Enclosed Storage Ideas?

[JIM KELLER]

My only thought about leaving an A/C on during the hotter months in Texas, is the water or condensation that will pool beneath the bus in your nice new barn. And believe me there will be large puddles after a weeks stay on the floor of your barn under the bus, and when it starts running to the adjacent barns your neighbors may not like that?

I have not left the A/C's on during the first year in our storage barn, because of that. I had them install 50 amp service, just so I would have the proper power and everything has worked out great, other than my slide problems, but that is in another thread.

Gordon you will need at least a 14' x 14' x 50' accessible barn, so if he is willing to build that, tell him you will come ( I mean rent it from him) !

Gary S.

Gary, Idea for you. In my Bus Garage I placed three round water heater pans under the Bus where the condensation drips. I then plumbed them together with pvc and ran one pipe through the wall. The pans are low enough to stay in place while I drive over them [ had to trim the center mud flap just a little.] Allows the air conditioners to cycle as needed.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

If anyone is worried about AC condensate, the drains on my bus could easily have a length of hose or tubing attached that could run to a floor drain. I'm not sure letting condensate pool on the floor is a concern anyway.

I wash my bus inside the garage. The floor gets wet. It evaporates.

When I run the AC the floor gets wet. As it spreads it evaporates. It is not like I have created a running stream of water.

Apart from an easy way to access the bottom of the coach I found the pit has a huge secondary benefit. My garage temperature never gets below 45, and I only saw that temperature when it was near zero outside several mornings in a row. In the summer when it is blazing hot out, in the mid nineties during the day, my garage is still in the seventies inside.

I think the favorable temperatures are due to the pit and the temperature of the earth being in the fifites. The pit seems to moderate the garage temperatures making heat and AC in the coach required only for those times when we want more comfortable temps to do a project inside the coach.

[GDeen]

Spent most of the day searching through ads and the afternoon driving around and looking at warehouses and storage. Couple of prospects that are leased right now.

Happened upon this deal through a broker who I called on another space that wouldn't work for a bus. Said he had a client with a big building that may be interested.

14' doors, plenty wide, concrete floors, 70' deep. Only about 15 min from the house on country roads rather than across town. The guy hasn't started to market it yet as he has used it for personal stuff. Biggest drawback is the caliche drive which is about 1/4 mile long. Quoted me a decent price for year lease.

Will pave it at some point but not in the near future. 50 amp not a problem, no water. What about the caliche drive???

Edited to add - pass by a RV park with dump station on the way there so it would be very convenient to clean out tanks before storage.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Gordon, I think you may have found your parking spot? Sounds like it will be big enough with extra space front and rear for usable storage.

I just wish your drive access was solid concrete. I am not familiar with the type of road way leading up to the storage, and in the wet weather would it be a nightmare for a 50,000 # bus?

Maybe if the owner put it into the contract that he would resurface the approaching road if you agreed to a longer term contract your problem would be solved?

14' wide or high doors ? The reason I ask, our barn had 16' high ceilings but the door casing when up, was only 13', something, and I had to lower the suspension to get into the barn, till recently.

Aint it fun, and you haven't even found the right bus yet, have you?

Gary S.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Looks and sounds good Gordon. I think the drive will be fine if it was put in right. Your problem might be, what is going to go on in the adjacent spaces and who the other folks in the building might be. Is the bldg. all open inside or is it partitioned off?

Good luck, JIM

[GDeen]

Gary - 14' high. Definitely has the clearance and space issue covered.

Jim - it is currently non-partitioned but he agreed to box off a side for me with the lease. Would also like to get him to run water to the building which it doesn't have. It is supposed to rain pretty hard here tonight and tomorrow so I will go check it out tomorrow to see how the road is holding up. Owner is also a contractor so he can ensure it stays in good shape.

Up close picture with Blackberry which isn't the greatest quality but you get the idea.

[Ray Davis]

Shoot, I would LOVE to have a place like that. I think you've got a home .....

[GDeen]

Shoot, I would LOVE to have a place like that. I think you've got a home .....

I agree Ray - if it passes the rain test then I am pretty stoked about it.

Now I just need something to put in there!

[Will Garner]

Gordon,

Just my 2 cents for what they may be worth today. I'd be inclined to take Door #2, the one on the right side of the barn, if you have a choice. I see a slope rolling off to the left side of Door #1. It looks almost as if it starts within the door opening which may not be good for things under the bus. I'd also envision how you are going to get the bus back out of the barn, and turned around, not just look at how you will drive it in. The in part is easy, well in this case it will be. Other than that it does look like a very suitable building for storing a bus.

Happy Bus Hunting season is now open!