages are also tiny now.

[jonjohnson]

A garage is a $50, 000 structure holding $500 worth of junk while $100, 000 worth of cars sit in the rain.

[anthonyglickman]

I'm from SoCal. I noticed that once overall property price per sq/ft went over ~$1000 (and this is 5 years BEFORE the pandemic) people started using their garages as gyms, work space, etc. To the point that in zip 90272 people were parking $300k McLarens ON THE STREET under a car cover!

Currently I live in south central Idaho... there's a house on the market - 12, 000 sq/ft for $18m+ that has a two car garage. Deal breaker.

I love that you're looking at this a factor in property values - I think it says a lot about residential real estate.

[brent]

When we built our house I purposefully made a 27’ wide 42’ deep garage with an oversized 20’x9’ garage door. It’s so nice to actually have a garage that’s actually usable unlike all the other homes in my neighborhood.

[markwhite]

I spent 6 years as an electrical inspector in the Eastern suburbs of Seattle. I was in and out of 4-6 houses on average each day. In all that time, I saw less than a dozen garages that had 2 cars in them. The vast majority were crammed full of stuff that wasn't worth 2 payments on the cars sitting outside in the rain.

[kenny]

When I was building my house in 2013 the floor plan we chose had an option to extend the 2 car portion of the 3 car garage. I opted to do so and today I have in my garage 3 cars, and at the front about 3-4' of shelving, cabinetry, tool chests, welder, air compressor, shop press, a fridge, workbench, etc. That still leaves about 6' between the front of my wife's Honda Pilot (our longest vehicle) and the workbench. There is so much room for activities.

[MisterRisk]

Residential architect and car enthusiast here. I have never considered anything smaller than 24x24 for a 2 car garage and with the popularity of full sized trucks, I am now making them 26 feet deep at a minimum. My most recent client was adamant during planning that the attached garage was large enough and they pushed and pushed to make the house larger to the point that it was against the site setbacks on all 4 sides. This was a custom home on a large lot. 0.6 acres. Low and behold, now that the project is finished, they say their 26ft x 32ft 3 car (2 cars, one bay for kids stuff) garage is too small and that they can't park their 2 primary vehicles next to each other because the 16 foot wide double door is too narrow. We even did some serious structural gymnastics to make sure there would be zero posts in the garage. While I watched your video I was not surprised to see that cars are getting wider too. In the future, we will only be considering 18ft single double wide doors. Or 9 foot wide single doors at a minimum.

[Tangent]

In California this problem is being solved in the worst way possible. Houses are now so expensive that it's normal for multiple families or multiple generations of the same formerly independent family to move into the same house. When that happens there is always excess furniture that won't fit inside, so the garage is used purely for storage, a couple of cars are parked in the driveway, and a few more on the street.

[JDye-youtube]

I almost didn’t watch it because I didn’t think it should take 15 min to explain why garages are so small. But I persisted and I’m glad I did because it also provides a great explanation as to why developers no longer build single story ranch houses. I found the details on how the space gets eaten up to be very informative.

[BitcoinfunforBoomers]

My house was built during peak boomer opulence in 1997. True 3 car garage at 26X34, with a 9X26 tool room, so 26X43 all combined. The luxury of being able to fully open the car doors and trunk with the garage doors closed is another level. Its quite a contrast to our first house which had a car port where I did my own oil changes during the dead of winter in Indiana.

[clydesuckfinger]

One thing I’ve noticed over the 60 years I’ve been around is people today feel they need a 2500 sqft house to raise 2 kids. I grew up in a 1300 sqft, and we moved into a 1700 sqft when I was about 10. We had one bathroom in the first house with 2 adults, 2 kids. Our second house was a 4/2, had one bedroom that wasn’t used, a living room we didn’t use. As I was able to buy my own home, my wife and I found a 5/3 2400 sqft with a 3 car garage. We used one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, living room, and occasionally the den. I think these developers have convinced the buyers they need massive homes for a family of 4.

[JBCavern]

I realized years ago that it wasn't so much that I wanted a house, but that I wanted a garage (after having lived in a townhouse with a one-car garage). While shopping for my current house, I asked for a three-car garage and quarter-acre lot. Since I insist on parking my vehicles in the garage, I don't store so much in my garage that I can't park inside. So I have two vehicles in the garage, an evolving shop, and shelving on the walls. I don't have ATVs, golf carts, Harleys, etc. If I can't fit other things in the garage with the vehicles there, I do without. My vehicles being out of the weather and less susceptible to break ins is my top priority. I wish more people had this approach.
Your video is very informative and I know that if I ever have to move, I'm definitely taking a tape measure into the garage.

[chelin]

In all the TV shows of homes, they neglect to show the garage … now I know why. Thank you for a very interesting video.

[raybr]

Well researched and presented, especially all the historical data! I have often wondered why guys with trucks are building structures where the trucks don't fit! Thanks.

[coffeeisgood]

I live in Hollywood Florida. My house was built in 1946. The garage is 15 feet long (taking account the stairs into the kitchen). It is 10’ 9” wide. Barely even a 1 car garage, and certainly no trucks allowed! Thank you for this video. It really made me think in a different direction.

[gregmuller]

My house was built in 1976. 2200 sq ft colonial on a 100’x150’ lot. The 2-car side turn garage measures 32W x 24’ Deep. The garage door is 18’ long. After watching this video, I understand completely how lucky I am to have what I have. I parked my GMC Sierra pick up and my wife’s GMC terrain in the garage every single day.

[qrsterling]

I'm glad you put this topic in a video. I noticed a consistent downsizing of garages back in 1999, and wondered why. Most of us get upset when we find a scratch on our car from a parking lot encounter, but it can happen in your own garage, even if you're careful.

[davidparkin]

Excellent post. I custom design homes. My garage in house is 48'x24'. Yes, a four car garage with a bit of wall storage along the outsides. I think a two car garage should be 27'x24' so that passengers can swing their doors open freely without hitting a wall or another vehicle. 27x27 will even allow room for exercise equipment or storage. Modern houses have already lost enough: sitting room, crafts room, mud room, foyer, separation of kitchen and dining room, parlor, guest room, family room, children's playroom, laundry room, veranda, patio, etc.

[ForcefighterX]

I would like to give you 5 thumbs up simply for using imperial AND metric units throughout your entire video! Damn so few youtubers ever do this - thanks so so much! Cheers from Germany.