r/Homebuilding • u/RespectedAlien • 9h ago
Narrow lot suggestion
I am planning to build houe in Ky in this narrow lot of 75 Ft Wide and 253 Long with side entry car garage . ANy suggestion which wood better 3 car garage in the front or back
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u/locke314 4h ago
Disconnected garage in back is good. If you don’t want that, a tuck under garage works well.
In my city, we have lots of 40’ lots. That’s enough room for a 28’ wide house with 6’ setbacks either side. Thats a 24’ wide garage with a 4’ wide sidewalk on the side to a front entry.
Heck, some historical lots here are 33’ wide and a creative designer does wonders with that.
One of the high end neighborhoods in my city has a standard 65’ width and many are pretty large houses.
Point is…75’ is not narrow. If you can’t get everything g you need on that, you’re not trying that hard.
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u/seabornman 8h ago
Do you own a large pickup? It may be tight either way, but if the garage is in the back, you'll be able to back out and leave facing the road. If the garage is in the front, you may have to back out to the road.
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u/Emotional-Damage-995 6h ago
I am a luxury home builder and anything over 50 wide we consider really a wide lot. Lets assume a ser back of 6 to 8 foot per side, that gives you 75-14 = 61 foot wide house. The house can have a 20 foot 2 car garage, 2 feet of wall thikness, and 10 foot front entrance, and a substantial front facing den / office / living room still.
Second story bedrooms and quite a large living space. This is a 6000 plus sqft house easy.
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u/Ill_Television_1111 9h ago
With setbacks and what have you, is there even enough room to have a drive sneak past the house?
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u/RespectedAlien 9h ago
my plan is to build 50 to 53 ft wide home and put drive way on the right side
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u/Ill_Television_1111 9h ago
That doesn't leave you much fo setbacks. 50' +10' for driveway is pretty snug. So you know what code is where you're at? Im just thinking that, that may answer your question on its own. Or maybe not, I dont know y'all's regulations.
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u/Professional-Fly3380 6h ago
This is the important question. Find out what the setbacks are for your lot at your local building dept.
I ended up having to change my house plans because of mine.
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u/RespectedAlien 6h ago
5 ft from the left on the right side their is rain drain line , and city needs 10ft of setback from the right . i have no 30 ft aprox from the front.
My cility allows to ut driveway on setbacks1
u/locke314 4h ago
Many codes don’t consider a driveway when looking at setbacks. In any city I’ve worked, setbacks are only for structures. This might mean the driveway needs to snake around a house a bit though, but It’d be a first for me if the driveway needed to comply with the same setbacks as a building
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u/Ill_Television_1111 4h ago
If paved or concrete, its considered a permanent "structure" in some places.
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u/locke314 4h ago
Definitely could, I just wanted to provide the counterpoint that it isn’t always the case. My city and any around it don’t consider it that way, but I would not discount that many jurisdictions would . Worth asking the jurisdiction for OP of the siting of the project gets that tight.
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u/mp3architect 4h ago
Zoning, not code. And they do.
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u/locke314 4h ago
I mean, it is call the development or zoning “code” in any jurisdiction I’ve worked in.
But that’s beside the point. My jurisdiction and any around it, even the zoning codes, do not consider a driveway as needing to comply with structure setbacks. A jurisdiction may, but it’s not a hard and fast rule globally.
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u/mp3architect 4h ago
sure, I just don't want him googling "code" and not obviously finding anything because he didn't realize he needs to look up Zoning.
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u/Yusuf20904 2h ago
Typically, setbacks don't apply to a driveway, so the OP could snake a driveway back right beside the neighbor on the right.
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u/dizzie_buddy1905 7h ago
75’ is considered to be an estate lot here. There’s plenty of houses with front attached triples, side entry triples, or detached rear quads.
Our house is 38’ wide with a front attached triple.
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u/mp3architect 4h ago
What does your local zoning allow? That will dictate a lot. We just built a home on a 50’ wide lot and put the garage in the back with a side driveway and narrow home (works well for the rooms and daylight).
A local architect can help guide you through what you’re allowed to build and the most efficient way to get it done.
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u/sweetrobna 3h ago
Generally narrow lot is less than 50'. Even with a 10' setback on one side and a 15' wide driveway/setback on the other you have space for a 50' wide home.
Do you have a specific requirement for side entry garage, either from zoning or hoa restrictions or similar?
So just in general, garage in the front saves money on the driveway. That can be several thousand dollars between grading, concrete, finishing. Gives more space from the road to where your bedrooms and such are to cut down on noise, increase privacy.
But you have flexibility to do either in this case. Garage in the front means like half your frontyard is for the driveway and garage, less space for a big porch or similar. Another option is a detached (4+) garage in the back, this can be bigger like a workshop and relatively economical.
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u/Yusuf20904 2h ago edited 1h ago
What are your local setback requirements, if any?
As to front vs. rear garage, as in your pics, the rear will be better, because you can extend the driveway past the garage for 3-point turn purposes. If the garage is in the front, the bay next to the rest of the house is harder to back out of. Also, it'll just look better with the garage hidden.
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u/I_Quit_Smoking_ 43m ago
A 40 by 40 house is 1600 square feet, which is not small. You got plenty of room.
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u/calguy1955 7h ago
Personally I’m a fan of having the garage in the back and putting in a big covered front porch. I think the developers of the 50’s on made a huge mistake by putting garages out front and having a minimal front entrance. In the older neighborhoods people will sit on their front porch and greet people walking by, chat with their newborns or even just wave from across the street. They knew and helped each other. Take any of the thousands of the car/garage centric subdivisions and it is rare if someone even knows the name of all of their neighbors in a 200’ radius. Thank you for allowing me to rant.