RV Garage (Motorcoach Garage)

A motorcoach garage keeps a recreational vehicle indoors, out of the driveway and out of a storage lot. Height and depth are what set it apart from a normal garage. A car garage is about 9 to 10 feet tall inside. An RV garage needs a 14 to 16 foot tall door and a 16 to 18 foot ceiling to clear a large motorhome with its rooftop air conditioners. It also runs much deeper, often 40 to 50 feet. That fits a coach up to 45 feet long under the RVIA maximum length standard.

An RV garage is more than a tall box. To service a coach at home, it often adds hookups. Those include a 50-amp, 240-volt RV outlet, a water line, a sewer dump or macerator, and ventilation for engine and battery fumes. In Arizona, owners add a mini-split for cooling. The slab is usually thicker than a car-garage slab to carry a loaded motorhome, which can weigh more than 30,000 pounds.

For example, a custom home in Rio Verde might include a detached 16-foot-tall, 45-foot-deep RV garage with a 14-foot door, a 50-amp pedestal, and a dump connection, placed to clear the lot's setbacks. Because it is usually a tall accessory building, an RV garage is governed by local height and setback rules and by lot-coverage limits. In unincorporated Maricopa County, a detached accessory building may reach 30 feet in height and may not occupy more than 30% of a required yard. Some owners add a casita above or beside the bay for living space, which makes the structure both a garage and an accessory dwelling.