Building a house around my Airstream

[geekvswild]

Angst over storing my camper in the garage! In the design phase of a new home, curious whether anyone has advice on storing a 31 ft Airstream classic in a garage. I told the architect that I needed about 35 feet clearance from front to back, and I also wanted a sewer drain and 50 amp connection inside the garage. I measured the camper height from ground to the top of the ACs, and it is what the spec sheet shows - 9 ft 6 inches, so the designers are recommending a 10 ft high garage door. The driveway will need to have a small pitch downward to prevent rain water from backing in (I live in Louisiana) so what I am concerned about is when backing the trailer in, will the pitch of the driveway kick the back of the trailer up and cause a clearance problem. To test my theory, I leveled the camper in the driveway, then lowered the hitch jack as far down as it would go, then again measured the clearance in the rear. It was now up to 9 ft 9 inches. Still safe, but making me nervous. I could go with a taller garage door, but it may look disproportionate on the house. Any thoughts on what to do, and anything else inside the garage I should consider adding? Thanks

[Slimpockets]

I put a 12x12 roll up door in when I did it. Now I just need an airstream. I’m running under the if you build it it will come theory.

[InterBlog]

There are some cool ideas on this recent thread below. It deals with small motorhomes, but the same principles apply.

The ultimate Interstate garage

[mayco]

Some rough math; a 2% slope is minimum standard for driveway slope so figure that at apx 1/4" per foot. So for the length of your trailer that's about 7.5" drop in your driveway.
Lower your hitch jack 7.5" and see what the rear looks like. I highly doubt you'll have any clearance issues.

[brick1]

Why not go with a 12 foot high door? Check if door hardware will hang down. Give yourself some room!
brick

[kidjedi]

Without knowing how your property is set up... what about going with a pull through (a garage door at either end of the bay)? If you're building from scratch, that would seem like a superior solution to me.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I would worry more about the width of the garage and door than the height. Looking at the drawing, getting the trailer in there without hitting a wall is going to be tricky. The gotcha is that you really can't see as much of what's going on as you might need to.

Even if you *can* get the trailer in there, how are you going to work on it? You need clearance to open the hatches and still get past them. Unless you have a very small inventory of "stuff", you might also have things stored against the walls.

I'd go for 3' past the "storage hatches open" width of the trailer on both sides. I'd also go for at least 2' clearance on both sides of the door. Door height wise, go to at least 12'. Doors often are a bit less high than the full opening. Sure 6" may be the number, I have seen ones where it's more than that .....

Driveway wise, you really need enough length if you are putting it in with a normal truck. You need to get the trailer and TV out straight ahead of the garage. If the trailer is 32' and the truck is 22' that's 54' of straight drive. On top of that you need the space to back into the "slot". Figure another 20 or 30' for that.

Does this sound a bit excessive? Well, I've been backing into a storage garage with a 30' for a while and it is a PIA.

Bob

[Mollysdad]

Just thinking this out, since the high point of the AS is the AC units, and they're not in the very back, raising the rear bumper a couple inches won't raise the AC's that much. If they were over the axles, they wouldn't move at all.
However, I'd give myself more clearance on both sides as well as overhead. Working on it will be easier, as well as opening doors, using it as a extra bedroom, making it feel roomy rather than claustrophobic.
You will also want to slope the garage floor slightly because running the AC will drip water on the floor also.

My dream home is a two bedroom with a five car garage!

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

I've been backing into a storage garage with a 30' for a while and it is a PIA. Bob

I also back into an open but covered storage facility. There are other RV's on each side as well as a post on one side. The space is 12' wide, but backing in after dark usually ends with the trailer sitting at an angle, even though it looks straight when I'm looking in the mirrors.
Ideally, having a tug of some sort is ideal, but hard to justify.
Bigger is better.

Just for fun, I google searched "Home with RV garage" images, and found many designs.
Remember, some day you may sell either the home or the AS and the next person might not have an Airstream.
Keep your options open.

[coasttocoast]

I would insulate the garage and run HVAC ductwork.

[sallye]

Originally Posted by kidjedi

Without knowing how your property is set up... what about going with a pull through (a garage door at either end of the bay)? If you're building from scratch, that would seem like a superior solution to me.

