Bus Barn

[dreamchasers]

I am starting preliminary design for my bus barn. I thought I would lay out the design for expert advice. I forgot to place a North South indicator on the plan. North is to the left of the drawing.

What am I missing?

Click on the link below to view the .pdf file. The 68 k file could not be uploaded to the POG site, to big??

http://dreamchasers.us/pog/bus barn test.pdf (http://dreamchasers.us/pog/bus%20barn%20test.pdf)

Any and all comments are welcome. Remember, I am still a newbie.

Hector

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Hector,

Since you have the opportunity to start from scratch move the bus to the left or right. Leave ample room to pull and axle, 5' being more than enough.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

If you want to go further, add a pit, and other door to drive cars or landscaping equipment in, add a 50/30/20 power outlet from Jamestown Advanced (I can't resist plugging my daughter's company), add water and sewer, and center the peak over the offset bus, with the pitch towards the more open side of the garage (otherwise it looks like a sky scraper).

Plumb it for shop air, get a compressor which has 175 PSI capability and an 80 gallon tank, and in addition to normal size quick connect fittings, add some 1/2" quick connects to run the 1" impact wrench.

Put enough lighting in there so it is lit up like a surgical suite. It still won't be enough for aging eyes but it will be a good start.

Put welder outlets around where the bus will sit so when you break a stud using your impact wrench to remove wheels, you can weld a nut on to spin the broken part off the bus. Yes I know there are tools that work without welding, but I have had several that would not come off and I still ended up welding.

Then get the large oil drain pan, a commercial 120 # grease barrel pump and 40 feet of grease hose, a parts storage unit for fasteners and spares, a wash sink, a urinal, a telephone, radio, strong workbench with a serious vise, a set of air over hydraulic jacks from Harbor Freight, and you are getting close.

[Darl-Wilson]

Hector, I think you have a great design but agree with Jon about the changes and additions. I would love to have the barn and equipment he outlined.

I like your website and have been there several times but I am curious about when you are going to update it and include your new bus? Like most of the POG members I like to check out the new equipment and keep up with what is happening with my fellow POGers.

It certainly looks like you have your plate full right now with the new structure.

Hopefully we will see you two at POG VI in Pahrump in May.

[Alek&Lucia]

If you can change your door from 12' wide to 14'. I did it, and I like very much.

[garyde]

Hi Hector. It would be great to have some sky lights for some natural light. If you are going to wash your coach outside, you might want the driveway a little wider. If you want to work on your Canopys extended inside your garage , verify the distance needed for both sides.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Hey Hector, that's great that you can build from scratch and have exactly what you want/need!
I agree with Jon, Darl, and Gary. Mostly.
I would make the side walls 16' and the ridge 24' high. That would give you a nicely proportioned building that looks good.
I would go a little further and put in a 16'X16' door. That would let you get light and air into the building when you are working and also let you position the bus from side to side for different kinds of work/fun inside.
The added side wall height would also give you sufficient height to raise the bus on mid rise jacks without difficulty.
http://www.pkslifts.com/mid-riselifts.html

Price them out and I think you will find that they are less expensive than a pit and could be sold when you no longer want them.
I assume you are going with a clear span steel framed building. With that you would not be bothered by interior height limiting trusses.
Be sure to insulate the roof, so as to not have a condensation problem. Insulated walls might also be beneficial depending on your climate.
If you are going Deluxe, finish the interior walls with white vinyl.
Use 5/8 to 3/4" OSB from the floor to 4' high as an internal wall and protector of the exterior sheathing, alone or covered by the vinyl.
A metal roof would be best. Don't forget lightning rods which can be installed (do it yourself)
http://www.lightningrodparts.com/?gclid=CP6Q_OOuypECFQ6NHgodiW-bzQ

IMHO the pit is a fine way to go and would be nice to have and a pleasure to work in, but I have found that the government is controlling service pits through OSHA even for an individuals private use and if your insurance co knows you have one your rates are going to be excessive. Also if you might want the building for mixed use the pit would render it's area useless as a nice floor space. Draining the pit might also be a problem. Resale value of your building would also be higher with a smooth flat floor.
Put a nice smooth machine finish on the concrete and apply the epoxy coating Brian uses on his floor.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

My insurance company knows of the pit and there is no issue. Additionally, if you have no further use for a pit, back fill with gravel to within 4" to 6" of the floor and pour concrete. My pit has a lip down both sides so I can place 2X10 boards across to close it off so nobody falls into it if the bus is not over it. I only used them when I had my 40 foot coach to cover the steps leading into the pit. My 45 now covers the whole pit so it is always open. If the bus is out of the garage, we are in it so leaving the pit open doesn't matter.

