Building types · Idaho Falls, ID
Height decides everything on this build type. The door sets the sidewall, the sidewall sets the columns and trusses, and the coach on the floor sets the slab.
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm · Idaho Falls and the surrounding towns
Send the address and the size you have in mind. You’ll get the design load your jurisdiction requires and the office that permits it.
Everything else on an RV building is downstream of one measurement. A Class A coach needs a door opening around 14 feet, and the sidewall has to be taller than the door — enough for the torsion tube, the track radius and the opener to sit above the opening without fouling the truss.
Setting the sidewall equal to the door height is the mistake that shows up after the columns are standing, and at that point it is not an adjustment. It is a rebuild of the wall.
Measure the actual unit, not the brochure. Roof air conditioners, satellite domes, vents and ladders all sit above the listed height, and a coach on fresh suspension sits higher than one that has settled.
Confirm against your own unit's measured height before ordering. Door and building specs should be set from the vehicle, not from a table.
Adding an RV bay to a shop changes the frame, not only the footprint. Taller columns carry a longer unbraced length and a larger wind surface, so the column and its embedment both grow. A taller wall also raises the roof, which raises the load path the trusses have to resolve.
A wide door opening interrupts the wall it sits in. The header over a 14 or 16 foot opening carries roof load across the gap and hands it to the columns on either side, which then take more than a typical sidewall post.
That is why two buildings with the same square footage can price very differently. A 40x60 with 10-foot walls and one 12-foot door is a common, well-understood build. A 40x60 with 18-foot walls and a 14-foot door is a heavier building throughout.
And all of it still gets designed for the ground snow load your jurisdiction adopts — 47 psf inside the City of Idaho Falls. Loads by town →
Market ranges, not a quote. Insulation, wind rating, glass and opener type all move the figure inside the range.
Doors are one of the largest single line items between a bare shell and a usable building, and the oversized ones an RV bay requires sit at the top of the range. Two standard overhead doors run $4,000 to $8,000. A premium or oversized door runs $1,200 to $5,500 or more each.
A 14-foot door is heavier than a residential door in every respect: heavier sections, a larger torsion spring, a stronger opener and more structure above it. It is worth pricing the door before finalizing the building, because the door often decides whether a given wall height is affordable.
A 4-inch slab with wire mesh suits cars. A loaded diesel coach concentrates far more weight per axle, so RV bays are commonly thickened with a heavier reinforcement schedule over a properly compacted base.
A 30 or 50 amp receptacle for shore power is a decision to make while the walls are open, along with lighting height and any door opener circuits. Retrofitting conduit into finished steel is avoidable work.
A hose bib and any dump connection have to be planned against the 30-inch frost depth and against your county’s rules on waste disposal. Confirm the requirement with your jurisdiction before rough-in.
Post-frame shops from 24x32 up, sized around door height, truss spacing and the snow load your jurisdiction adopts.
Slab, footings to 30 inches, gravel, drainage and access — the line item that moves most on loess over basalt.
Send the measured height and length of the unit, plus the parcel address. You'll get a door and sidewall combination that actually clears it, and the design snow load your jurisdiction requires.