RV Garage/Shop

Mac said:
As mentioned, RV hook ups (inside and out), hose bibs in a few places (not just one).  220V maybe in a couple places, 110V EVERYWHERE!!!  Lots of big lights.  You have no idea how much you will want this.  My garage has lots of lights and outlets every 4-6 feet throughout.  It's awesome.  Also, bathroom with a sink, toilet, shower.  Deep sink in the shop.

Minisplit ACs are good.
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Definitely plan on having lots of 20amp outlets and air hookups. 
 

I’ll have to figure out where best to hang a mini split or two. 

 
richard h said:
Being almost a native of this state, if you have a choice put your overhead doors on the north side of your building. You'll thank me later. Second choice would be east side.
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Thanks for this! It’s looking like the doors will face east. 

 
Dockmaster said:
Maybe someone mentioned it and I missed it, but give thought to where your compressor will go and then air piping. I put my compressor outside the shop in a little shed along the back corner then plumbed it in and ran piping all over and have like 6 hose reels. I barely hear it running. I went with the 1" pex type piping that you buy as a kit designed and rated for air service. Do not use PVC. 
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My well pump is probably near where the compressor would live outside. I could do a combo shed for both. 
thanks!

 
Adam G said:
I just found out the septic tank and leach field is on the opposite side of the property from where I wanted to put the shop. This definitely could make it interesting for tying into the existing septic system...
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I'm looking at the same issue with my RV garage right now (existing structure on the property I bought, but I want to add some things).  I've spoken to a few 'experts' and one possibility is a remote sealed system that then pumps over to the existing septic via macerator.  I'm not even sure what the name for that type of system is, and obviously a lot will depend on your State/County/City rules.  

We're doing a remodel on the whole house as well as the RV garage stuff, so I have my general looking into it.  I'll let you know what we find...

As for stuff to add to an RV garage, mine is basically a blank template right now:

RVgarage1.jpg

RVgarage2.jpg

RVgarage3.jpg

The first thing I would say is: bigger is better.  This is 48' deep (inside dimension) by 38' at the "kick out" and it'll be great for us, but if it could be bigger, I'd obviously take bigger.  Beyond that, my list at this point is:

  • Spay-foam insulation (for this garage it's looking like about $3k more for spray-foam than traditional BATT, and way worth it)
  • Drywall and finish wall/ceilings 
  • AC (looking at 2 x 3-ton Mini-split systems)
  • 50 amp in strategic positions (the RV will back in along the long-side, so RV hookup will be towards the back-left, I'm planning a 2-post lift in the opposite back corner so 50 amp back there, then in the "kick out" I'll have welding/work tables and such so def 50 amp over there)
  • 20 amp (not 15) urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrywhere
  • Tons of LED lights (replacing all these florescent tubes, but also adding lights - consider some lights on an angle a few feet down the wall too, not just the celling) 
  • Small bathroom (bathroom will go in the corner between the window and the man-door, man-door will stay for access to bathroom from outside, debating doing doing a shower or not, shop bathroom would double as easy to wash-down pool bathroom so might do shower, or might do outdoor pool shower) 
  • Storage loft in portion of kick-out (starting above the bathroom and going probably half of the rest of the way down the remaining part of the wall leaving room for stairs)
  • 2-post lift
  • Clean out (this is a maybe, even if we can do the sewer system as planned this would be the opposite side of the garage and I plan to park the RV really close to the wall, my property has the trailer storage on the opposite side of the house from the RV garage, so plan is actually having my dump over there, which happens to be where the septic is, so I'll back RV and trailer in, drop trailer and dump there, then park RV) 
  • Considering compressor and plumbing air... but honestly I just use cordless electric for everything.  I suppose if I was doing body work I'd need air, but I'm not going to be doing that (a- don't have the time or skills b- not going to do body work next to my RV) or doing a lot of plasma cutting or something, but I think a decent roll-around compressor will suit me just fine 
  • Solar (another maybe, need to run the numbers on ROI, but my the longer peak of my RV garage roof is almost exactly East/West, meaning it has a giant South-facing slab 'o roof) 
  • Hose bibs
  • Drain in floor (so you can use it for washing/detailing out of the sun - in my case this is a big maybe cuz my foundation/floor are already poured probably not worth trenching for but I'm going to get a $ number on it and decide - but if you're starting from scratch DO IT)
  • Beer fridge 😉 
     

