Considering Storing Our Airstream at Home

[KJRitchie]

Currently we have our 2008 Classic 25fb in a local storage facility in open covered storage about 2 miles from where we live. The facility has security cameras and requires a code to drive into the facility. No electricity is provided. Our AS is parked between large 5th wheels and motorhomes on three sides.The only time the sun gets to the AS is in the late afternoon prior to sunset and then only the front is exposed to the sun mainly during the summer. The trailer is far enough under the canopy to avoid any rain or hail. There is no electricity provided to the storage sites. The price is $115/mo.

Our neighbor had their front driveway expanded and the cost seemed reasonable If we had the same thing done to our driveway we could break even in less than 2 years worth of storage payments Our driveway is in the front of the house and the trailer would be parked along side of the current two car driveway leading to the garage. If I had the driveway expanded I'd probably put in a 30amp circuit in the garage since the electrical panel is there.

Even though the storage is close, hitching up to take it back and forth home to wash or fix something doesn't happen that often. I always seem to forget something at the house when I go the AS to fix something.
There is the possibility one of my RV neighbors in storage could back into my AS.

What has me worried about storing at home is the possibility of hail damage. The area isn't really prone to much hail but could still happen.
Then there is the exposure to the sun, rain and snow. We don't get a lot of snow and with the AS at home I could blow it off easily enough.

Another issue at home is if the AS is gone then someone could notice this and conclude no one is home and the possibility of the house being burglarized goes up. We have neighbors that stay at home during the day so maybe that would offset that concern.

Is the cost of covered storage worth it for resale value?

So let me know if you made a conscious choice to store at home even though there is rental covered storage close by and some of the reasons you chose the home storage option.

Thanks

Kelvin

[AnnArborBob]

We had a pad with 50 amp electric constructed at the house for our 2014 Eddie Bauer so I could keep an eye on it and do work in a more casual manner than if the trailer was in a storage yard a few miles away. I can't tell you what a convenience it is to be able to access the trailer in our driveway for little modifications, repairs and packing/unpacking!

The issue of hail has occurred to me and I suppose that if I get paranoid I may build a roof over the pad (you could also buy one of those prefab metal pipe/canvas car-ports.) I'm still on the fence about this.

I also thought about the signal that the empty RV spot would send to a potential burglar scoping out the neighborhood and concluded that for someone to see both situations (i.e., trailer and no-trailer) would mean that someone was very carefully scoping out the neighborhood over an extended period of time (since how would they know the trailer wasn't there unless they had been monitoring things for awhile?) Anyone that systematic and determined would probably find other clues that the house was empty so I gave up on worrying about this particular issue.

In the end, we have insurance for hail damage and burglary so we stream in peace!

[msmcv51]

When we had our house built in 2005 we had a 30 amp plug, a water spigot, and a 4" sewer cleanout (or so the inspector thinks). I agree with AnnArborBob, if a criminal wants to get in they will find a time and a way. As for the hail that can happen out traveling or at home.

[BoldAdventure]

I wish I could store mine at my house. I was planning on doing it too. A lot of travel trailers and boats, but apparently I live on the street with that "ONE GUY". Had the Airstream home for 1 DAY to wash it and transfer out some of the stuff to my garage. And someone, took the time to print out the city ordinances, HIGHLIGHT it put it in a zip lock bag and shove it in my mailbox like a coward, instead of you know, talk to your neighbors. Which apparently no one does anymore.

Uh. End of Rant.

Hey, why can't you put up a car/trailer port to cover it and protect it from the hail/sun at your home?

[StreamNTyme]

I think you worry too much. Remember it is outside when you travel. I can not imagine what a pain it would be to have to haul all our stuff to some other location before travel. Then haul it back when we return. The issue of maintenance, what a pain that would be to go back and forth. It is bad enough hauling stuff to it in the driveway, what a nuisance it would be located elsewhere. Put in the concrete pad, you will be glad. $115. a mo. is a lot of money, put in into concrete. Besides it sounds like it is being squished right now, and who knows what can happen to it in that situation.
RE: hail, well a lot of Airstreams got damaged one year at a rally from hail. It can happen anywhere, you just hope it won't be over your rig.

[Stefrobrts]

Ours sits behind our house. Our neighbors are kind enough to let us drive on their yard to get it back there (if they ever move, we'll have to deal with that when it happens!) We had a cover installed for it, and a big double gate to pull it out.

I just like having it at home, and it's safe and protected. It's easy to load up. We looked into local covered storage, but I just couldn't stand the thought of having it away from home

[Al and Missy]

I pay 160 a month for inside storage. No power, but they have several outside spaces where there is power and water. If i have a bunch of projects piled up i can call them and they will pull it out and it can stay out for several days. They also have a dump station.

I could keep it at the house. It is one inch under the maximum length for permanent storage in my neighborhood. I have a three car garage and one car seldom moves. When the trailer is here i park in front of that car but it is a tight fit. I bought a front hitch for the truck to make parking easier. I have water and 30A electric available. I chose to store it inside due to being only 3/4 mile from the ocean with significant salt in the air and the ever- present Florida sun. My trailer is a 2001 and is our first RV. It was stored inside when not on the road for the first 12 years of its life. It looks better than some much newer trailers i have seen. I figured i would get most of my money back due to condition if i sell it in a couple of years to get out ir move up.

Al

[mefly2]

We park ours on the two car driveway in the summer ... lose easy access to one stall of the garage. Then we move it to the side of the driveway for winter. Our estimates to expand the driveway by widening it run $2500-3k.

