Do It Yourself RV Storage Requires Some Carpentry Skill

RVers have long used barns, outbuildings and pole barns to store their RVs. This picture I snapped on a back road in Oregon, reminded me that in some parts of the country it’s time to start thinking about storing your RV. Keeping the sun, wind and rain (not to mention the snow and ice) off of your expensive RV is a good idea. If you were contemplating building a pole barn for this purpose, here are some ideas. Above is a pole barn that has two laminate beams on the sides. The problem with this design is that it also needs more support to keep it from shifting front and back. The next design does not have the side laminate beams, but incorporates a central beam, double truss (which is one contiguous double rafter/ceiling joist unit). This truss design is strong and is more than adequate to support a light weight metal roof. These trusses were custom made and delivered ready to “lay up”. This pole barn used 24 foot 6” by 8” posts. These posts were sunk four feet ten inches into the ground. Once the posts were cemented in place they were cut level at the top. This pole barn is 16 feet across and has about 15 feet of clearance for a tall motorhome, 5th wheel or travel trailer. You can also add a permanent awning with side poles like these nice pole barns. You can also just leave it as a stand alone unit. You can build these yourself from scratch or you can order them as a kit.

Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing, Dr. of RVology and ROAD Scholar