Free Garage Layout Planner: Design Parking, Storage and Doors

Plan your garage with this free planner tool and see what fits within your dimensions.

How to Use the Garage Planner To Create Your Layout

The planner will draw your garage to scale and then advise you as to whether the items you’ve parked in it actually work. You don’t need to sign up or install anything. It works the same way as our kitchen layout planner, which checks NKBA clearances instead. Here is the order in which to carry out the steps.

Decide on the size of your garage first – Enter your actual width and depth in the two boxes at the top; the width should be measured from wall to wall as you view the garage door and the depth from front to back. When measuring, take the sizes from inside the drywall and not on the outside of the building, since the framing takes up a few inches and this is the best way to get accurate results.

A 20 feet by 20 feet opening is the size of the most common type of double garage in the United States; if your garage is 24 feet by 24 feet, then adjust that setting. That extra 4 feet in each direction will definitely improve the amount of parking space you have to work with. If you are not sure what you have, check the standard garage dimensions by car count first.

Add your vehicles first  – When you click on Sedan, SUV, Pickup Truck, Minivan, Compact Car or Motorcycle, the item appears on the plan with its actual footprint; a midsize sedan is 6 feet wide and 16 feet long, while a full-size crew cab pickup is about 19 feet 6 inches, which is the reason it does not fit in many older garages.

The figures given are average values, so adjust the corner handle and enter your own figures if you know them. The specification sheet for your car gives the total length and the body width. In this case, use the body width and not the width when the mirrors are out. For anything larger than that list covers, our RV and oversized vehicle bays are drawn around those footprints.

You can drag items where you want them and rotate them using the corner button – You can move any item by dragging it around the graph. The small rotate button on each item rotates it in quarter-turn increments, and the tool keeps record of which way the front is pointing. It’s more important than it may at first appear. The idea of there being clear floor space in front of a car has no meaning unless the plan knows where the front of the vehicle is. All the settings increase in steps of 6, which means you can use a tape measure to transfer your plan onto the garage floor.

Fit the doors and windows – The standard single garage door is 9 feet, and the standard double is 16 feet; they fit onto the nearest wall and slide along it. An overhead door rolls up into the ceiling, so it does not sweep any floor space, and the plan shows the panels in the position in which they stand when the door is open. Both are within the usual range, and it is worth seeing how single and double door widths compare before you commit to one.

The entry door is the one which leads into the house or the side yard, and it covers part of the floor. If you add it as an in-swing or an out-swing door, simply reverse the hinge and observe the arc. That arc is the most useful feature of this plan since a situation in which the door clashes with the workbench is the kind of error you only spot after the drywall has been put up.

Read the warnings – With each issue there is a simple sentence stating the actual measurement and the one it should reach. For example, the statement ‘SUV has 26 inches beside it, needs 36 inches to open a door and get out’ explains what is required. The grey note that follows each item is the figure it is checked against, enabling you to see where the number came from.

The dropdown allows you to choose between the minimum workable option and the recommended one: the minimum is the one that just about works even though it does so in a rather strained way, while the recommended one is the kind you would actually like to live with. Make sure that you check both options because a garage can meet the minimum standard and yet still be miserable every single morning.

On the plan the dashed boxes represent the clearance zones; green indicates that it fits while red means it doesn’t. If the plan becomes too complicated then switch off the checkbox.

Save it, share it, or print it – The plan is saved directly in your browser as you work, meaning that it won’t be lost if you close the tab. The Copy Share Link option provides you with a URL that includes the entire layout, which is the quickest method of sending the plan to a contractor or discussing with your spouse where the bikes should go. With the Download Image feature you get a PNG file that shows both the dimensions and the warnings. The Print / Save PDF option produces a document that you can take to the garage.

What To Know Before Planning A Garage

Here are some general guidelines to follow when planning your garage that will give you the best results. If you want a configuration to start from, the popular garage layout types are worth a look first.

