RV Garage Design Help

Make sure you install your overhead lighting next to the walls and NOT in the center of the ceiling. That way you will have light on the sides of your RV instead of shadows. Don't ask me how I know....

Make it 50' deep in case you go to a 45' some day. Make the door layout and interior width so you can open the slideouts and awnings and still have space to walk around.

mclee47 wrote:
We are planning to build an RV garage in the near future and need advice on sizing it. We have a Tiffin Allegro RED 36QSA that is 37' long.

I know I need to make it longer than my current rig for possible longer rigs in the future, but we are unlikely every to buy anything over 40'. How much longer than the longest rig should it be?

I am planning to make it wide enough to extend the slides and open the basement doors without hitting the walls. How much extra room do I need?

The Allegro is 12'-10" tall and 79" wide when all buttoned up. So I am thinking that a 14'x12' door will suffice.

Are there any other considerations or suggestions on sizing or designing the garage?

BUDGET is the main consideration,

Space is #2

Having built many houses and shops over the years - the house has always been too BIG and the Shop has always been too SMALL.

So IMHO build it as big as you can, you will not be disappointed.

JMHO,

The friend who lets us park our coach for the winter has a 40 X 60 steel framed "pole barn". His only regret is that he can't hook up his toad to his 40" coach and have it enclosed in the barn. So if money is not he issue a 40X60 works nice (allows parking a car along side the coach on either side) but a 40 X 80 would be what he would build the next time.

Whatever you build, you will likely wish you went bigger.

Mine is 52' x 24' x 16' sidewalls. I have a single door that is 20' x 14'.

If I were building again, I would go 28' wide, as I could have done that without significant changes to my back yard.

If you want more than one vehicle in there, it is much easier to be side by side than tandem. Whatever is in the back is what you will want out.

Remember to do a lot of power, a lot of light, a lot of outlets (both inside and outside). Windows and sky lights are your friends.

Attic fans or ceiling fans are a good idea as well. Without heat, my building gets very cold in the winter. And even in Denver, it holds the heat in very well in the summer (read gets real hot).

Like Arcampers building.

OMHO

60' deep

17' eve height with 14'X 14' doors minimum.

When I built my 86'X 60' I went with 15'H X 16'W doors. No regrets doing so.

C.B.

INMH, you build the barn to take the largest MH on the market....just in case. Also, if you decide to sell the property you would hate for it to fall through because the barn wasn't large enough for the buyer's RV.

Second is to install the largest door that the design permits.

How wide is somewhat secondary and is an individual design based on what the perceived needs are for additional floor space.

Mine is 20 W, 48 L, with 15' sidewalls. Door is 14 H X 16 W. Interior hgt is 16' to the trusses and 17+ to the peak so plenty of room on the roof

This size allow plenty of room for the coach with slides extended and a workbench. air compressor, and the such. 50 A power, good lighting and several outlets. No dump station is my only regret but I have alternate methods of dealing with waste.

mclee47 wrote:
We are planning to build an RV garage in the near future and need advice on sizing it. We have a Tiffin Allegro RED 36QSA that is 37' long.

I know I need to make it longer than my current rig for possible longer rigs in the future, but we are unlikely every to buy anything over 40'. How much longer than the longest rig should it be?

I am planning to make it wide enough to extend the slides and open the basement doors without hitting the walls. How much extra room do I need?

The Allegro is 12'-10" tall and 79" wide when all buttoned up. So I am thinking that a 14'x12' door will suffice.

Are there any other considerations or suggestions on sizing or designing the garage?

mclee47,
While space AND MONEY are often governing factors, one of the things that helps a person decide on "additional space" is, how handy you are. That is, do you do your own work, maintenance, repairs, WAXING, and much more? If so, then you might need as much EXTRA room, on all four sides, as possible so that you're not hindered in your ability to move things around the coach, work in a compartment without banging the walls 'cause they're right behind you and more.

Most of us would like a gymnasium to park our coaches in so we can have the freedom to race around the coach and do what ever our little hearts desire, without compromise. But, space, money, regulations, and more often cause us all to DOWNSIZE our dream RV garage.

So, any advice I can give you, speaking from a DYI type guy would be to build it as big as you can afford, based on all parameters that guide you. Good luck.
Scott

I agree with Arcamper ....50 X 40 and the same design shown in the photo.

Built mine 40 x 30 not including the 12' extension and I can just barely close the door on our 38' trailer. Power doors are 12 x 14 and 10 x 10 so anything road legal can come in. I can open the slides and walk around on the roof. The best part is it has a bathroom and central heat and air. If I had to do it over again I would go 50 x 40. You can't have to big a toy box.