-TJ
 

 
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Brian Machnach said:
the problem with this set up  is the leach field is meant for liquid only.by I installing a ejector pump is it takes the solid and liquefies it but not enough of a liquid and its gets pasty.and over time sending that into the leach field it will clog the weeping holes in the pipes or tank and you will have back ups as the water will not drain through.now this is the theory the NJ plumbing code goes by for longer then I have been doing plumbing.so maybe its just sank in my brain this will happen.but for as expensive as septics are when Crap goes bad or to replace a leach field I would run it on a ejector pump but that's just me.i also have my tank pumped every year in july.i weather spend 500 bucks to pump my 1,500 gallon tank then to replace my leach field for 10 to 14,000 and have my front yard all dug up.soap is also a killer of septics so I also have removed my cloths washer from the plumbing system and have a gray well on the side of my house with a plastic 55 gallon drum loaded with blue stone.but for  for as much as you will use the bathroom at a   house/shop  chances are you will never have a problem cuz it will mostly be you just pissing in there.but for me trenching my yard and under fences and killing bushes and grass its easer for me to make a real mini septic outside my new pole barn, and my area is already all dug up so no extra propter  damage will accrue.
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Interesting... both of the toilets in my RV are macerators and the RV clean-out itself is a macerator too so it's pretty close to liquid by the time it's getting pumped out of the RV.  But if I add a bathroom to the garage obviously that's not the case.  My backyard it is totally blank right now and will be getting dug up for the pool and stuff... so maybe a full-on second septic system is the answer, but I assume way more $. 

-TJ

 
tjZ06 said:
I'm looking at the same issue with my RV garage right now (existing structure on the property I bought, but I want to add some things).  I've spoken to a few 'experts' and one possibility is a remote sealed system that then pumps over to the existing septic via macerator.  I'm not even sure what the name for that type of system is, and obviously a lot will depend on your State/County/City rules.  

We're doing a remodel on the whole house as well as the RV garage stuff, so I have my general looking into it.  I'll let you know what we find...

As for stuff to add to an RV garage, mine is basically a blank template right now:

View attachment 9665

View attachment 9664

View attachment 9663

The first thing I would say is: bigger is better.  This is 48' deep (inside dimension) by 38' at the "kick out" and it'll be great for us, but if it could be bigger, I'd obviously take bigger.  Beyond that, my list at this point is:

  • Spay-foam insulation (for this garage it's looking like about $3k more for spray-foam than traditional BATT, and way worth it)
  • Drywall and finish wall/ceilings 
  • AC (looking at 2 x 3-ton Mini-split systems)
  • 50 amp in strategic positions (the RV will back in along the long-side, so RV hookup will be towards the back-left, I'm planning a 2-post lift in the opposite back corner so 50 amp back there, then in the "kick out" I'll have welding/work tables and such so def 50 amp over there)
  • 20 amp (not 15) urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrywhere
  • Tons of LED lights (replacing all these florescent tubes, but also adding lights - consider some lights on an angle a few feet down the wall too, not just the celling) 
  • Small bathroom (bathroom will go in the corner between the window and the man-door, man-door will stay for access to bathroom from outside, debating doing doing a shower or not, shop bathroom would double as easy to wash-down pool bathroom so might do shower, or might do outdoor pool shower) 
  • Storage loft in portion of kick-out (starting above the bathroom and going probably half of the rest of the way down the remaining part of the wall leaving room for stairs)
  • 2-post lift
  • Clean out (this is a maybe, even if we can do the sewer system as planned this would be the opposite side of the garage and I plan to park the RV really close to the wall, my property has the trailer storage on the opposite side of the house from the RV garage, so plan is actually having my dump over there, which happens to be where the septic is, so I'll back RV and trailer in, drop trailer and dump there, then park RV) 
  • Considering compressor and plumbing air... but honestly I just use cordless electric for everything.  I suppose if I was doing body work I'd need air, but I'm not going to be doing that (a- don't have the time or skills b- not going to do body work next to my RV) or doing a lot of plasma cutting or something, but I think a decent roll-around compressor will suit me just fine 
  • Solar (another maybe, need to run the numbers on ROI, but my the longer peak of my RV garage roof is almost exactly East/West, meaning it has a giant South-facing slab 'o roof) 
  • Hose bibs
  • Drain in floor (so you can use it for washing/detailing out of the sun - in my case this is a big maybe cuz my foundation/floor are already poured probably not worth trenching for but I'm going to get a $ number on it and decide - but if you're starting from scratch DO IT)
  • Beer fridge 😉 
     

-TJ
 
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I would re-think your roll-around air compressor. I agree, mostly battery tools these days but with RV's, trailers, trucks, SxS, rails, etc all having tires you will want air quickly convenient to check and air all these dang tires. And when the shop starts to fill up it's not always easy to maneuver a compressor around. I sometimes have a challenge just rolling a jack and service cart around when I get too many projects going at once. Adding a central compressor and piping is not all that expensive. And having hose reels around to quickly deploy air then get the hoses back out of the way is very convenient. 