I'm with Kidjedi. If you have the yard space, I'd go for a pull through so that I could pull it in from the back. That will put the curb side door on the left in your picture, making it easy to get in and out of the unit while it's in the garage. And I'd add space all around for working on it, being able to clean and polish it, etc. A water supply and regular drain in the garage floor would also be nice, along with a power outlet for it and a sewer connection. Do all that and you have a spare living quarter for guests.

I'd love to have the option for something like this, but don't have the yard space and would have a difficult time getting the building approved. We are lucky that we can store ours in our own driveway. The town next door won't even allow that.

[Burnside Bob]

Love the mud room!!

Looks like the garage is attached to the house, which may limit your ability to size it.

Door width needs to be at least 10', 12' better. For door height, eave will be approximately 2' higher than door height, so a 12' door needs a 14' eave. What eave height works with your architectural style?

When we built our home I did not anticipate continued Airstream ownership. Our 31 footer didn't move to the new house--it went to our daughter and SIL. So we built the detached garage with a 10' eave height--not tall enough for a trailer.

Then we bought the 25' FC, which would fit into the garage depth wise, but not height wise. GRRRR!! Would have been so easy and cheap to bump the eave height 2'.

One thing that worked out well was going with a 12:12 roof pitch with 'open center' roof trusses. This gave us a 20' x 42' bonus room over the garage bays. We also made the doors arched. Inside, the doors are conventional, rectangular, vertical lift garage doors, but from the outside appear to be fancy arched doors. IMOP the usual commercial doors look clunky and crude--OK on a cheap out building but not good on your house.

If you went with a three bay garage and made the center bay the trailer bay you would have enough work room around the trailer without making the trailer bay a wider width. Also looks like you only have one window--that won't let much light in.

Good luck--sounds like fun!

[uraljohn]

12' wide is a no brainer. Makes it way easier to back in. Garage door panels can be ordered in 3" increments. So, if you do not want a 12' high door, ask your contractor to make it 10'6" or 10'9". All he or she has to do is order 3 of the panels 3" larger and you have a 10'9' opening. My home, built in 1962 had a great 24'x24' "garage" but never had a door on it. My door guy ordered me up a custom door that is 8'6" high that perfectly fills the opening. The door I installed is a very high quality (almost a commercial door) solid core door with an R-Value 16.1 insulation rating. It is made in America by a German company. "Hormann" is the brand name and "Taurus 4200" is the model. Keep in mind that a "10 foot door" may not have a true 10' opening after the trim is installed. Give your self a little bit of extra room. Hope this helps.

[Piggy Bank]

Originally Posted by coasttocoast

I would insulate the garage and run HVAC ductwork.

Be aware that code will require a separate HVAC system to a garage. Not permitted to co-mingle with ductwork in the occupied house due to carbon monoxide risk

[Rgentum]

Two issues you didn't mention:
1. Width of entry: I'd make it 12 ft.
2. Water supply as well as electric and sewer.

When I built my AS barn, I used a 12 ft by 12 ft entry and after having used it for two years, I wouldn't do anything less. See Photo:

[geekvswild]

Forum Friends - thanks for all the most excellent advice.

Here are my takeaways from your comments:
* check Parish building code for HVAC requirements
* insulate garage
* try to increase opening width. 10' now, try to push to 12'
* height of door can be increased in 3" increments - check on this
* add fresh water and drain, along with sewer drain and power
* space to backup - driveway is 85' from road. Ok there

Other comments:
* can't do pull-through. Swimming pool in the back
* after my Airstream life is done, extra space will be framed for 4th bedroom

Added pic on house in current design phase.

Thank you!
GeekvsWild

[farafield]

Originally Posted by Rgentum

Two issues you didn't mention:

1. Width of entry: I'd make it 12 ft.

2. Water supply as well as electric and sewer.



When I built my AS barn, I used a 12 ft by 12 ft entry and after having used it for two years, I wouldn't do anything less. See Photo:

Love your open AS barn! Nice details!

[LuvsPossums]

I basically did something similar and desgned, then built a home around all of my belongings. Had a great time doing this!

[kendrick.l.j]

For some extra ideas, here’s a link to the community I live in. This is just one of the real estate companies used here but it may give you some idea. Homes that are just a fancy carport to million dollar estates. I’m not promoting just offering some ideas.

https://www.tgoresort.com/properties/

[Ted S.]

I back into a storage until with several inches per side. It can be done but wider is better, you want room on either side to set up a step ladder.