RV pole barn question

[hondapro]

I want to build a rv pole barn to store my rv.
I was going to have a metal carport type built but have decided against that.

I want to have a wooden pole type built.
The contractor I have met with said after 14 foot side walls you need to have blueprints and have a inspection done per code.

With 5th wheels being 13+ feet I would like a little more room (we are planning to move to a 5th wheel)

He suggested going 14 foot side wall and using a sissor truss,for more room in the center.

My building can only be 14 feet wide due to space limits.

Does anyone have any thought on this? and what would be my clearence with this type of truss?

Thanks for the help.

[Chum_lee]

hondapro wrote:

Chum lee wrote:
"He suggested going 14 foot side wall and using a scissor truss, for more room in the center.

My building can only be 14 feet wide due to space limits."

IMO, the scissor truss is a good idea. Light frame (2" x 4") trusses should be fine.

As long as you have no height limits, you could go as steep as a 12:12 roof pitch (custom truss) which would put your top of roof (exterior) at about 14 + 7 = 21 feet. With a 14 foot span, the scissor depth would only need to be about 18 inches which would give you about 18'-6" inside clearance at the center of the span. Less at the sides. (tapering down to about 14' at the plate line)



Chum lee

If I could ask what is the formula to figure inside clearance with the scissor truss with different roof pitches.
Thanks

Unfortunately, there is no general formula, just some general calculations. For your application, in general, (this is NOT a specific design) the rule of thumb (that I use for preliminary sizing calculations) is that you need about 1 foot (12 inches nominal) of structure depth for every 10 feet of span. So in your application with 14 feet of span you will need 1.4 feet of structure depth, rounded to 1.5 feet or 18" of beam (maximum truss depth in your case) depth. The fact that the roof slopes and the truss tapers doesn't matter that much for now. It might later.

So with a 12:12 pitch roof, you have half the span, or 7 feet in rise above the plate line minus the structure depth. Don't worry about the exact dimensions for now because you can change the truss cord dimensions from 2" x 4" to 2" x 6" if you need to, or you can space the trusses closer together (24 inch on center nominal) if you need to compensate for heavy roofing materials (concrete tile) or for snow/wind loads, if required. There are 1,000's of different ways to do this, but the above is what GENERALLY gives the most economical roof structure over all.

Chum lee

[sayoung]

hondapro wrote:

Chum lee wrote:
"He suggested going 14 foot side wall and using a scissor truss, for more room in the center.

My building can only be 14 feet wide due to space limits."

IMO, the scissor truss is a good idea. Light frame (2" x 4") trusses should be fine.

As long as you have no height limits, you could go as steep as a 12:12 roof pitch (custom truss) which would put your top of roof (exterior) at about 14 + 7 = 21 feet. With a 14 foot span, the scissor depth would only need to be about 18 inches which would give you about 18'-6" inside clearance at the center of the span. Less at the sides. (tapering down to about 14' at the plate line)



Chum lee

If I could ask what is the formula to figure inside clearance with the scissor truss with different roof pitches.
Thanks

H = run x rise . Building is 14 ft so run = 1/2 width so using a 12/12 pitch is 7 ft x 12 in = 84 in tall at center

[hondapro]

Chum lee wrote:
"He suggested going 14 foot side wall and using a scissor truss, for more room in the center.

My building can only be 14 feet wide due to space limits."

IMO, the scissor truss is a good idea. Light frame (2" x 4") trusses should be fine.

As long as you have no height limits, you could go as steep as a 12:12 roof pitch (custom truss) which would put your top of roof (exterior) at about 14 + 7 = 21 feet. With a 14 foot span, the scissor depth would only need to be about 18 inches which would give you about 18'-6" inside clearance at the center of the span. Less at the sides. (tapering down to about 14' at the plate line)



Chum lee

If I could ask what is the formula to figure inside clearance with the scissor truss with different roof pitches.
Thanks

[hondapro]

Thanks for all the advice,I will talk with my contractor again.

[valhalla360]

JRscooby wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
Consider digging out a lowered ramp and pit inside the building, instead of raising the building. You could lower it enough that the floor would be a walkin from ground level.

The floor should always be higher than the ground around it. Otherwise you will have something that resembles a medieval security system for the RV.

