The short version
Build a rectangular room on the street side, raise wall height if you need van clearance, cut a wide opening, place the widest doors you have (or a double-door pair), paint a driveway floor strip outside, and keep interior clutter off the parking footprint. There is no official animated garage door yet — the look is a build workaround.
How to Build a Garage in Paralives
- 1
Size the bay for a vehicle
On the street-facing edge of the lot, draw a room roughly car-length deep and at least two door-widths wide. Leave a straight path from the road so the driveway does not dog-leg through gardens. If the lot slopes, flatten the pad first so floors and doors sit cleanly.
- 2
Set wall height and floor
Use the walls tool for a full-height shell, then paint a concrete or stone floor. If your build uses raised foundations elsewhere, keep the garage pad at terrain level so cars read as ground-level, not floating on a porch platform.
- 3
Cut the front opening
Delete or redraw the street wall so you have a wide gap. Match the opening width to the interior parking strip — too narrow and the bay looks like a corridor. Builders often leave a short wing wall on each side so the opening is centered.
- 4
Place doors or a fake shutter
Method A: place the widest single door or a pair of double doors in the opening. Method B: use two doors side by side for a double-bay look. Method C (fake shutter): fill the opening with a thin wall panel or resized door, recolor it metal, and accept that it will not animate open — common for exterior screenshots. Pick the method that matches whether Paras need to walk through the bay in live mode.
- 5
Add driveway, roof and interior
Paint a driveway strip with the floors/terrain tools from the street to the opening. Cap the bay with a simple roof that matches the house. Inside, keep a clear parking rectangle; shelving and tools go on the side walls. Recolor doors, floor and trim with the continuous color picker so the garage matches the house palette.
Garage mistakes to avoid
Door too short for the wall
A standard interior door on a tall shell leaves an ugly gap. Resize the door height or lower the wall so the frame meets the lintel.
Garage on a raised foundation
Parking bays that sit on porch-height platforms look wrong from the street. Keep the pad at ground level or add a long ramp (awkward in EA).
No clear path from the road
If fences, hedges or stairs block the front, the room never reads as a garage. Clear a straight driveway first, then place the shell.
Garage FAQ
- Is there a real garage door in Paralives?
- Early Access has no dedicated animated garage-door object. Players fake the look with wide doors, double doors, or a recolored wall panel in the opening.
- How big should a Paralives garage be?
- Aim for at least one car footprint deep and two standard door widths across, with a straight driveway from the street. Scale up for a double bay.
- Can cars drive into the garage?
- Treat the bay as a staged parking space for storytelling and screenshots. Focus on clear floor space and a street-facing opening rather than perfect vehicle physics.
- How do I make an inset garage?
- Pull the front wall of the house back one unit to create a recess, then place the wide door set inside the recess so the shutter sits flush under a roof overhang.
- What about multi-car garages?
- Widen the room and use two door pairs with a center post, or one very wide opening with a fake panel. Keep columns thin so the bay still photographs as a garage.
Related build guides
Foundations, floors and driveways that pair with a garage bay.