I purposely made my pit with a sump and a pump. There is no way an accidental fuel or oil spill can leave the pit unless I plug in the sump pump which drains through an oil trap. In the event I have a major spill, I can pump into containers and dispose of the material. I can wash the engine over the pit, and when done, drain the sump. My pit has no drain other than the pump.

The lifts you show require a tall ceiling, and in a neighborhood it makes the garage an eyesore. While a lot of service facilities use them I personally feel they have serious shortcomings, not the least of which is that work which requires access from beneath the bus, but with the wheels off is not possible with the lifts. I am also concerned about the weight of the rear of the bus supported by the two drive axle tires exclusively. I seriously doubt the lifts are cheaper than a pit.

As to local building inspectors having fits about a pit, I guess I was lucky. They did not have any problems with it, but I have heard from other folks that their building inspectors had concerns about numerous perceived problems. The owners merely built their pits after the final inspection.

As to comments about insulating, we are in an area where it has gotten into the single digits and remained well below freezing for several days. We have also had many summer days in the 90s for weeks. The garage is well insulated with about 10" of blown insulation in the ceiling, and 6" in the walls. The interior is untaped sheet rock. Without running the furnace in the winter the lowest I have seen it get inside is 45 degrees. In the summer it remains about 10 degrees cooler than the outside. I attribute the temperatures to the pit which is the length of the bus and 4 feet deep. It seems to provide the warmth from the ground in the winter and the cooler ground temps in the summer to make the garage a nice place to work year round without the use of heat or air. However, when it warms up outside, like in the spring it is still cold inside relative to outside temps, and the bus gets condensation on it. Opening the doors or kicking on the furnace takes care of that.

Remember one huge advantage of a pit....your bus is always over it ready to be serviced and it is failsafe.

[Alek&Lucia]

When I lived in Europe (24 years) many (70%) private single or two garages had pits. I preffer them over any lifts.

Jon: how wide is your pit ? Is the floor inside concrete or paving brick ?

Alek

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Alec, My pit is 48" deep, 24" wide, and is of poured concrete construction.

Hector...Here's what I mean by offsetting the bus door. Not the roof centers over the door to lower the profile.

[dalej]

Hector, my barn is 30 x 50. I like that you went 60. It looks as if you are designing it to work on your bus evertime it's in the barn, which will not be the case. I would make the door big enough to back the bus along one side when just parking and then you'll have enough room to park other STUFF in there.

If you use Jon's style of building with two doors, I would add a pit. I use stands and get along great without one.

Keep in mind, your not going to service our bus's too! I don't think. :)

[dreamchasers]

All replys have been excellent! I designed the structure to attempt to keep the wall height as low as possible. The issue is when you turn into our driveway, the bus entry door will be the first thing you see. Then, you will have to drive down the existing driveway, nest to the structure, thus I am trying to minimize the wall height. Don't want it to appear I am passing a warehouse on the way to my home.

Concerning the pit!. I do see it the way to go. Since I have not seen or worked with one, I am struggling with installing one. It is a possibility, but it is still simmering.

The center design will hamper placement of other equipment in the structure, but I think I can live with this inconvenience, to tone down the size of the building as I drive in.

The door is at 12 wide now. It seems to be the only way of fitting the 14 foot height door into structure's roof line. If I make the door any wider, the wall height will increase.

I do have a constraint with the size of the building. With a property building line, an existing building behind the proposed structure and the existing driveway on one side.

I have received advise from tdelorme concerning making the building 60 feet. It seems like the way to go.

I do intent to brick the structure to match my house.

Thanks for all the welcomed comments. They are all good

[mcirco]

Hi Hector, I wish I could speak from experience about using my Bus Barn but I am building it as we speak. My building is 36' by 60'. The ceiling is 16 feet high. The ceiling consists of a pre-finished white metal liner fastened to the bottom chord of the trusses. The ceiling was insulated with approximately 10" of blown-in insulation. I installed 32 4 foot 2 lamp flourescent light fixtures, 2 commercial high performance ceiling fans and a 250,000 BTU ceiling mounted heater. The roof pitch is 6/12 with center peak. The door for the bus is 16 feet wide and 14 feet high and is in the Gable end of the building and offset from the center. There are 2 10' by 10' garage doors on one of the eave sides of the building so I can store my skid steer and other equipment easily inside. That's as far as I have gotten. I am getting close to beginning the floor which will contain a pit assuming I don't run into any unforseen problems. My pit will be per POG specifications (see Jon). The pit will be offset from the center (like the main door) allowing 5' 5" from the side of the bus to the side wall of the building - meeting or exceeding POG specifications. If it would stop snowing here today maybe I could finish this thing soon.


Miles and Laura Circo
2004 Country Coach XL II 45' D/S

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

That's all sounding real good Miles, how about some pictures.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Just a comment. If all the bus barns were used for parking only then I would have no recommendations as to the spacing between the bus and the wall. But there are maintenance issues that will arise necessitating the removal of an axle and 5 feet or a little more assures the necessary space to pop out an axle and have room to work.

