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Welcome to the Bus Barn Forum
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41 Replies
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Looking for bus barn suggestions.
In late November we sold our house in Grafton just north of Milwaukee and moved into the house my parents built in 1955 that I grew up in on the Wolf River in Shawano; between Green Bay and Wausau, Wisconsin. The Grafton house was in a rural area on an acre and we had a 1,000sf race shop with an adjacent, uncovered concrete pad with two 50amp receptacles and full hookups for the coach. The Shawano house is “in town” with 75’ setbacks from the river which is on two sides, consequently while I’m working with a restricted footprint there should be enough room for a proper bus barn.
My plans are to attach it to the house garage, have two 50amp shore power receptacles for our coach (inside) and a guest coach (near the big door), city water and dump station in the building, and in-floor radiant heat.
I’m thinking a 14’ tall door that’s either 13’ or 14’ wide. I don’t think I can realistically get by with a 12’ wide door. Am I thinking right on the door?
At this point, I’m pretty sure I can have a 60’ depth. Having a 45’ XL coach with swinging barn doors for the engine access at the rear I don’t think 50’ or even 55’ is deep enough to get around the front of the coach and be able to easily and conveniently get around the back of the coach with the engine doors open. Am I missing something?
I have neighbors immediately adjacent to where the bus barn will be, so I’m trying to keep the barn as low as possible. The majority of the roofs of our existing house are 5/12 pitch with a couple of “peninsulas” of the house at 4.75/12; so the roof of the barn will be shallow. Can I get by with a 14’ ceiling over the coach? Or should I go to 15’or even 16’?
The coach is 8.5’ wide (before the mirrors) and I think 3’ on each side is ample. So I’m thinking 15’ wide enough. Or should I go wider? Is 4’ (19’) or 5’ (20’) more realistic?
We had in-floor radiant heat in the race shop and loved it. I’m planning replacing the floor in the existing garage at the same time and putting in-floor radiant heat in the garage as well. I’m not sure I need to air condition it, but might wire the bus barn for a small mini-split A/C unit. I shouldn’t need much to keep the temps under 80*F in Wisconsin even in the summer.
I’ve thought about a pit, but I’m leaving that out of the plans at this point. I am open to thoughts on the subject. Has anyone built a bus barn without a pit and seriously regretted it? Has anyone built a bus barn with a pit and found it an unnecessary over improvement?
I look forward to your advice and counsel. Thanks!
Dick
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Dick:
I live in Arlington Ridge community in Leesburg, FL. The builder built 48 homes with a 60′ x 20′ bus barns attached to the houses with the ability to customize further if needed. All have 16′ ceilings. Some neighbors chose to extend the depth to 80′ and 25′ width. All came with 14′ door which is adequate although some neighbors widened to 16′ width door.
The end result as time has passed and we all have compared notes is:
BIGGER IS BETTER. After seeing the 80′ deep garages you realize you can have your towed ready to go behind your bus, the 25′ wide barns give you room to have your slideouts in the out position with plenty of room to still have Stuff on the walls and still have room to walk a round. Although the 14′ wide door is more than adequate, the 16′ wide door gives you a little more wiggle room when maneuvering in or out
Chuck
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I’m not sure how important this is for your desired construction method, but 15′ wide with a 14′ door doesn’t leave a shear panel for wind loads. At 20′ wide, you’ll be able to squeeze another vehicle beside it and wish you had another couple feet to open the doors and get around.
I have a 30 x 60 x 16. The length is more than adequate, but I wouldn’t go less than 55. The height is plenty too, with our ’96 Liberty being 12′ 2″ at road height. Higher ceilings make the space easier to light, I feel. Plus you can get on the roof for maintenance, albeit a minor consideration perhaps.
My advice if you want to minimize the footprint would be to give serious consideration to what you would store in the building, mark out an area with stakes/string, and try it. Open doors/bays and walk around, etc. Even better if you can do it on-site and try the entry/exit with the bus.
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40′ x 60′ here in Texas with (3) 14 foot doors. One bay is a pull thru. Wife had a fit when I had the barn built before I started the House. It’s already full. Wish I would have built it 50′ x 80′ like i had at the old place.
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I park my bus in a barn enclosed on two sides. The parking area is about 110′ long and the bus occupies about 20′ of the 45′ available. The concrete floor is sufficiently designed to support the weight of the bus. Because the barn is so deep and wide, my bus is never exposed to direct sun or rain, even though the barn is open on two sides.
The barn is part of a larger building that includes a shop and storage for ag equipment.
i never considered building a pit, concerned about the safety of my farm dogs and livestock that occasionally end up being where they are not supposed to be. I have never regretted skipping the installation of the pit. That said, I do not personally perform much service work on my bus due to my overwhelming work responsibilities.
