Widening garage door opening


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Old 10-14-08, 01:27 PM
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Widening garage door opening

Ok guys, my dilemma here is that whoever designed this garage didn't think things through. I have a full two car garage which has a normal entry door and an oversized one car door for entrance to the garage (it also has an entry/exit door on the back side of the garage)

Anyway, I just recently bought a Chevy Avalanche which is a pretty big vehicle so now my wife and I can't both fit in the garage because you have to pull the second car in at an angle which my truck won't allow any more. I would like to put in a full two car (16x7) garage door and possibly relocate the entry door on the side. How difficult would this be? Conceptually it doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. I think the door is about 11 or 12 feet wide right now.

Here is a picture:
 

Last edited by xceebeex; 10-14-08 at 01:45 PM.
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Old 10-14-08, 05:03 PM
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It may not be that difficult, depending on your skill level and the interior construction of the garage. It won't be cheap though. New good quality garage door alone will run $1000-1200 if you install it yourself. You'd have to replace the header all the way across, and the material for that might run at least a couple of hundred.

Since you have a camera, pics of the inside framing (wide angle if possible) would help the experts advise you. Is the interior finished? If it is, the pics might not be necessary.
 
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Old 10-14-08, 06:26 PM
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Yea, I figured that I would need a new header. What material would I need to construct a new header? The interior does have drywall up, so I guess you could call that finished. I can try and take a picture of the top portion of the opening on the inside of the garage tomorrow to see if that helps at all.

I really hate to spend the money to do this, but IMO this garage was not done right and it is basically useless as a two car garage unless you have two smaller vehicles.
 
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Old 10-15-08, 06:56 AM
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I don't think the garage was intended for two cars. I think it was to be one car with storage or workspace.

In any case, the good news is that the door opening is in a non bearing wall which will make the header selection easier - and cheaper.
 
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Old 10-15-08, 04:30 PM
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Originally Posted by cwbuff
I don't think the garage was intended for two cars. I think it was to be one car with storage or workspace.

In any case, the good news is that the door opening is in a non bearing wall which will make the header selection easier - and cheaper.
Yea it is quite possible part of it was designed for a work space because there are a ton of outlets.

Anyway, how expensive would a new header cost?
 
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Old 10-15-08, 05:55 PM
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Well, It's kinda depends on whats required. Check with a lumberyard, get a price for some... (hmmm.. do they make these?) 20-24 ft 2 x 12 for planning purposes. Anything less will be gravy. Most good lumberyards could probably look up some span tables of some sort and tell you right off.
 
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Old 10-16-08, 07:14 AM
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As GunGuy said, check with your lumberyard. An engineered beam might be a little pricey but is probably the easiest way to go. Since this is a non bearing wall I think you might be able to use a built up beam. Something like a couple of 2X10s sandwiched around some 1/2" plywood.

My daughter has a 16' door in a bearing wall. The header is a triple 2X12 built up on doubled 2X6 jack studs.
 
 

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