Park first, then plan the storage – Most people tend to put in the shelving and a bench only to find that the car doesn’t fit past them. Instead, you should do it the other way round: place the vehicles in first, see which floor space is actually left over and then construct the storage to make use of that space. With a third bay to work with, these three-bay workshop and storage layouts show how that spare space usually gets used.

Make the larger side the one you exit the car from – It is rare for garages to provide 36 inches on either side of the vehicle. That’s acceptable; you should park off center with the driver’s side receiving the better space and the passenger side getting the remainder. Since the tool measures both sides, you’ll know precisely what you’re compromising.

Measure your own vehicle – A car is not a measure of size; a compact is about 14 feet 6 inches, a minivan about 17 feet, and a crew cab pickup about 19 feet 6 inches. In a garage that is 20 feet deep this difference makes the entire difference—it’s the space between 5 feet of storage behind the tailgate and zero storage. Where depth beats width, it is worth checking whether a tandem bay would work better.

Put the workbench on a side wall, not the back wall – Having a bench on the back wall means that you’ll be working in the space between the wall and the bumper, a space which is never as wide as you suppose. When the bench is on a side wall, you have the full depth of the garage in which to stand, and you are still able to reach it even when the car is parked. There is a reason why the tool requires 48 inches of clear floor in front of a bench.

Use shallow shelving to conserve space –  The garage shelving is available in depths of 18 inches and 24 inches; in a cramped garage the 24-inch version takes up those extra 6 inches from your side clearance and since side clearance is something you notice every day, it’s better to go for a shallower shelf and make it taller instead.

Keep the water heater out of the bay, or budget for a bollard to prevent damage – This is code, not a matter of preference. If an appliance is in a position where a vehicle could collide with it, then it must have an approved barrier in front of it and also require 30 inches of working space on its control side so that a plumber will be able to carry out servicing. The planner identifies both requirements. Putting the heater in a corner outside the drive path is a cheaper option than installing a bollard and arranging a service call. The same rules cover laundry, so read the requirements for a garage laundry setup before you plumb one in.

Leave the first 2 ft inside the door alone – The trash bins and the recycling bins move towards the garage door since that is the most convenient place to put them, but then the door track will catch the lid, so make sure that the band is clear and place the bins along a side wall instead.

What Rules the Clearance Check is Based On

Garages are largely unregulated, and that should be made clear. The codes do not specify how much space you need next to a car. Although two apply to appliances and are genuine, inspectors treat them the same way in both cases. The code does not include a comfortable category.

The standard practice is that a sedan door has to have about 32 inches of clearance to swing far enough for a comfortable exit, and 12 to 18 inches is sufficient only in a tight squeeze. The accepted norm is that a minimum distance of 3 feet is stated for walking in front of a parked vehicle. 

IRC M1305.1. There should be a working space at head level in front of the control side so that the appliance can be serviced.
IRC M1307.3.1. An appliance must be protected by an approved barrier if it is to be installed in a position where it might be damaged by a vehicle.

Physical – both the opening and the track require it.
Physical fit, determined by measuring the body rather than the mirrors.

The planner doesn’t take into account reference numbers since they relate to height and not to floor area. The height of a garage door is 7 feet if it’s standard, and 8 feet is also widely available. Single doors are 8 to 10 feet wide and double doors 12 to 18 feet, 9 feet and 16 feet being the most common sizes. A water heater that has an ignition source must be placed at a height of at least 18 inches above the garage floor unless it is specified as flammable vapor ignition resistant (IRC P2801.7). The door leading from the garage into the house is a fire-rated assembly and not just any door (IRC R302.5.1). The interior door should be at least 32 inches wide so that things can be carried through it.

Where to start – Enter your real garage dimensions, add your actual vehicles, and switch the dropdown to Recommended. If it comes back clean, you have more room than most people. If it doesn’t, the first thing to try is turning a car around, then moving the bench off the back wall. Those two moves fix more layouts than anything else. Once the layout works on paper, look at what the build actually costs and work out the lighting next.

To showcase highly specific designs, some images on this website use advanced AI-generation software to illustrate ideas and room inspiration. See our editorial policy to learn more.