Garage sizes

There is no fixed size for a garage, either in the UK, USA or anywhere else. However there are some basic guide sizes which seem to have evolved over the years (in the UK at least).

UK garages

In the UK (Great Britain) and also in Ireland a single car garage is generally classified by size in the following way.

• Small - 8 feet wide by 16 feet long
• Medium - 9 feet wide by 18 feet long
• Large - 10 feet wide by 20 feet long

Most of the small and medium sized garages were built prior to the mid 1980’s when cars were smaller and fewer people used the garage for additional storage applications (e.g. patio furniture etc). Today a medium sized family saloon car will be 14 foot 6 inches to 15 feet long by almost 6 feet wide and this makes any garage smaller than a medium (as described above) too small to park and open doors. Many UK properties now feature double garages which were a rarity 30 years ago.

USA garages

In the USA there is not normally a problem with garage size. This is for two reasons. Firstly, many houses have double garages which are naturally large units and which are built on much larger plots than their British counterparts.

Secondly, whilst the very small cars of Europe have got larger over the last 25 to 30 years, cars in the USA have got appreciably smaller over a similar time scale. This means that the already ample garages accompanying most American properties are proportionally bigger now in comparison with the cars that park in them.

A further reason for larger garages in the USA is the workshop culture that is associated with garages which sees them become much more of a multi purpose and multi function building. Most garages in the USA are fitted out with cabinets and formal storage units and they are maintained and looked after in a way that would amaze most British garage owners.