For those unaware, popping an axle out, such as to service the drive axle hub seal only takes a few minutes so it is not a big deal. In fact the axle will come out for work on the brakes, bearings, hub seals, brake drum replacement, etc.

[GaryB]

Wow.
Very helpful. We're in N Texas and about to build a barn/shed with living quarters. Trying to figure out how much width we need to keep the two slides open when inside barn for a Liberty Prevost conversion. Anyone know the measurements of the bus when slides are out? The lighting suggestions were very helpful. If anyone still has their barn plans and would be willing to share that would be great.

[BoaterAl]

Suggested....keeping in mind cost.
Stall Width min ...16 ft this will allow slide room run out.
Length...60 ft. this is "inside" length. If you go 50 ft the fight will be getting bus forward enough to open bay doors. 60 ft allows for a small bench /storage shelf in front of bus
Sewer dump....25 ft from overhead door
Garage door height...14 ft
Garage door width....very important min is 12 ft 6" Why you ask ? Bus mirrors
Electric and water....both service are at front of bus. You want smooth walls or your risking some serious shoulder injury. Cords lay
on floor next to wall.
Lighting....overhead and side
Just a few suggestions. Questions ?

Info is for a single stall....as used in our bus storage business for past 17 years. We recently went condo on the bldg and have one remaining stall remaining.

This bldg has eight (8) storage stalls is heated and air conditioned with 50 amp service, sewer dumps (8) city water (8) Commercial overhead electric doors, walk in/out doors each end.

AL
14914

[junker]

Hot and cold spigot outside for washing and cleaning

[Highway]

Would just like to share some pictures of the garage we built in 14 days. Pre-fab sections, 2x8 construction, 25’x50’, 3 garage doors, floor drain and sewer connection for dumping holding tank. We have 16’ at walls and 19’ in the center, all lumber is pressure treated, has 145 mph sustained wind load withstands 175 mph gusts. Thanks

[Highway]

Would just like to share some pictures of the garage we built in 14 days. Pre-fab sections, 2x8 construction, 25’x50’, 3 garage doors, floor drain and sewer connection for dumping holding tank. We have 16’ at walls and 19’ in the center, all lumber is pressure treated, has 145 mph sustained wind load withstands 175 mph gusts. Thanks

[Gil_J]

Michael,

Wow! That looks great and that's a fast built. In our county the inspectors would have been the holdup.

I was at Liberty last weekend. I would have loved to see it.

[Pete]

Wow! Looks very nice.....I know you will enjoy your bus's new home. It makes it so convenient to have the coach so close to home.

[Highway]

Gil, let me know the next time you are coming to town. I’m 5 minutes away from Liberty’s showroom. We have our fair share of issues with building permits and the likes also.

[drivfour]

I am gathering info to build a similar barn in Conifer Colorado and would love to have the information on where the plans, and materials came from. property has major formations of solid granite so I am not confident about the pit. Apparently the county building office allows the local volunteer fire dept to present their rules for buildings. That should be interesting!

[Highway]

15059
My building is a simple slab (8” concrete with 2’x4’ footers) on grade with 2x8 pressure treated walls covered in 3/4” pressure treated plywood. The walls were engineered and framed by a local truss shop. It is considered an engineered building. The wood is all framed and attached with truss plates just like a roof truss. The wall sections are approximately 8’ long by 16’ high, they are screwed together and bolted to the concrete slab. I would be happy to post pictures of the attachments and style of construction if you are interested. Here in Florida we have very tough building codes due to hurricanes. I’m sue you could contact the same company I used and purchase the plans and have a local truss company build the wall sections. The building arrived at my home on 2 semi trucks and consisted of 16 sections that we installed with the help of a crane. The exterior is decorated in Hardy planking, impact windows, and 175 mph resistant garage doors. I did the exterior that way so it matched my house and didn’t stand out like a sore thumb. After paver bricks, landscaping, and paint it blends in pretty good.

[drivfour]

Yes I would be interested in more details, builder,plans attachment etc. Thanks

[Joe Camper]

15154

15155

The Mac Daddy Barn. We r finishing the new north wing. A 30 by 120 addition with 18 ft doors. If u look way down at the end u can just see it. The barn is now 280ft long.

15156

15157

We r making our own concrete.

[aggies09]

That’s quite a barn Joe. Interesting.

[Joe Camper]

Hey Tony, that's 65 yards of concrete for the floor, we mixed it ourselves.

[Joe Camper]

If u r looking for an ineresting floor. Do an image search for 3D Floor Art.

Amazon also carries it but they don't have the crocodile pit that I like, it's on an image search.

I posted it here because I'm not sure how many people would want this as a floor in their bus but there's a few bathroom images that I think would look really special in the bus bathroom.

Comments please.