Height of Class Bs

[DeanCHS1980]

Originally Posted by michaelingp

May I ask where are you getting the garage? I am looking for a manufactured garage myself (not too successfully).

On height I have exactly the same issue. My current B is exactly 9' tall (with AC), but I wanted to make sure future vehicles would fit.

Good question! We are building the garage along with doing a significant remodel of our house. We are hiring a contractor for the house, so our Plan A is to see if the contractor will build the garage. If not, we will try a local company or a regional company that builds the metal garage kits. Most of these companies will do garage door heights up to 10 feet but not 12 feet.

We shall see!

Thx,

Dean

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi All,

I really appreciate everyone’s comments about Class B height inquiry. Our ‘05 Casita 17’ Freedom Deluxe egg camper is well under 9.5’ so a 10 foot door is perfect. Plus, our Casita is only 6’8” wide, so plenty of space. However, we are thinking of a used Class B or B+. Most B+ rigs will be OVER 10’ tall. The Class Bs are a bit more forgiving ranging from just under 9’ to around 10’.

Planning and zoning will not allow me to have a garage building height taller than 16’. Plus, I have limited space, so I don’t want the garage to be any bigger or taller than necessary to accommodate our Casita and a potential small motor home. I had one contractor recommend two 12 foot doors that are 12 foot wide. That would definitely do the trick, BUT I am skeptical that the total height of the garage will exceed 16 feet with having two 12 foot doors. I also prefer a footprint of roughly 25 X 25 and no larger than 30 X 30 (which might be a bit large).

Hmmm,

Dean

[GeorgeRa]

We recently built our house and from the get go 10’ garage doors height was planned. We were concerned with street appeal due to disproportionally large garage doors. Our architect minimized this disproportion by increasing the roof slope on the street side, he moved roof apex towards the street.

I just want to emphasize that roof design can change street view perspective regarding large garage doors.

[Rockwood27]

You may want to rethink the 25x25 garage. Those are the outside dimensions. The inside will be closer to 24x24. Many Sprinter based Class B are 24' long. You will want room to walk around the RV and maybe a work bench at one end.

[Davydd]

You never know the future. Certainly when I built my first garage in 1982 I wasn't concerned about any RV and 7 ft. tall doors seemed more than logical but then I got second guessed when I finally bought a 4x4 full sized pickup truck for the first time to pull a 25 foot vintage Airstream trailer. The Airstream trailer I knew was not going to fit in a 24 foot deep garage but there was no pickup truck 7 foot high when I built. I wasn't concerned by a split-entry five level house, or a 400 foot 12 deg. sloped driveway either. That was young guy thinking.

Most all Sprinters are close to the 10 ft. high limit with roof top equipment. Satellite TVs put them over. I bet some 4x4s are taller. Now Regency is putting a high roof on a Promaster and the Chevy B's are pretty much a thing of the past. I bought three Sprinter RVs successively taller and planning my fourth. I haven't yet succumbed to a Class C or B+ as many of my acquaintances have and they are all over 10 ft. and approaching over 11 ft. So you never know the future.

If you have a 16 foot total height limit, no roof slope is going to solve appearance with a 10 ft. door. If you want a taller door you might as well plan 12 ft. tall door and consider a flat roof. Also with a 16 ft. limit a roof slope would be a very shallow slope over a 25 ft. x 25 ft. garage. With a flat roof design 30 ft. x 30 ft. could be achieved easily without distortion in appearance. With either you probably will need a center beam with columns and not a clear full space and that dictates a flat roof design as more practical. To span otherwise you probably would need roof trusses with slope and with the gable facing the doors at a 10 foot door with spanning beam you would have less than a about a 3:12 pitch. Too shallow. Are you sure about the 16 ft. high limit? Seems strange. I'm an architect. I haven't put pencil to paper to figure most of this out. I'm just visually checking this in my mind based on experience.

[jon]

I'm like a few forum members planning to build our next (retirement) house in a couple years and have planned for a 10 ft high garage door. It's only 22 ft long too. The reasoning is that if I build a huge garage with a super large door the wife will want a larger RV. I really like our 20 ft campervan. It's maneuverable, parking is easy, and the wife assures me that she will start driving it someday. I don't want to end up with something bigger, that she will never drive, just because we have room.

[jrobe]

I would definitely build a new garage higher than 10 ft for a Class B. A high roof Ford Transit is 9 ft 2.1 inches and if you add an 10" AC unit, it probably won't fit. I had to modify by 10 ft garage door for my 9' 10" Sprinter Sportsmobile with AC to get it to fit. The garage door hung down 1-2" below the 10 ft framed opening and it wouldn't fit until I modified the door. I am still nervously close to the door when I pull in with only an inch or so of clearance. I have to make sure the garage door is all the way up and check it with a push stick just to make sure each time. Luckily my angle of entry doesn't cause a problem.

I have also thought about some suspension upgrades with better springs but this would add additional height which wouldn't work with my garage door. My wife also wanted a satellite dish on the roof but the standard units are 12" tall and that wouldn't fit in my garage. I ended up spending considerably more on the flat panel KVH dish just so it would fit in my garage. We also don't know what future specs will be on these commercial vans so. If I built a new garage, the garage door would be 10' 6" or 11' at least.