If done right, flooding won't be an issue but that presumes the whole structure (including lower floor is well above the surrounding land).

The real issue is now you can't access anything underneath...
- Want to grease the wheel bearings...so much for doing it inside out of the weather.
- Need to fix an electrical glitch...so much for doing it inside out of the weather.
- How wide would this slot be? If it's real tight, do you scrape the RV along the side if you get the slightest bit out of line? Or if you make it wide, do you fall into the gap or when something falls into the gap...

Assuming no major issues, go with a taller building.
- Make sure the height is referenced to the door opening (roll up garage doors often eat up a foot or so of space).
- Make sure the approach is relatively flat. If there is a substantial hill with a breakover angle, you might have enough height based on a level condition but the front or back might hit when the RV is out of level.

I would also go at least 20ft wide. You know you will want to store other things and this also allows room to open the slides.

I don't know if I would go 4' above 14' (ie 18' tall). That's getting really tall (pretty much 2 story house tall). It will likely come with a significant cost increase. How many times a year do you go up on the roof? For a couple times a year, I can step over the trusses.

[enblethen]

Don't know what kind of snow load or winds you get. Make sure whoever builds or designs it takes this into consideration.

[sayoung]

memtb wrote:
hondapro, We built a pole barn for our 5er and other equipment and went 16 foot sidewalls, with 14x14 roll-up doors and don’t regret it a minute. In fact, our 5er just clears the roll-up door when fully raised.

I highly recommend considering the advice that I failed to follow. “Figure out what you need and then double it”! We built our “first one”, 32’x48’ with 16’ walls. We just built our second pole barn 2 summers ago, 30’x40’ with 12’ sidewall.....already wish we’d gone bigger and taller! memtb

Allways build for the next rv or the next owner if you have the room. I built ours using steel, 20x45x15 . I wanted longer but would have had to cut down some old pecan trees. Skirted it 3ft down on 3 sides and open on the end I back into. Maybe one day enclose it and add door.
Also why spend the money for a truss on a 14 ft wide building ? Cut a steep pitch rafter and use a collar tie . Even a 12/12 pitch the rafter would only be 9ft 10 3/4 in .

[memtb]

hondapro, We built a pole barn for our 5er and other equipment and went 16 foot sidewalls, with 14x14 roll-up doors and don’t regret it a minute. In fact, our 5er just clears the roll-up door when fully raised.

I highly recommend considering the advice that I failed to follow. “Figure out what you need and then double it”! We built our “first one”, 32’x48’ with 16’ walls. We just built our second pole barn 2 summers ago, 30’x40’ with 12’ sidewall.....already wish we’d gone bigger and taller! memtb

[JRscooby]

Johno02 wrote:
Consider digging out a lowered ramp and pit inside the building, instead of raising the building. You could lower it enough that the floor would be a walkin from ground level.

The floor should always be higher than the ground around it. Otherwise you will have something that resembles a medieval security system for the RV.

[Chum_lee]

"He suggested going 14 foot side wall and using a scissor truss, for more room in the center.

My building can only be 14 feet wide due to space limits."

IMO, the scissor truss is a good idea. Light frame (2" x 4") trusses should be fine.

As long as you have no height limits, you could go as steep as a 12:12 roof pitch (custom truss) which would put your top of roof (exterior) at about 14 + 7 = 21 feet. With a 14 foot span, the scissor depth would only need to be about 18 inches which would give you about 18'-6" inside clearance at the center of the span. Less at the sides. (tapering down to about 14' at the plate line)

Chum lee

[midnightsadie]

and get more than one bid for this job.

[enblethen]

Unmarked overpasses, tunnels and bridges are 19 feet. Anything under has to be marked. There are many that are under 14 feet

[Oasisbob]

Overpasses are what? 14? That should be ample. Hope your rig is nowhere near that tall.

[jkwilson]

A 14’ width is going to be a problem as well. You will lose almost a foot on the inside for poles, so you likely won’t be able to put the slides out. Mine is 16’ wide and I wouldn’t go any narrower unless you absolutely have to. Your rig has the advantage of allowing pretty good access for packing with the slides in, but your next one might not.

Get the engineered drawings done. I have 16’ sidewalls and there really isn’t a lot of room to spare for the door or for working on top. If you ever decide you want a 5th wheel, you will wish you were taller.