Building A New RV Garage Questions

[Isaac-1]

Storing indoors is not just about detailing the paint, it also gives one a FAR better chance at catching roof leaks early before serious damage is done, as you will most likely be living in the RV when a leak starts rather than finding the damage weeks or months later.

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by Capt Van

Thanks for the info, couple questions
Could you tell me more about the closed cell insulation, how thick would have had done? What does it look like, could you share a picture or 2?
Do you remember what the name and model exhaust fan you went with?

Thanks again

I went with a Broan, as a known name in ventilation, rather than a cheap Amazon no brand import.

https://www.broan-nutone.com/en-us/p...tilation/35316

Not super expensive, I think it was $130 or so, and then I also bought a louvered outdoor cover, that blows open when the fan is on (that part works so/so), which if I recall was also from Broan.

Here's the only two pictures of the foam I could find on my phone, which weren't great, as I was taking pics of my roof. If I get out there in the next week or so, I'll take some better pictures.

[Krikati]

My God, you guys must be made of money!!

[kcfissel]

Has anyone used in floor heat?

[crazylegs]

6" is too thin for rebar, you will cause the concrete to spall and/or break up prematurely. If you keep to 6" then use a wire mesh about 2" from the bottom. This will help keep the concrete together when it starts cracking.

For commercial driveways I have used 8" of concrete with no rebar or mesh. On fire station and ambulance driveways I have used an additional layer of wire mesh. Maybe a bit of overkill, but it is a huge inconvenience to have these accesses out of order.

[tnedator]

P.S. I should have had at LEAST twice as much light as I put in. It's on my list of things to fix.

[Hpozzuoli]

I am in the same boat. My new coach won’t fit in my moms barn so I need to throw up a garage at my place. Luckily I build houses for a living so this isnt that hard. 6” slab, hot and cold water, hvac, compressor with piped system, 50 amp service, and dump station.

FYI; for the slab you want the fibers, 3500psi concrete, and rebar. Skip one of them and expect cracking and worse.

[Mrtom]

Make sure and put in insulated doors
Also I blowed the insulation in rather than use roll insulation. Much better r factor

[Todd727]

Insulate it and install a combined unit AC/Heat unit.

Does it get somewhat humid in the spring? If you don't heat it, the first time you open the door in the spring, the cold floor will cause water to condense and any equipment in there will do the same. Then you will fight rust on all of your stuff.

If you are going to have 16' walls, you will have plenty of room for at taller door in the center.

Make it wider if you can. You will be amazed how fast that 30' becomes way too confining with the MH in it.

Plumb the entire shop for air from your air compressor. Set up an area for welding equipment.

[TexasTom]

I have a 30X50 insulated garage for my MH and just love it. A few things that I'm really happy to have....

Workbench and sink on the passenger side of the coach.

50 amp power on the driver side not too far from the coach plug.

Good lighting is very helpful for when working on the coach and especially when waxing,
etc. (I have the big lights like they use in basketball gym)

A sewer connection. Mine is outside and not reachable without pulling the MH halfway out of the garage. Not sure how well it would work in the garage.

Very good ventilation at the roof. It is super nice to fire up the AC in the garage on those hot summer days before we take a trip and have a cool MH to load and drive.

I also have an upper storage area that is accessible by stairs. It's great for storing the things like extra chairs, firepit, coolers.... you get the idea.

And lastly, an exhaust port for the generator so you can run it while the MH is in the closed garage. That was so nice to have last year when Texas (who does not know how to handle cold weather) shut off the electricity for 5 days when it was super cold. We spent the week in the MH staying nice and warm.

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by Todd727

Insulate it and install a combined unit AC/Heat unit.

Does it get somewhat humid in the spring? If you don't heat it, the first time you open the door in the spring, the cold floor will cause water to condense and any equipment in there will do the same. Then you will fight rust on all of your stuff.

If you are going to have 16' walls, you will have plenty of room for at taller door in the center.

Make it wider if you can. You will be amazed how fast that 30' becomes way too confining with the MH in it.

Plumb the entire shop for air from your air compressor. Set up an area for welding equipment.

I'm going to add a mini-split or package unit this winter. I didn't originally mostly because I put mine on my Sister's property and their barn/RV service electric (they full time and when parked, their RV is on the same service) service might not have been enough. In hindsight, I wish I had just gone with AC from the get go, rather than just heating it with a propane heating unit.

It's miserable to work on the RV in the Arkansas summer. I've been running the RV AC's during the summer, only set to 78 or so, so the humidity in the RV's stays down, but not in the garage overall.

[Tim Fox]

Kcfissle, I put in floor heat and absolutely love it. I keep it set at 50 and never feel chilled. I did my own installation, but it’s still fairly pricy compared to other options. That said, I would do it all over again.

[tnedator]

Originally Posted by Tim Fox

Kcfissle, I put in floor heat and absolutely love it. I keep it set at 50 and never feel chilled. I did my own installation, but it’s still fairly pricy compared to other options. That said, I would do it all over again.

I didn't consider it for my RV garage, due to where I live. However, I did do it on the main floor of my house when I built it (had it built) in 2015. I might be one of the only people in Arkansas to do so, and had to manage that part of the build myself, since none of the builders/contractors had ever even heard of in floor heat for the whole house --- only small electric versions for say a bathroom. I put it in primarily to take the chill off the tile floors (and as such, is powered only by an instant gas hot water heater) throughout the entire main floor of the house, but in the end found that the hydronic heat has become my primary winter heat and I typically only have to turn on my main gas furnace a few days (less than 7) a year and some years I never do, even when we have long stretches in the 20's or teens.

Even though I'm a southern guy, I'm now a believer in in-floor heat.

[tschupp]

If you do or plan to do any of your own service work, you may want to put a pit you can work out of underneath your coach. Much easier access!

Would also have. Long floor drain so you can wash
when dirty

Looks like a great plan!