[BillsPaseo]

According to Winnebago, our Paseo is 9' 10" tall unloaded. We've added supersprings and sumosprings which raised the rear 2", and I'll be installing larger tires in the next couple of weeks that will raise it another inch, so I'm guessing we'll be a hair over 10'. This is a high roof transit.

[BillMay]

wpmay@comcast.net

[DeanCHS1980]

“Are you sure about the 16 ft. high limit? Seems strange. I'm an architect. I haven't put pencil to paper to figure most of this out. I'm just visually checking this in my mind based on experience.”

Our City’s Planning and Zoning Commission has a policy that a 2ndary building on residential property cannot be taller than the height of the primary dwelling. Our house is a 1 story brick ranch on a concrete slab. I guessing the house is about 16’. I will get the ladder out the next dry (nonworking day) and confirm my estimate.

Hey, I appreciate an architect’s opinion. My daughter is recent University of Kentucky architecture graduate that is currently in graduate school studying architecture and real estate development in San Diego.

Thanks!

Dean

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi All,

Thanks for the continued comments. We have two contractors coming in the next few days to give us estimates on our house remodel. We will see if any of the contractors want to do the garage as well. If not, we will continue to consider a local company that puts up the metal garage kits, but most of these companies will not do kits with doors taller than 10’. We may still try to figure out a way to fineagle at least one 12 foot door with the other door being 10 or 12 feet. I am guessing the final product will be larger than 25 X 25, but no larger than 30 X 30.

Thanks,

Dean

[Marley]

A garage with scissor trusses allows you to get a higher OH door into a building with a lower overall roof height. 6/12 pitch on the roof with a 3/12 pitch on the inside ceiling.

[Neals384]

we are also adding a detached garage for our Class B. 20 x 35 with a 12 x 12 door.

[goodtogo]

2017 RT with 4x4 is 9 ft. 11 in.

2019 LTV Unity is 10 ft. 6 in., with satellite it 10 ft 9 inches.

Steve

[Nutsy_squirrel]

My Pleasure Way Dodge van is just under 9 feet. I can get into a "normal" storage locker with just a few inches to spare.

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi All,

I have appreciated the comments to my original post. We just had a contractor spend 2 hours with us about our house remodel and the building of a garage. The original owner of the home (1963 to 2009) enclosed the attached garage and converted it into a family room in 1983. A new option is for us to convert the family room back into a garage by building a gable that would extend the garage by about 8 feet. This would give us a 22’ deep attached 2 car garage and give Laura a mud room/utility room. Plus, this give us the convenience of parking cars and going directly into the house rather than a detached garage.

OK, what does this mean for our RV garage? LOL, this started out as a 3 car garage (with one 10 ft or 12 ft door), then was downsized to a 2 car garage (with two 12 ft doors). Given we will gain a two car attached garage, we are now talking about 1 bay detached RV car port or garage (probably 12 ft wide and 25 ft deep). I like the idea of an enclosed garage, but it would probably only have a 10 foot door (limiting us to our current Casita or most Class Bs). The RV car port would have 12 foot poles before the roof, so it could accommodate a taller rig if we decide to add a B or B+, but it would probably only be enclosed on three sides.

Waiting to see what the bids are for our house remodel and how much will be left (or not) for our RV storage solution.

I will keep ya posted!

Thx,

Dean

[Nutsy_squirrel]

If you are remodeling have you thought about adding hookups in your garage for your van? At least an electrical hookup so you can run the fridge overnight. Or if you really wanted to go crazy a sewer hookup so you could dump your tanks in your own garage?

[IdleUp]

Originally Posted by Davydd

If you want to be safe, go to a 14 foot high door.

David your Sprinter looks so lonely in that big garage. LOL

Mike

[IdleUp]

Hey guys - While on the subject of garages, I just installed a hydraulic door on my garage, quite a project and some good change, lucky for me I had a loader for the install.

Here's a few images and a little video I put together on the construction. It was quite a project, besides the door, I had to triple the inside construction strength both horizontal and lateral and the trusses for the massive weight at the top of the frame.

Enjoy- Mike

Video: http://rotory.com/coach/hydraulic.mov

[DeanCHS1980]

Originally Posted by IdleUp

Hey guys - While on the subject of garages, I just installed a hydraulic door on my garage, quite a project and some good change, lucky for me I had a loader for the install.

Here's a few images and a little video I put together on the construction. It was quite a project, besides the door, I had to triple the inside construction strength both horizontal and lateral and the trusses for the massive weight at the top of the frame.

Enjoy- Mike

Video: http://rotory.com/coach/hydraulic.mov

Hi Mike,

OMG! That it gorgeous! AND IMPRESSIVE!!! We are still getting estimates from contractors regarding our house remodel. Currently, my proposed detached metal garage for our Casita and/or future small motorhome is getting smaller and smaller based on the cost of the house remodel.

I will continue to keep you posted. Fingers crossed that the last of the contractor estimates will come in by late next week. Current bids are way over our budget which means scaling back the remodel and ultimately my detached garage. But, I will end up with something for RV storage!!!

Take care,

Dean