One Car Garage Construction
A one car garage holds a single vehicle comfortably while leaving genuine room for everyday storage. The dimensions are not fixed — we adjust them to the space available, the vehicle, and what else has to live in there.
For plenty of Chicago properties, especially the older narrow lots on the North and Northwest Sides, a single garage is not a compromise. It is what fits once the setbacks come out of the lot width, and built properly it still does everything a household with one car needs.
Most single builds land between 12 and 16 feet wide and 20 to 24 feet deep, with custom dimensions available. Those extra feet are what turn parking into a usable space: a workbench along one wall, shelving on the other, and still room to open the driver’s door without folding yourself around it.
We measure alley access as carefully as we measure the lot. A garage you cannot comfortably back into is a garage you stop using by the second winter, so the approach angle gets checked before anything gets drawn.
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One Car Garage Construction Benefits
A single bay is the practical answer when the lot is narrow or the budget is firm. It protects the car, clears the clutter out of the basement, and adds a permanent structure to the property — all on the smallest footprint we build. Every single-car garage we put up meets the same standards as the three-car builds: footings below the frost line, framed to code, and finished to match the house.
Affordable construction
The smallest slab, the least framing, and a single door make this the lowest-cost way to put a permanent garage on the lot.
Vehicle protection
Keeps the car out of snow, road salt, hail, and summer sun, and off the street when winter parking bans kick in.
Extra storage space
A few extra feet of width or depth leave room for shelving, bikes, the mower, and seasonal gear.
Adds property value
Secure, covered parking is something Chicago buyers look for, especially on blocks where street parking is tight.
One Car Garage Construction Ideas
A single garage does not have to be only a parking spot. Most homeowners who plan a few extra feet at the design stage end up using the building for far more than the car, without ever losing comfortable access to it.
Some keep part of the space for organized storage — holiday decorations, the mower, bikes, the tools that have been taking up the back of the basement. Getting that out of the house is usually what people notice first.
Others leave floor space clear for projects: bike repairs, refinishing furniture, the kind of work that is easier with a concrete floor and a door you can open. Even a compact bay gives you that if the layout is planned rather than improvised.
We design single garages to be useful past the parking. Where the service door goes, whether there are windows, how much you use above the car, and how many circuits run out there are all decided at framing — cheap then, awkward and expensive later.
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Planning a One Car Garage?
Talk with our team and get honest advice on what fits