Covered/Enclosed Class B storage?

[thomaswclarke]

Appropriate indoor storage is almost non-existent in Chicago suburbs.
Many neighborhoods (including mine) allow very limited driveway or street parking. Would like to purchase a Class B, but not without storage. None of the storage facilities provide garage doors tall enough. Do people really buy 180,000 thousand dollar Class B motorhomes and then park them in a gravel lot without shade or shelter from hail? What am I missing? The RV dealers just shrug shoulders when I ask for a nearby solution. Thanks for any ideas you might provide.

[Doneworking]

You are not missing anything in my opinion. We are very fortunate to have a heated/air conditioned third garage at our home. When we built this house, we built that garage for a B. It has held a Roadtrek 190 or 210 for most of twenty years now and our 2007 210P is just like new because of the way it has been stored. Right now, it is 90 degrees and a heat index of 98 here at home (Oklahoma City). It is 78 and low humidity where the RT is sitting in its attached garage. I simply don't think I would subject that big an investment to all the weather we get here......or what you get in your area.

[Cliffhanger]

Yet, isn't outdoor storage the reality for most people. I know RV'rs can be a fastidious lot. I've seen people at rest stops washing their units! Why? What's the point when they'll be dusty dirty again in a day on the road? Maybe wash and wax once home. I wash my car at least once a year, usually.

[avanti]

We have ALWAYS stored our rigs outside (two vans, 13 years), with no negative consequences of any kind. Just take action to block the windows from sunlight to protect the interior. If I lived in the south, I would cover the tires as well. There is really no issue.

I suppose I would worry about hail if I lived in certain areas. The only weather damage I ever had was a hail storm on I40 in Texas.

[Davydd]

In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area there are several storage condos for RVs, boats, businesses and classic cars. Since we moved last year in an HOA community that has no place to store an RV anyway, we bought an 18' x 45' heated garage. I was pleasantly surprised when we came home from a trip yesterday in 92 degree weather that it was 76 degrees in the garage. I thought maybe it would be an oven. That's why I am shopping for a sliding compound miter saw today. It is time to set up a shop area. We have plenty of room.

Our storage is a 270 unit location nine miles from our home with security, dump station and wash stall to handle a Class A RV. There are seven places around the Twin Cities and another fancier more expensive competing facility a little closer to our home.

https://www.parkplacestorage.net



The checker flag floor was put in by the previous owner. I guess it was karma for this native of Speedway, Indiana.

[InterBlog]

We have had fully-enclosed off-site storage for the past 3+ years of ownership. I see it as a necessity in the deep south with its harsh climate. For much of that time, our monthly rental bill was $135 but they recently raised it to $150. I don't like this, but housing prices in greater Houston are among the lowest in the nation for a large urban area, so I tend to just accept it as a cost of living. If we lived in most other large cities, our mortgage would be far more than +$150/month over what we pay here. The storage facility does have good security, electricity in our storage unit, dump station, and water.

[Doneworking]

Davydd, we just had a garage condo facility open down the road from our home about three miles. These things are starting to really pop up around the country. I suspect a lot of these will be built out as true man caves with lots of jazzy insides.

Paul

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Doneworking

Davydd, we just had a garage condo facility open down the road from our home about three miles. These things are starting to really pop up around the country. I suspect a lot of these will be built out as true man caves with lots of jazzy insides.

Paul

I suspect so, especially if empty nester people seek home ownership like us, simple and maintenance free to travel and not come home to an overgrown yard. That usually is more dense and an HOA that precluded parking an RV. The garage condo concept is taking hold. Since it is a condo purchase there is a certain "club" effect where people get together and share experiences and a beer. One has a classic car show among members opened to the public.

What you have to get over is that it is expensive to actually buy instead of rent but you cannot easily build a remote garage with cost of maintenance, security, land and amenities cheaper. The clincher dawned on me when I talked to my neighboring unit owner who paid half what I paid just 5 years ago -- It is an investment! However, I figure my heirs will benefit. I probably won't sell my man cave.

[ponti33602]

Sometimes you just get lucky too...........measured in inches!

Downtown Tampa condo.

[goreds2]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

We have had fully-enclosed off-site storage for the past 3+ years of ownership. I see it as a necessity in the deep south with its harsh climate. For much of that time, our monthly rental bill was $135 but they recently raised it to $150. The storage facility does have good security, electricity in our storage unit, dump station, and water.

