Fifth Wheel Garage

My building is 18x44, Door is 14ft wide and 13-1/2 ft tall. Steel was from Mueller and it is a weld up rather than a bolt up kit. Much cheaper especially if you are going to pay someone to erect it. Two years ago, mine cost $5 per sq. ft. for the steel and roof insulation. Welding/erection cost was another $5 per sq. ft. Setting weld plates in the slab is much more forgiving than getting anchor bolts in the right place for a bolt up kit. Building includes a 24x30 ft. auto garage with conventional 7 ft. high garage door, so the TV sits is parked beside the fiver.

In Tx, don't go with skylights, too much heat. Instead I used smoke colored lexan panels that match the steel panel profile and installed several of them on the upper half of the south and east walls. Plenty of light.

My door is a commercial sectional door with a jack-shaft mounted Chamberlin Liftmaster opener. It is quiet, soft stops and auto programming. Long chain drive door openers are more problematic.

If I was going to build one for the 5er...I would go with not only a 14' door...but a 20' ceiling. I want to be able to stand on the roof for cleaning and repairs!

I just purchased a steel carport with enclosed sides it measures 18x40x14. The cost was $6,150.00 installed. My fifth wheel is 32'. I'm glad I went as big as I did always go bigger if you can. I'm glad I didn't go smaller as originally planed as I find it's handy for other things as well.

My all steel building is 40X22 with 14 foot high doors. I wish I had made it a little bigger, but I did have the slab extended 30 ft past the doors giving me a place to wash and wax my fiver. I paid about $7000 for the building. The cement work, 50 amp service, and lights and power were extra and done a step at a time. Go as big as you can.
Good luck.

RT

Sturgeon-Phish wrote:
Remember when talking door height to understand the difference between door height nad finished opening height from finished floor.

Concrete is going to crack, control the crack with expansion joints.

Concrete finish, real smooth, easy to clean,especially cleaning up spilled oil, but could be slippery when wet.
Jim

X2 on the door height. I didn't want any overhead door tracks in mine so I installed a roll up door. Since then I've noticed a farmer that has fold out hangar style doors on his barns. That's the way I would go now. You can build a pretty big door if needed. Provides extra covered working space.

fly4fun wrote:
............ I checked with Mueller steel blds and they said 14K for a prefab building. Now I need to get concrete prices for a 6in thick slab. Not sure how to go about getting it erected. I can do elec and insulation myself.

I believe Mueller can supply a list of erection contractors in your area if you do not want to take it on yourself. And there are a number of other similar steel building suppliers in Texas that you can get competing quotes and erection quotes from also.
Make sure you get a concrete contractor familiar with those as anchor bolts must be set in the concrete according to plan dimensions to keep everything square and recesses in the concrete at door openings to prevent water entry.
I did all my electric. Also built a bathroom and small kitchen area and did all that plumbing myself even though I had never done anything like that before. In the country so did not have to worry about city building codes. Worked out well. Had intended it to maybe serve as temporary housing if/when we decided to build a house on the land. So far it just houses my farm toys and tools.

I built a 30 by 44 pole barn. My toy hauler is 40 ft. I have 2 12 by14 over heads. And a 16 ft ceiling. Do recommend stays a lot cleaner and I can do things in all weather.

Hey Bionic, that's quite the 'Man Cave'. If I had to do it all over again knowing I'd be owning a fiver, when we built our house, I'd have a barn or structure as large as yours. Btw, why the moniker 'Bionic man'? I'm in the middle of several more arthritic joint replacements, and that's what the family has been calling me.
Mike

Maybe I should stretch it out to 50ft. I really cant see towing anything longer than 30-35ft. Just a little fudge room.

Boy if you can go longer than 40', I would. They won't get wider, but they sure get longer. our's is about 40' 6" true length, and it fits with comfortable in a 60' long.