POLE BARN / GARAGE SIZE SUGGESTIONS

[shortbus_driver]

Hello - I'm not sure if this is the correct area to post such a question, but I'm looking at having a garage / pole barn built for storage, but I'm not sure what size to start looking at. I know 'as big as you can' will be the most popular answer.

I am looking at storing 2 27' BH trailers, and a soon to be purchased 23'-25' boat. The trailers will be about 33' - 34' overall length. I would also like to pull a car in there to work on it during the winter time if needed.

What are you suggestions for size, or what size do you have and what all do you store in it?

THANKS !!

[az99]

korbe wrote:
In our neck of the woods, the structure would need to be engineered. The engineer you choose should be able to determine sizing increments to best utilize building materials with the least amount of waste.

That's funny.
You probably also need an engineer to then design a plan for waste disposal and another engineer to take it to a 5 Star Green certified recycling center where another engineer will document the waste.That will go to your attorney that will then have a court hearing to prove the building meets code. At which time another engineer will give you an occupancy permit that another engineer will post on the property.
I wonder why everything is so expensive in Ca. 🙂

[ocbms]

Tinyandthegang wrote:
From my experience if you build it twice as big as you think you will ever need in a very short time it will be half as big as you really need.

Amen to Tinyandthegang.
I needed 1200 square feet so for safety I built nearly 3000 square feet. 5 years later I wished that I had built the pole barn 3 feet wider and 3 feet longer so I could have a path to walk through. 14 foot high door is mandatory as you can't go back. Just drive the countryside and watch for the RV's sitting beside big building with a low roof.

Will you have a drive through such that you could pull (or back) a Fifth Wheel and tow vehicle in connected. Need 64 feet for that.

I had 5 inches of fiber glass re-enforced concrete poured on top of 4 inches of rock, not one crack in 15 years.

[Need-A-Vacation]

I would suggest to find out what the max size is allowed by your city or township, and see if the funds allow for that size. If not, get as close as possible to max size allowed!!!!

[shortbus_driver]

Tinyandthegang wrote:
From my experience if you build it twice as big as you think you will ever need in a very short time it will be half as big as you really need.

^^^^^^ FOR THE WIN

[Tinyandthegang]

From my experience if you build it twice as big as you think you will ever need in a very short time it will be half as big as you really need.

[C_B_]

I'm very happy with my 86 X 60 cold storage pole building with 17' eve height.

It was added on to my existing building. Have no regrets spending a little extra money to have 3- 15'H X 16'W overhead doors.


C.B.

[NRALIFR]

One consideration I had when building the RV bay on my garage was I wanted to be able to park the truck next to the camper if necessary. The garage door needed to be wide enough to allow that, and we went back and forth between a 16' and an 18' wide door right up until the last minute. We settled on an 18' wide, and I'm very glad we did. I probably could have squeezed in with a 16' wide opening, but it would have been very tight, and it would just be a matter of time before I'd scrape something.

:):)

[KJINTF]

I went 50x60 w/16ft inside ceiling
HVAC system - 5" thick concrete floor - 12x14ft door
It's too SMALL suggest you go bigger

[noteven]

Make plan view (top view) cut outs to 1/4"= 1ft scale of all your stuff you want to store out of stiff card stock.

Carefully re arrange the cut outs 476 times in various ways to "maximize storage". Place them this way and that. Do charts to determine use cycles. Wonder if you need to actually open doors to get in machines to drive them out. Discuss endlessly.

Then take whatever final dimensions you have engineered and consulted out from the above process and double them. 🙂

Oh other than a circle a square encloses the most floor space with the least amount of diggin and footins and length of walls but the roof can be more expensive if it is clear span...

Clear span roofs are A Good Thing in storage structures

As are doors minimum 14 ft high so all normal road legal vehicles fit.

[holstein13]

I'd plan on storing the legal maximum length, height and width of a rig plus room to walk around and walk on the roof of the rig.

Length - legal max 45 feet, better make it 60
Width - legal max is around 104 inches, better make it at least 20-25 feet wide per RV for slides.
Height - legal max is 13' 4", better make it 16 feet tall.

[hypoxia]

60' X 100' X 16'

[sunnybrooktoyha]

I have a 30x44 and wish is was longer. Get as big as you can even if you don't think you will use it. You will trust me on this one. Good luck post what you went with.

[Ivylog]

Don't worry about waste... You need a opening that is 14' high. You can make it longer at a future date fairly easily, but not higher.

[korbe]

In our neck of the woods, the structure would need to be engineered. The engineer you choose should be able to determine sizing increments to best utilize building materials with the least amount of waste.