I do not have to worry about the width of the entry door, but 14′ would be a bare minimum if I did. My rafter height at the entrance is 14′ 4″, which is just tall enough for my H3-45. The floor slopes down as I enter the barn, and the rafter height is about 16′ at the rear of the bus.
I see no advantage to having an excessively tall ceiling unless you need room for light fixtures. Even though I have exposed rafters, it is still a PIA to do any work on the roof when the coach is in the barn. If you are going to install lighting, I recommend doing so on the walls.
Once feature I included during construction was the installation of a french drain that runs the length of the parking area. I installed a deionizing system, and I can wash the bus where it is parked regardless of the weather and under artificial light, if necessary. I highly recommend that you consider this feature.
I agree with the advice of others regarding “go as big as your wallet and available space allows.”
Please know that I, as well as many others, are interested in spending your money.
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Dick, we recently built a 40’x60′ bus barn (no pit), with radiant heat in the 6″ slab, two floor drains, and a 16’8″ height to the bottom of trusses. The three insulated doors are 14’x14′, 14’x12′, and 10’x10′. We have a 2′ roof soffit/overhang on the sides. Since you are building in “snow county” you’ll have to factor snow loads in to your roof design. I’d highly suggest a wide roof overhang on the sides (more is better) so when the snow falls off the roof it doesn’t lay against the building and turn to ice. With radiant heat, it is best to incorporate a lot of vertical (edge) rigid insulation to the slab pour, which should be 6″ thick minimum. Rather than center our two main doors, we offset them and are very happy we did. In retrospect, i would NOT install less than 14′ doors. I can email a couple of pics if you want.
2005 XL Thompson Coach
Rarely tow anything behind us.
Sold: 1993 Liberty that we loved for 12 years. -
WOW! Six responses in four hours to a new categoy! Thanks guys!
Special Thank You! to Colt. I know how serious your sentiments are and I sincerely appreciate your desire to help and do whatever you can to spend my money.
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30 x 60 x 16 with a 14 x 14 OH door is what I had in Duluth. That was a good size for me and I had room to move around the bus with all 4 slides out and still had room for work benches and shelving etc. I used 2 Modine Hot Dawg heaters for the heat on separate thermostats and circuits. One walk through door. Also 4 small operable windows for ventilation if desired. Also had a couple of ceiling fans. Easy to heat even in the tundra.
You can never have too much garage space!
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Until the C-Vid hit I was a track for a 30’x60’x16′ Sunward Steel red metal building, fully insulated, with a 14’x’14’ door, a 3-0 door, six windows high into the side walls, floor drains, etc. Price for the building at that time was in the $20K range. Bargain compared to today prices.
I know Jon recommends a pit. I did, and still do, have a fear of animals making way into the building, and a wandering grand daughter.
You may also want to check out the web site metalbuildingoutlet. They re-sale buildings that were not paid for. Could work out for you.
Good luck.
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Dick,
Just because it is not my money, although I did incorporate this stuff in my home and office/shop.
Trench drain that has a poly body and stainless steel grate. I hate rust.
I second the ceiling fan idea.
At home I poured the foundation walls 24″ above the floor so I can wash the floor without damage to wall material. The office/shop is concrete tilt-up so no water issue there.
At home all the cabinets and sink are wall mounted, nothing touches the floor, so I can hose down the floor.
Garage floor is epoxy coated, easy to clean.
Large rubber hose terminated to the exterior so I can run coach in shop.
If you get to Madison let me know.
Dale
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This is my 3rd detached bus barn, 30 X 50, sewer, (2) 50 amp and water, insulated with electric 12 X 14 doors. 6″ concrete, rebar and commercial fiber. All steel, wanted to do a pole barn, but cost was crazy.
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Really nice looking building, Tom.
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Ironhorse Condo Assoc LLC. Pecular, MO. Appox 15 miles south of KC.MO.
8 stalls 16 X 60 ft . inside connections for water, electric, sewer, fully heated and full bldg A/C.
Purchased in 2000 as RV storage for diesel pushers only. ie monthly rent for many years. After about 3 years and diesel only, stalls rarely turned over. Diesel only RV’s, building has front and rear escape doors, push button overhead doors, diesel only has cheaper insurance coverage. Drive in back out house rule .
In 2017 formed the first RV condo LLC. Missouri. You own the stall now sold with title, common area is under its own tax title along with operating expenses shared at 12.5 %.
AL
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Dick,
I am still trying to wrap my head around moving further north than you already were. But it is home, so I get that.
I totally agree with others, 14′ wide door and as wide and deep as possible. As for height, I have 17′ at the shortest point and it sure is nice to have room on top of the bus when I need to work up there. Otherwise, I would have to pull the bus out if I needed to get on the roof.
Davy
2005 XL Thompson Coach
Rarely tow anything behind us.
Sold: 1993 Liberty that we loved for 12 years. -
45×62 infloor heat and a pit in center stall.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL
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