Building a home for my prevost

[Prevost1111]

Hello everyone. I am hoping that i can gather some good information from you good folks about what to possible pit falls, size, concrete pad thickness or anything other comments or suggestions concerning building a home for my baby. I plan on building a 20 x 50 foot pole barn. Please give any and all suggestions or comments your input will be greatly appreciated. My bus is 45 foot.

thanks
Mike

[tdelorme]

Mike, you will get a lot of great suggestions. I'll start with the size of your barn. The twenty foot width is ok, but one of these days you might have a coach with slides and if you build anything on either side of the barn it's going to get tight. Fifty feet long is to short for a 45 ft. coach. I had a 40 ft. coach and built a 30 X 50 bus barn. I now have a 45 ft. coach and need to add at least ten ft. to the length. (or loose 20 pounds)
A pit is nice if you ever do any work on the bus. Power and air in the pit.
50 amp power is a no brainier
Water if at all possible
A dump station at the back of the barn is great to have
Place the lights on either side of the ceiling, not down the middle. Twice as many lights as you think you need. Sky lights are nice.
A 14 ft door, not 12
My next barn will be a "drive through."
A 5 or 6 hp three stage air compressor.
I like a flat floor but others will disagree and suggest it slope to a floor drain.
Do it right the first time. It's going to cost me almost as much as the original barn to add the extra length I want.
Good luck with the project.
__________________

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ted has it right. No less than 55 feet long and even longer if possible. Wider too. Plan on being able to roll a big tool chest all around the coach. Plumb the entire garage for air (1/2" hose size minimum to drive a 1" impact wrench), water, sewer, sanitary sewer, and enough lighting on both sides and across the rear of the coach to be able to do surgery. There is no such thing as too much light.

Make the pit at least 45 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 4 feet deep with steps that are open at one end. Make a formed concrete lip so the exposed open portion can be covered with 2 X 10's cut to length to sit on the lip so you don't fall into it when not using it.

In the pit add receptacles for electric and air at each end. Even if you have a pit you must support the bus when under it at the body support points. Make sure the concrete is adequate to carry the load. If you do not support the bus when under it, even in the pit you are at great risk.

When you get your man cave done, post pictures.

[GDeen]

My "barn" which is a rental spot is 70 x 22.5' which is a very good size. Enough room to get all the awnings out to dry after a recent wet outing.

No pit, just flat concrete flooring. Obviously limits some of the undercoach work I can do.

Ted is correct about the lighting - I have 2 overhead mercury vapors which worked great for my recent roof re-painting project. For all others, not near enough light on the sides of the coach. Am installing some wall flourescent lights this weekend to accomodate that.

Have a good size air compressor I can roll around as needed. A tool cart is a great trip saver for projects. Load it up with rags, fluids, whatever you need and roll it over to the work spot. My wife also uses this for hauling groceries from the car to the bus during loading out.

Wish list:

water
sewer
more lighting (going to work on that)
floor drain
better ventilation

[vistaridge]

what about concrete pad thickness?

What about a washing system that is easy to move about? Any ideas?

What about storage? - how about environment so you don't need to winterize - do you supplment w/ heat?

What about height? So you can stand on top - 20' clear?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I don't air condition my garage, but the pit seems to moderate temperatures in it year round. When it is 90 out the garage is about 75 to 80. When it is 5 above out the garage is around 45. I have 6" insulated walls, 12" of insulation in the ceiling and no windows. I do have a heater but only if I am working out there in the coldest winter day so I can work in my shirt sleeves.

My floor thickness is 7", reinforced with rebar every foot or so. (actually the rebar doesn't reinforce, but it does hold the broken pieces together.)

My washing system is a hose with cold water.

Nobody should stand on their roof. You have to get up there from time to time, but avoid doing that. If you have to be up there crawl around. It distributes the weight better. The roof will hold you, but you are breaking the bond between the roof skin and the spray foam insulation.

I have shelves for storage and there is never enough space. If the garage was any bigger I would just end up with more cars and more of a collection of stuff.

[garyde]

There are a lot of Metal Fabricating Builders who do Bus Barns , as well as toy Barns. They should have it down by now. Here's one:
http://www.gaport.com/

[campers]

Mike,
Make sure that the footings are at least 2 ft. wide with rebars. The concrete: 3500 to 4000 Psi. with fiber and mesh wire. Minimum thickness is 6 inches.
If possible, make also a door in the back so you can ventilate the area.
I did build my garage ( 55 by 35 ) with pre-cast concrete walls.
If you like I can send you some drawings.
Wil Hartsuiker ( Campers )

[sticks]

I used the Morton people to make my bus barn ( to match my horse barn and arena) , never the less , they do very high quality work. I made it 30x60 . It can never be too big.I went with 15 foot long center floor drain, in floor heat, and plenty of lights down both sides of ceiling. 50 amp service both sides.Water is close by in adjacent horse barn , otherwise would have it as well. One regret is no dumpstation,have to use rest area mile away which can be a pain in bad weather or after dark from late returns. Never gets hot enough for A/C in summer. Have 16 high, 20 wide door. Good luck!

