We don't own an RV yet, but plan on purchasing one within the next year. Planning on putting up a pole barn to house it. We will build that before getting the RV. Wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts on it, mistakes you made, etc.Dimension wise I want to be able to plan accordingly. We have pretty much decided on a class C, but may move on to a fifth wheel down the road. So I want to "future proof" the barn.A fifth wheel is going to be taller than a class C, so if I plan my barn around that fact it should be able to hold any class C. What is the tallest 5th wheel right now? 13' something? so a 14' door should suffice?Any thoughts on barn dimensions? I am looking for more of a multi use barn but primarily for the motorhome. But may be storing tractor, car, boat, etc. So looking for two bays.Should I make it long enough to hold 5th wheel + truck attached? That might stretch it too long. How about room around the camper?Looking to hear thoughts from anyone who has been down this road! Thanks

I don't have a pole barn or other inside storage. But, the general consensus seems to be build it a little bigger than you think you will need. You may want a 45' Prevost someday.

We built an enclosed insulated RV garage a few years ago and besides the height which you already have I would suggest at least a 24'w x 40'd. Ours has worked fine for us and still have room for parking another vehicle either next to or in front of it. Had considered a metal building, pole barn and other covers but the winner was the enclosed insulated drive thru stucco and tile roof garage, the RV stays very clean.

It is a lot less expensive to build bigger the first time than it is to have to renovate.I would recommend a 14' door. Should be able to get any future purchase in it.If you can make it long enough to keep truck/5er attached, there are advantages to that.My original building was 24' x 52' with 16' sidewalls. I then enclosed one side and added about 12' x 30'. I wish I would have made it wider still, as it is nice to be able to have the slides out when it is in the garage, and still be able to move around inside the garage easily.I have power outlets every 8'. And (I think) 16 LED lights in the main garage. Sky lights and lots of windows for natural light.Insulated so it can be heated in the winter.The area where the utility trailer is where I did the addition.

Bigger is better,, 40 by 60 is as small as I would go. Leave room for a work shop.

Legal maximum height for vehicles in the US (without oversized permits) is 13' 6", so a 14' high entry into a garage or pole barn should be sufficient for any RV unless the ground and/or floor is quite unlevel or uneven. Legal maximum width of an RV I think is 8' 6" plus appurtenances (things like clearance lights, mirrors, grab bars, and awnings), but you probably want the width of the door somewhat greater so as to make backing in or out less of an exercise in extreme precision maneuvering...doubly so if you don't have plenty of space around to line things up.

RV Pole Barn | Good Sam Community

CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Mar 28, 2019
allen8106 wrote:
CavemanCharlie wrote:
allen8106 wrote:
I built a new 40X42 semi-round top shed with the intent of storing our 5ver in one side of it. my only regret is that I didn't install a wider door. We put in a 10 foot wide door and wish I has a 12.

The 5ver fits ok through the 10 foot door but with the awning on the curb side and the rain gutter spouts on both sides I only have about 4" to spare on each side which can be tricky to navigate when backing in.

So your 5th wheel is more then 8 foot 6 inches wide ????? I didn't think that was legal.

Are you sure that you didn't mean to say that you have a 8 foot wide door and wish that you had a 10 ?

No....I said it exactly as I intended. The camper body is 8 foot wide but the factory awning on the curb side and the factory rain gutter spouts on the street side both together add about 8ish inches in overall width. My "10 foot" wide door measures 9 foot 8 inches inside to inside on the door frame which as I mentioned can be a little tricky backing in to. So with 6 inches to spare on each side I wish I had built the building with a 12 foot door instead of a 10.

My mistake . I apologize
Chainwright
Explorer
Mar 27, 2019
memtb wrote:
Chainwright, Congratulations on the move to the country! Personally.....we can’t get far enough away! ;) Sounds like a nice set-up you have planned...
Best of Luck with your new venture!

Thank you sir.
memtb
Explorer
Mar 27, 2019
Chainwright, Congratulations on the move to the country! Personally.....we can’t get far enough away! ;) Sounds like a nice set-up you have planned...
Best of Luck with your new venture!
Chainwright
Explorer
Mar 27, 2019
We're downsizing moving from the city to the country. We're building a pole barn. Slab is 55x70 (5ft for the porch). On the right hand side half is our 30x70 home and on the left hand side the 20x70 ft MoHo Garage, with a 14 ft door to the north and a 14 ft door to the south. MY slab thickness is 8 inches, but I'm overkill, you could limit your slab thickness to 6in for a Moho, 4in if you have a 5th wheel.
sayoung
Explorer
Mar 27, 2019
We made ours 20x45x15 tall.Concrete floor. Had the metal siding brought down 3 ft on 3 sides. Looking back I should have made maybe 24 wide. Our five fits fine with slides out, just looking back.
lazydays
Explorer
Mar 26, 2019
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Mar 26, 2019
My first trailer shed was all enclosed. Trapped heat inside the shed ruined all the vinyl/plastic/A/C shroud/vent covers/etc. Mud daubers were terrible. We moved from that place to where were at now.
This time I put up a 16' X 40' X 14' inside height pole barn that was open on both sides (40" from the ground) for south to north airflow. Daubers are thick as my big pond (mud source) is about 150' away. Air flow eliminates most of them and heat doesn't pack up inside.
My floor is just 3/4" crusher run limestone.
My double doors are side by side and 12' opening. The shed if wide enough to open the slides if we need the trailer for more beds. Or I can drag the trailer to the woods where I have 110v 30amp service pole and water. The grand kids and great grand kids like this better than staying in the trailer shed.
allen8106
Explorer
Mar 25, 2019
CavemanCharlie wrote:
allen8106 wrote:
I built a new 40X42 semi-round top shed with the intent of storing our 5ver in one side of it. my only regret is that I didn't install a wider door. We put in a 10 foot wide door and wish I has a 12.

The 5ver fits ok through the 10 foot door but with the awning on the curb side and the rain gutter spouts on both sides I only have about 4" to spare on each side which can be tricky to navigate when backing in.

So your 5th wheel is more then 8 foot 6 inches wide ????? I didn't think that was legal.

Are you sure that you didn't mean to say that you have a 8 foot wide door and wish that you had a 10 ?

No....I said it exactly as I intended. The camper body is 8 foot wide but the factory awning on the curb side and the factory rain gutter spouts on the street side both together add about 8ish inches in overall width. My "10 foot" wide door measures 9 foot 8 inches inside to inside on the door frame which as I mentioned can be a little tricky backing in to. So with 6 inches to spare on each side I wish I had built the building with a 12 foot door instead of a 10.
RVman3252
Explorer
Mar 25, 2019
I built ours 50' 76' x 16' to the square. I have 1 - 14' x 14' Overhead and 2 - 10' x 10' Overheads. I wish I would of made the RV door 16' wide. I put a metal ceiling in it, added 12 Ceiling 6 bulb, florescent lights, installed Garage door Operators on the Overhead Doors, Concrete floor and insulated it.

Next year, I think I will build a 30' x 50' Apartment in it, just in case I want to sell our house and travel more than we do...

RVman / John
ExxWhy
Explorer
Mar 23, 2019
I have 10' wide doors on my building, it is very tight backing the trailer in. As usual, my biggest design mistake was "not quite big enough"!