[Hittenstiehl]

Kelvin

We are watching the responses your thread is getting. It is something we have been considering also.

We would go from having the girls at two different (very reasonable) storage spots with friends.

Currently packing and unpacking can be a bit tedious and there is no going outside for an hour to work on a project. When we talk about projects I often turn on the laptop hoping we have a photo of that angle to reference what it looks like.

I also worried about people knowing we were gone from the house when the AS is away (maybe thats why we have two) but like its been said if they want in they don't need that as a sign.

Although we have a good HOA in a nice neighborhood it might be time to consider a nice neighborhood with the girls instead. Might be fun to see them sitting side by side.

[Bk Yd Safari]

We store our AS at home. Our house has a walk-out basement and a paved drive on each end of the house. We store on the drive at the basement entrance. We have access to a water tap, 30 amp plug and a sewer connection. It is so easy to keep an eye on the AS, keep washed and maintained.

[KJRitchie]

Just want to add our house is not in an HOA. On the next block I see a couple of Class C MHs parked in the driveways. I'll have to check city ordinances but their doesn't seem to be any issues in Nixa but there are numerous storage facilities around here with that seem nearly full so I'm wondering if its due to city ordinances or because a lot of houses don't have large enough drive ways or because of the hilly terrain. When we moved here in March we looked for level driveways for weekend storage to load/unload and repairs. Outside storage which would reduce my cost monthly cost I could store my AS in my current facility outdoors for $35/mo. My brother in law had his 5th wheel damaged in the same storage facility I have my AS stored in the outdoor storage area by another 5th wheel trying to make a turn.

Kelvin

[Msmoto]

I am not certain this is what you want, but, when I built a house three years ago, I built a garage, 16' x 58', which has sewer clean out, 50 Amp service, drains in the floor, and a 12' x 14' door at the end. It is heated and allows the Airstream to be stored with windows open, etc., While this is a bit pricey, the convenience and ease of doing things in the unit without regards to the weather is very nice.

[Landrum]

We were lucky enough to have room for a carport to store our airstream at our house, and it's hard for me to imagine not having the airstream at home for all the reasons already mentioned. That said if I had to choose between a remote storage lot with cover or store it home with no cover I don't know which option I would choose. Hail was one of my concerns when deciding to build our carport but the bigger issue for me was getting the airstream out of the sun. Yes they are made it to be outside but exposure to the sun every day isn't good for anything. I suspect part of that decision process is just part of my personality.......I tend to fret over our "things". Especially "things" as expensive as the airstream.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[Hittenstiehl]

Msmoto that photo would fit well in this months photo contest as reflection is the theme.

[westernjeep401]

Our former place in SOCAL was barely large enough to accommodate our slide-in next to the garage. The current AS would've had to live in the town RV storage area, adjacent the local RV store. I guess I could've gotten away with occasional storage across the street without complaint (worked on most of the neighbors cars, etc).

New place here is a miracle; we're surrounded by HOA's but our place is like a 1.3 acre "land of the lost" where I am not restricted. Therefore, the shop, storage building, and concrete pad for the silver girl with hotel services were built/poured to order. Worth every penny.

[Minno]

We wanted to add a covered carport over our trailer because of concern about heavy snow last winter, and possibility of hail. Unfortunately, in our city, another structure cannot be forward of our house/garage unless attached. Well, that's not going to happen, and we don't want to move the trailer back on the property. SO, she stays out in the sun and rain and snow. In 20 years of owning RVs, we've only had one instance of concern about snow load (last winter), and hail (7 or 8 years ago when we had hail damage to an SOB). We decided that's why we have insurance to pay for damage. Since we're still actively working on Her too, we want her near, and wouldn't store Her away from us right now anyway.
I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to the question. It's all in what works for you and your comfort level.

Kay

[BAB]

I had a shed built for my trailer that is architecturally in concert with other buildings on my property. It's 32' long and 11' wide (the width was the extent of land available and it IS a challenge to back 8.5' of trailer into a space that's 11 feet wide! Having my trailer in my backyard, and with electric, sewer and water service gives me a really convenient and fun place to work AND easily get ready for trip taking.

[mefly2]

Originally Posted by Msmoto

I am not certain this is what you want, but, when I built a house three years ago, I built a garage, 16' x 58', which has sewer clean out, 50 Amp service, drains in the floor, and a 12' x 14' door at the end. It is heated and allows the Airstream to be stored with windows open, etc., While this is a bit pricey, the convenience and ease of doing things in the unit without regards to the weather is very nice.

Wow...double wow!

[PharmGeek]

ours is parked in the back yard...had built last year before our purchase a concrete pad with a few small retaining walls...no HOA in my neighborhood...cannot imagine packing for trips and unpacking upon return without our setup. Part of our justification of buying the pricey AS, was that it was extra sleeping for when we have house-guests...which is about twice a year perhaps...no 50amp hookup...quote was pricey - the parking spot is a good 100 feet from the fuse box....

Kids love just going out in it too and watching a movie sometimes. And if my DW gets mad at me....its a pretty darn nice "dog house" to get to - luckily I am perfect pretty much and stay out of that metaphorical dog house.

[J. Morgan]

Bold,,,,

For the benefit of your neighbor,,,, find out what ISNT DISALLOWED by code, and take up an obnoxious hobby..... "Art" is one of those things that code has trouble with,, I recommend a large mural, perhaps with a space alien theme....