How Big Should The Pole Building Be?

Just like any construction project, think of the function first: How will you use your building?

Graber Pole Barn customers have used their structures for:

  • General Storage
  • Garages
  • Oversized Truck Storage
  • RV / Boat Storage
  • Horse Barns
  • Riding Rings & Arenas
  • And practically any Commercial/Business use imaginable

Start with the Doors:

Measure everything you plan on keeping in your new building-because if it can't fit through your doors - it won't fit in your structure.

For a frame of reference consider this:

  • Most home garage doors are 7' tall and can easily feet even the larger pick up trucks and vans.
  • 8' foot high doors can fit the larger SUV vehicles
  • 10-11' foot high doors are needed for campers

For door widths, we suggest:

  • 9' wide span for each passenger car (to allow the vehicle doors to open)
  • 16' wide span (minimum) for 2 cars
  • 10' wide span for each boat or trailer
  • 12' wide doors for each semi tractors and larger RV's

How Big Should it Be?

Garages:

For Cars and Pick Ups-count on 12 x 24 per bay. You'll most likely want doors that are 9 feet or 10 feet wide.

Assuming you want a one bay (one opening) garage, you'll be safe with a structure measuring 12 feet by 24 feet.

For Two bays - we advise a 24 x 26 minimum. Remember you want some added space in the garage so you an open doors without hitting the vehicle next to them. 24 x 26 in a 2 bay garage won't give you too much room to use the interior walls for storage or hanging items.

If you're looking for some storage in your new garage, 30 feet wide easily allows you enough space for the vehicles and to store something like your lawn mower along the front part.

Semi Trucks:

Ira from Graber advises, "Go with a minimum of 16 feet across and door that's 14 feet high for each bay." For just tractor storage a 48 x 60 should be good for storage. An entire semi will need about 72 feet to enclose both tractor and trailer.

Commercial Warehousing:

The size of a commercial building really depends on how much you have to store. The folks at Graber Pole Buildings don't limit to you a specific range of sizes - they have years of experience of designing then constructing small sizes to large units. If you'll be stacking pallets for example, you'll probably want to make sure you have enough inside height maybe as tall as 20 feet, to allow for the forklifts to easily maneuver. Give some thought as to whether or not you'll want to at least get a quote on how much a loading dock would be.

Horse Barns:

Our Equestrian friends have told us for years that Center Aisles are the way to go because it's easier for them to care for their horses. And the savings of Post Construction Center Aisle to a Traditional Built is astounding.

For Center Aisle Horse Barns, you'll really want a minim of 30 feet in width, and 36 feet in length (or longer). The way we see it, you have horse stalls- 10 x 10 for average size horses, or 12 x 12 or larger horses, and then you need adequate space for the center aisle itself.