 
Dockmaster said:
I would re-think your roll-around air compressor. I agree, mostly battery tools these days but with RV's, trailers, trucks, SxS, rails, etc all having tires you will want air quickly convenient to check and air all these dang tires. And when the shop starts to fill up it's not always easy to maneuver a compressor around. I sometimes have a challenge just rolling a jack and service cart around when I get too many projects going at once. Adding a central compressor and piping is not all that expensive. And having hose reels around to quickly deploy air then get the hoses back out of the way is very convenient. 
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Very good points, thanks!

-TJ
 

 
Since you guys on the surface of the sun...

Consider your workspaces in relation to the door.  If they're close to the door and it's open a lot to cool things off (relatively speaking of course), the fixtures above the door will be blocked and will need some downcast wall lights to make up for it.

 
 
Great stuff guys! Thanks so much for contributing. Lots of good things to consider and add. The final bill, if there is such thing as these seem to always be a work in progress, is going up and up!

 
Rockwood said:
Since you guys on the surface of the sun...

Consider your workspaces in relation to the door.  If they're close to the door and it's open a lot to cool things off (relatively speaking of course), the fixtures above the door will be blocked and will need some downcast wall lights to make up for it.
Click to expand...
I'll be insulating and AC'in the garage, so the work area is actually the furthest from the door because it will be closed, and also be the "leakiest" part of the building - well actually just cuz that's the only way it makes sense to lay it out.  Also alleviates the door-blocking-lights issue.

-TJ
 

 
Brian Machnach said:
the problem with this set up  is the leach field is meant for liquid only.by I installing a ejector pump is it takes the solid and liquefies it but not enough of a liquid and its gets pasty.and over time sending that into the leach field it will clog the weeping holes in the pipes or tank and you will have back ups as the water will not drain through.now this is the theory the NJ plumbing code goes by for longer then I have been doing plumbing.so maybe its just sank in my brain this will happen.but for as expensive as septics are when Crap goes bad or to replace a leach field I would run it on a ejector pump but that's just me.i also have my tank pumped every year in july.i weather spend 500 bucks to pump my 1,500 gallon tank then to replace my leach field for 10 to 14,000 and have my front yard all dug up.soap is also a killer of septics so I also have removed my cloths washer from the plumbing system and have a gray well on the side of my house with a plastic 55 gallon drum loaded with blue stone.but for  for as much as you will use the bathroom at a   house/shop  chances are you will never have a problem cuz it will mostly be you just pissing in there.but for me trenching my yard and under fences and killing bushes and grass its easer for me to make a real mini septic outside my new pole barn, and my area is already all dug up so no extra propter  damage will accrue.
Click to expand...
While I’ll agree this can happen if not enough time is left in the tank for separations, a properly sized tank will hold enough reserve of water for the small amount of ejections that happen from a shop.

imagine a hole with a basement that is underground. It too needs an ejection pump to lift the waste it it helps tank.

it’s common practice and I have no less than 30 homes using a similar system… including my own.

 
Recently built a 45x65 shop in north phoenix.   A couple more things to think about.    There are times of the year like Sept-October and April-May where an evaporative cooler blowing in the area your working works better than running your AC.  I bought a 36 inch port a cool and wheel it around the shop.   These work best when you can place them outside and blow your air inside.   A man door works good for this.  

Make sure you run Cat 6 from wherever your internet connection is to your shop.   I use more wifi in my shop than I do compressed air.   Cameras, garage door openers, TV's, Stereo's all use Wifi now.

Something to think about on the 50 amp RV outlets.   I have one in my garage along with my fifth wheel but in reality I don't need it there as I won't run my AC in my RV inside my garage.  I have AC in my garage for that or my evaporative cooler.   All I really need is a 20 amp for keeping the batteries topped off and when I want to run the fridge in the fifth wheel.

My biggest regret is I had an offer for a free urinal from a friend and I didn't install it in the garage area.   I have a full bathroom upstairs in my living area and every time I need to piss I have to go up stairs.

Otherwise I absolutely love my shop and next to my funco its my favorite possession.

 
Justgetnby said:
While I’ll agree this can happen if not enough time is left in the tank for separations, a properly sized tank will hold enough reserve of water for the small amount of ejections that happen from a shop.

imagine a hole with a basement that is underground. It too needs an ejection pump to lift the waste it it helps tank.

it’s common practice and I have no less than 30 homes using a similar system… including my own.
Click to expand...
I agree. also here in dirty jersey thay feel because its not gravity and being forced it can stir up the solids and send them into the leaching pipes.but for the amount of waste your gonna send into the septic I would probably do it myself if my pole building was not 300 ft from my septic and was not gonna destroy grass and landscaping.

 
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