How to Keep Your RV Happy Over the Long Haul

This is a sponsored post from Seth Hymes at Buck Steel.

As the proud owner of a new RV, you are undoubtedly starting to plan the trips you plan on taking and the lifelong memories they are going to provide. Eventually though, you are going to have to address the issue of storing your RV when you are not on the road with it. The vast majority of RV owners don’t have access to local indoor storage for their RV investment, and many are turning to using metal building kits to provide them with the storage on their own property. Building a metal building to store your RV in involves many different parties including: a county building department, a concrete contractor, a metal building manufacturer, and a metal building erecting crew. Having some insider knowledge regarding navigating the building process will save you time and money and help to insure the success of your metal building project – leaving you to focus on enjoying your RV.

Permits and homeowners associations
A sound first step in the process is to check with your county’s building department to make sure that they don’t have any restrictions on putting up a metal building on your property and if they will require you to pull a permit. As a residential/non-commercial project, you, as the property owner, will be allowed to pull your own permits. If you live in a development/area that is under the management of a homeowners association (HOA), it’s also a good idea to check with them to see if they have any restrictions. Some HOA’s restrict the use of steel panels on the exterior of a metal building and require stucco, brick, clapboards, or other approved exterior finishes.

Size and layout
While it might seem obvious, taking a little time to set pen to paper and sketch out a floor plan of your building will certainly go a long way to you be happy at the end of the project. Be sure to take into account the space you want around the RV when it’s inside and if you want any additional space for storage or a shop area. Don’t forget height – if you have the need to perform any maintenance on the roof of your RV. Carefully note on your sketch where you want to locate rollup doors, man doors, windows, and vents – as the location of these items affects the engineering of the building.

Open or closed
It might be tempting to consider a roof-only or open structure to park your RV under – instead of building a fully enclosed structure. While there might be a modest amount of money saved, generally speaking it is not substantial. Additionally, a roof-only or open structure will only protect your RV investment 100% when the sun is directly overhead and when the rain/sleet/snow is coming straight down. Not to mention that a roof-only or open structure leave you no storage for your other RV-related items and a reduced amount of security.

So many metal building companies – so little time
You will immediately recognize that the metal building industry is littered with players – all vying fiercely for your business. Use caution when choosing the companies to obtain quotes from as many in the business are simply metal building dealers that use high-pressure telemarketing sales tactics to take advantage of inexperienced metal building customers. Ask questions and listen carefully to the answers as a professional metal building company will be eager to demonstrate and share their knowledge and experience with you and will likely be asking YOU a barrage of questions about your intended use of the structure. Use the internet to search for the name of any company you are considering obtaining a quote from followed by the terms: complaint, rip-off, lawsuit, attorney general – and avoid dealing with any company whose name appears over and over again in the search results!

The cheapest sometimes winds up being the most expensive
While you might be tempted to purchase your metal building from the company with the cheapest quote, this is often a mistake. The metal building telemarketers and dishonest metal building companies will often price your building with engineering requirements LESS than your local building codes require – simply to quote you a low price. Once your non-refundable deposit is received, you will likely find out that the quoted building does not meet your local building codes and will cost much more money due to modifications needed to the original quoted design to meet your local building codes. At this point, you will be forced with the decision of having to walk away from your deposit or pay more to proceed. This dishonest practice is commonly referred to in the industry as “The Bump”.

If you decide to embark upon a steel building for your RV storage needs, we invite you to review our Steel Building Buyer’s Guide which includes a wealth of tips and advice on the process.

About the Author

Seth Hymes is a travel lover and part of the digital marketing team at Buck Steel, a company that designs and engineers high quality steel buildings for a variety of uses – including RV storage.