That is still reasonable. In central Ohio, we were paying close to $300 a month for enclosed storage. No electric,dump station or water.

We had this RV Port built in Feb. 2018. With what we were paying for a rental, this will pay itself off in a year and a half.

[Doneworking]

goreds2, you DO have the best of both worlds! We also have a B+ and a Roadtrek. We will spend a month off grid most summers in cooler climes in the B+ and use the RT for touring and shorter trips. I must say, if we sell one (and probably will in a couple of years) it will be the B+. We absolutely love our RT.

[warpig]

Originally Posted by goreds2

That is still reasonable. In central Ohio, we were paying close to $300 a month for enclosed storage. No electric,dump station or water.

We had this RV Port built in Feb. 2018. With what we were paying for a rental, this will pay itself off in a year and a half.

goreds, That looks great. It is something similar to what I hope to do. Is the floor of the garage concrete or gravel?

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Davydd

In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area there are several storage condos for RVs, boats, businesses and classic cars. Since we moved last year in an HOA community that has no place to store an RV anyway, we bought an 18' x 45' heated garage. I was pleasantly surprised when we came home from a trip yesterday in 92 degree weather that it was 76 degrees in the garage. I thought maybe it would be an oven. That's why I am shopping for a sliding compound miter saw today. It is time to set up a shop area. We have plenty of room.

Our storage is a 270 unit location nine miles from our home with security, dump station and wash stall to handle a Class A RV. There are seven places around the Twin Cities and another fancier more expensive competing facility a little closer to our home.

https://www.parkplacestorage.net



The checker flag floor was put in by the previous owner. I guess it was karma for this native of Speedway, Indiana.

Do you mind sharing the purchase cost and the monthly fees, or a general range? I may suggest this to my Realtor friend to consider. He is always looking for new ways to make money.

[kite_rider]

First, I wouldn't be paying $180,000 for a classB! Mine was $62K 'out the door' brand new. Even then, I found it wasn't too hard to change my 8' garage door over to a 10' door so I can store my new toy (and tinker with it) in the comfort of my home and with a fridge full of beer nearby!

My dad and I did the door fix in three days and for only about $1100 net after I sold the existing 8' door and opener on craigslist.

[goreds2]

Originally Posted by warpig

goreds, That looks great. It is something similar to what I hope to do. Is the floor of the garage concrete or gravel?

Our budget only allowed gravel for now. We have since though ran a gravel driveway to it. We love it for sure.

[jon]

I might be dreaming but I've reworked one of my garage bays to have a 10 ft door on our retirement rambler we're planning to build as soon as we get our lot subdivided....I know it doesn't look like a rambler. It is but the wife/boss wanted me to add complete apartment above so the daughter could come visit and stay a while.

I can't wait to have a covered place for the van.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by avanti

We have ALWAYS stored our rigs outside (two vans, 13 years), with no negative consequences of any kind. Just take action to block the windows from sunlight to protect the interior. If I lived in the south, I would cover the tires as well. There is really no issue.

I suppose I would worry about hail if I lived in certain areas. The only weather damage I ever had was a hail storm on I40 in Texas.

There's no adverse weather in Socal... besides getting hot in the summer...
I keep it regularly washed and parked out in front of our home is no problem at all.

Here's a picture of my 2012 RS... just had it out today to Carpinteria.

[Mfturner]

Hail is our main worry in the front range of Co. Rental storage and storage condos are popping up all over the place, but are priced 2x what I see discussed here. Once our youngest is off to college, we plan to downsize the house and look for enough property to do something like goreds2 has, but for now we rent shelter to take the hail abuse.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

There's no adverse weather in Socal... besides getting hot in the summer...

I keep it regularly washed and parked out in front of our home is no problem at all.



Here's a picture of my 2012 RS... just had it out today to Carpinteria.

Nice van!


- - Mike
2012 Sprinter 3500 Extended converted B-Van by Airstream

[GeorgeRa]

While we were building a single level house an additional cost for a tall garage was insignificant but values of storing RV inside are significant. The architect decided to make both doors 10’ high and increase roof line to make the large garage front a little more inconspicuous.

1. The van is protected from elements.
2. No winterizing needed, ready anytime for a camping trip.
3. Any work, maintenance or modification can be done under the roof with access to all tools. No more packing tools after work.