[rickdesilva]

we have a section under "quick links" called "show us your garage" that we should all post pictures of our man caves.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

When posting in the bus barn area under quick links, one can neither edit or delete the entries. Use caution as what you post will be there for ever.:eek:

JIM:(

[michaeldterry]

we have a section under "quick links" called "show us your garage" that we should all post pictures of our man caves.

PLEASE do post pictures of your bus barns! One of my highest priority "dreams" for the fututre is to have my own bus barn for Evangeline. Seeing pictures of yours will help keep me motivated and hopeful that I'll one day be able to make it happen!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Because you asked so nice I have attached a few pictures of Casa del Grease Pit. This is not for show, but is a real working garage so it is rarely pretty looking.

[James]

Because you asked so nice I have attached a few pictures of Casa del Grease Pit. This is not for show, but is a real working garage so it is rarely pretty looking.

Nice, looks like a great place to work on the bus.

[michaeldterry]

Because you asked so nice I have attached a few pictures of Casa del Grease Pit. This is not for show, but is a real working garage so it is rarely pretty looking.

Thanks Jon! I'm very impressed and more than a little jealous! :D

[ken&ellen]

Ellen & I were mainly concerned with the hot sun damaging our coach, but as it turns out the insulation is keeping our coach at a balmy 40+ degrees during the current freeze. Our barn was custom built by a outfit in Sylvania, Ga and at half the cost of big time companies like Morton, etc. The local farmers all have them construct out buildings that have stood the test of time. Ken & Ellen

[tdelorme]

Very nice setup, Ken. There are a bunch of folks (myself included) that would love to have that much flat ground to work with. Is the bus barn a drive through?

[michaeldterry]

Ellen & I were mainly concerned with the hot sun damaging our coach, but as it turns out the insulation is keeping our coach at a balmy 40+ degrees during the current freeze. Our barn was custom built by a outfit in Sylvania, Ga and at half the cost of big time companies like Morton, etc. The local farmers all have them construct out buildings that have stood the test of time. Ken & Ellen

Ken - I am SO jealous! My dream is to have a bus barn like that for Evangeline. Could you provide a company name and contact information for your builder in Sylvania?

[ken&ellen]

Ted, no I did not go with the drive through. We have two acres on a 58 acre parcel all flat and great drainage. For our Harley Owner's Group parties we have had 5-6 motorhomes and probably could handle 30 units without a problem.

The name of the builder: Metal-Con
3013 Waynesboro Highway, Sylvania, GA
(912) 829-5555‎

Ken & Ellen

[michaeldterry]

The name of the builder: Metal-Con
3013 Waynesboro Highway, Sylvania, GA
(912) 829-5555‎

Ken & Ellen

Thanks for the contact info, Ken! It's definitely being filed away for future use!

[Ray Davis]

Hey Ken & Ellen!

I have been meaning to comment. It's great to see you posting again.

This might be more appropriate for a PM, but I thought I would ask. Kathy and I have been kicking around where we might want to retire, as I get closer to that age, or the ability to leave CA.

Your house pictured on the previous page is EXACTLY what we would like for both of us. Kathy wants the house with the porch, picket fence, plenty of land to garden etc. While I want the bus barn! :D

If you don't mind me asking, what does property and a similar house (minus bus barn, I guess), cost out in GA? (ball park only).

How is GA with respect to vehicle taxes, and income tax?

CA is killing me on both fronts, and eventually we want to move. Although I'll admit, sitting in 70+ degree weather at the moment, the other thread about Hotlanta is kinda scaring me!!

Just kinda curious. It looks really beautiful out there. I've never spent any time in GA, so I'm a bit clueless.

Ray

[garyde]

HI Ray. As I understand it, everywhere is better than CA.
You can buy a lot of blankets with all the taxes you save.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ray,

We are NY escapees. Like you we were choking on NY taxes, but in addition the weather in NY where we live sucks.

You will find property values anywhere else fairly cheap. NY leads CA in loss of property value because so many have been bailing out so the best advice I can give you is to beat the rush. Once the exodus reaches significant numbers the value of property and your home will fall out of sight.

I am not intimate with CA and its property values and taxes but I strongly suspect the path it will follow is identical to what NY has been going through. It is not going to be pretty.

[rahangman]

Non Poggers stay your distance from Arkansas, as the state motto goes..
"The Natural State" we don't have much here, but we don't need much either!

:rolleyes: