Thomas Garage Collection · Model 04
30×36 Lift Garage
Designed around vehicles, not just parking: 1,080 square feet, three bays, and wall height engineered for a two- or four-post lift — the enthusiast's garage, standardized.
1,080 sq ft
3 bays
Lift-ready walls
Site-built in Connecticut
What does a garage need for a car lift? Three things most standard garages don't have: ceiling height — a four-post storage lift wants roughly 10–12 feet of clear height to stack vehicles, and a two-post service lift needs similar clearance plus overhead room; a slab engineered for concentrated point loads; and door height that admits trucks and SUVs. The 30×36 Lift is our standardized answer: taller walls, lift-rated slab design in the foundation package, taller door options, and depth for long vehicles, starting at $117,314 for the structure.
Illustrative elevation — exterior matched to your home
Concept floor plan
Three 9-foot doors (taller doors optional), 30 feet of width for a dedicated lift bay, and 36 feet of depth for long vehicles and a workbench wall.
Built for the way enthusiasts actually use garages
This model exists because we kept designing the same “custom” garage: a collector with four cars and two spots, a project car that needs a lift, a truck that doesn't fit a standard door. The 30×36 standardizes that brief.
- Lift-ready height: wall height engineered so a four-post lift can stack two vehicles — or a two-post lift can put a car at working height — with clearance confirmed for your specific lift model during design.
- 30-foot width: three bays with real space between vehicles, or two parking bays plus a permanent lift/service bay.
- 36-foot depth: long-bed trucks, car trailers and a workbench wall coexist without choreography.
- Foundation designed for the job: lift point loads, anchor spacing and slab thickness are engineering decisions — handled in our foundation package, not discovered after delivery.
Collectors who need climate control, showroom finishes or more capacity should look at our fully custom car collector garages — this model is the standardized on-ramp to that world.
Ideal for
- Enthusiast and collector vehicles
- Two- and four-post lifts
- Trucks and SUVs
- Serious workshop use
- Collector overflow storage
Planning a specific lift? Bring the model number to your consultation — we confirm clear-height, slab and electrical requirements against the manufacturer's spec before design is finalized.
Two Numbers, Always
30×36 pricing: structure and turnkey
Compare our structure price with any structure-only quote. Then see what a complete, permitted project typically starts at — assembled from components you can actually evaluate.
Garage structure — starting at
$117,314
Weather-tight 30×36 structure built to our standard specification, on your prepared foundation. 3-bay layout, lift-ready walls.
Foundation, site preparation and project services priced separately — shown at right.
Included as standard
- 2×6 exterior wall framing
- Engineered roof trusses
- Lift-ready wall height
- 6/12 roof pitch
- Architectural asphalt shingles
- Weather-resistant building envelope
- Vinyl siding with exterior trim
- Insulated overhead garage doors
- Standard entry door
- Standard windows per configuration
- Unfinished interior
- Connecticut-code structural engineering
- Standard roof ventilation
Structural details are engineered to Connecticut code for your town's snow and wind loads and confirmed in your written proposal.
Build it turnkey
Typical project components on an accessible site
Garage structureStandard 30×36 specification
from$117,314
FoundationEngineered concrete with frost protection
from$29,710
Site preparationExcavation, grading and drainage
from$20,904
Permits + project servicesDesign, town permitting, engineering, management
from$11,630
Basic electricalPanel, lighting, receptacles, openers
from$23,657
Typical turnkey starting investment
from$201,869
2026 planning figures for a typical accessible, reasonably flat site. Site conditions, town requirements and selected options move these numbers. Planning estimates, not a construction proposal.
Make It Yours
Options for the 30×36
Standardized where it saves money. Custom where it matters. The popular upgrades below are priced during configuration or consultation.
Exterior styles
Classic vinyl and trim as standard. Carriage doors and detailing, contemporary Modern styling, or full “Match My House” coordination of siding, trim and roofing.
Priced after consultation
Attic storage trusses
Usable storage within the roof system — floored, accessed by pull-down stairs — while preserving the garage below.
Priced after consultation
Roofline & second floor
Shed dormers, a full second floor, or a custom roofline matched to your home — designed in-house by our design-build team.
Priced after consultation
Power, comfort & use
Upgraded electrical service, EV charging, heat and insulation, taller doors, lift circuits and compressor drops.
Priced after consultation
What affects the final cost?
Two 30×36 garages can carry different price tags for reasons that have nothing to do with the building. The site drives it:
- Access — can excavators and concrete trucks reach the building site, or does material move by smaller machine?
- Grade — a sloped site needs cut, fill and retaining that a flat lot doesn't.
- Soils & ledge — Connecticut ledge is real; rock changes excavation.
- Drainage — water management protects the slab and the neighbors, and towns increasingly require it.
- Utilities — distance from your panel to the garage sets trenching and wire costs.
- Town requirements — setbacks, wetlands review and engineering vary town to town.
- Options — doors, dormers, storage trusses and finishes move the number in plain sight.
Foundation type and depth are a big part of this — here is how garage foundations are priced in Connecticut. This is why every published figure is a planning estimate. After a site visit, your written proposal carries firm numbers for your property — and here's how to compare them fairly against any other quote.
How the project runs
- Configure & consult — choose your model, options and scope; we review it with you at your property.
- Design & proposal — a property-specific written proposal with firm pricing.
- Permitting — we prepare drawings and manage your town's zoning and building permits.
- Site work & foundation — excavation, grading and an engineered foundation for Connecticut frost.
- Construction & completion — framing through final inspection and walkthrough, backed by our 2-year craftsmanship warranty.
30×36 FAQs
Questions about this model
For most four-post storage lifts, plan on roughly 10–12 feet of clear height to stack two ordinary vehicles — more for trucks and SUVs. Two-post service lifts need similar clearance depending on the vehicles. We engineer this model's wall height for lift service and confirm clearances against your specific lift and vehicles during design.
The 30×36 structure starts at $117,314, with foundation, site preparation, permitting and electrical itemized in the turnkey planning estimate above. Taller walls, bigger doors and a lift-rated slab make this the most substantial model in the collection — and still a different category of spend than a full custom collector build.
Yes — and this is the detail that catches people who buy a building first and think about the lift later. Lifts concentrate several thousand pounds on small anchor points, so slab thickness, reinforcement and concrete strength need to be designed for it. Our foundation package engineers the slab for lift service from the start.
Most lifts run on 220V circuits, and a working garage adds compressors, chargers and real lighting. The basic electrical package covers panel, lighting and receptacles; we scope lift circuits, EV charging and compressor drops during configuration so the panel is sized once, correctly.
Build the 30×36 when a standardized footprint covers your needs — storage, a lift, a serious shop. Go custom collector when you want climate control, finished interiors, showroom presentation, more capacity or living space above. Same builder either way, so you're never re-explaining the project.
Compare Configurations
Related models
Serious collection? See our fully custom car collector garages — climate control, showroom finishes and high-capacity storage.
Ready to price the 30×36 for your property?
Configure it in a few minutes, or talk it through with us — you'll get honest input and a clear written proposal after a site visit.