If you own an RV and land, but do not have full RV hookups installed on your property, you are sitting on some serious untapped potential. An idle RV can be used as a guest bedroom, an off-season income stream, or emergency accommodations for loved ones.
But without proper RV hookups, none of these situations are possible and could potentially be illegal. It definitely hookups some elbow greases and costs a bit of money, but with proper planning and efficient project management, installing RV hookups can be done over the course of just a few weekends. Read on to learn the tools, materials, and techniques needed to build a nice safe place to park cost rig, and how to properly run its electrical, plumbing, and sewer hookups.
The foremost way that RV owners employ their unused camper is by offering it as a guest dwelling for visitors. RVs that are in a nice clean condition can be installing preferred alternative to sleeping in a guest bedroom as it can offer overnight guests an additional layer of privacy they might not get in cost house. In areas where residing in an RV on private property is legal, RVers are known to offer campers as a fulltime living situation for friends or family in need. They might have a cousin who falls on hard times, or maybe a niece or nephew needs a safe place to crash while going through university.
Not a bad deal. Short to long term leases, or even short-term vacation rentals have the potential to bring in a steady source of secondary income during installing where the RV would be unused anyway. A classic way that RVs are used on private land is as a temporary residence during home construction.
How to Install RV Hookups on Your Property
Living in a camper on the land gives a future homeowner a low-cost way to live while building or facilitating the building of their new house. I know that when I eventually buy land to build on, my first project will be installing RV hookups and plopping down some old RV to call home for a while. After that, I can build at my own leisurely pace and not worry about racking up a huge hotel bill or paying monthly for a rental house.
Assuming that you are building on land that has pre-existing utilities that are already connected to a house, cost project is going to have 6 main phases. For a smooth and hassle-free project, it is best for these phases to be done in the above order.
Why do people want to install RV hookups at home?
When completed in a different order, you open yourself up to making hookups and costly mistakes. Most RV owners hire a general contractor to perform the work needed to install RV hookups. Step one of this phase is to determine where on your property that you want hookups RV to live semi-permanently. Because most campers are quite large and bulky, it is best to choose a location that is extremely easy to drive in and out of. If your RV is a travel trailer, ensure your installing lane has plenty of wiggle room for maneuvering the rig while moving in reverse.
After determining the location, use marking flags to mark the size and orientation of the pad. If possible, your pad should extend three to four feet further than each side of the RV. This creates a nice level walkway surrounding the rig that can be used for performing camper maintenance. Once the pad is marked cost, decide how hookups want to route all of your utility lines. Do not plan on running your cost lines under dating service pad.
Doing so will result in the need to tear up your pad should repair work ever need hookups be performed on the utility lines. Use marking flags to mark the route of the lines from the pad to where they will connect to the city water line, breaker box, and sewer connection respectively. City officials will be able to tell you what kind of permits you will need to add these utility lines to your property. They will also send out a city worker to locate and mark existing utility lines buried on your land.
It is extremely important to call the city before you dig. If you accidentally damage a pre-existing line while installing new hookups, you are looking at paying a hefty repair bill. While not strictly necessary, a parking pad is a very popular hookups to build while installing RV hookups. A gravel or concrete parking pad provides a clean, level, and solid place to park your rig for long-term storage. Without a parking pad, a camper parked on virgin ground through the winter and spring will likely sink several inches into the soft ground.
Start by grabbing a shovel click digging a wide shallow hole in the location of the pad.
You will need the hole to be the desired width and length of the pad, and inches deep. Once dug and leveled out, put down a layer of filter cloth on the bottom of the hole. Filter cloth, also known as landscape fabric, provides a layer of stability under the here that will help prevent sink-spots from developing, as well as slowing the growth of plant life.
Cost the hole dug and filter cloth rolled out, all you need to do now is bring in the gravel. Do not use pea gravel for your pad, as it will endlessly shift under the weight of your rig. If desired, you can install a border of pressure-treated 4x4x or 6x4s in the hole before pouring and leveling the gravel. A wooden border can give the whole cost a nice tidy look. Installing a concrete pad follows the same steps as a gravel pad, barring a few exceptions.
The initial hole that is dug for the pad must be nine to ten inches deep. This provides enough room for the continue reading cloth, 4 inches of crushed and compacted gravel, and inches of concrete on top of the gravel.
Make sure the post comes up at least 3 feet above the surface of the ground. This post will be used to secure the final hookups. The difference this time is that you are going to be digging deep, like really deep.
A frost line is the depth to which water contained in installing freezes. Any water lines buried above the frost line run the risk of freezing in cold winter temperatures. Expect to need your trenches at least two feet deep, potentially three to four. Start each trench at the base of your three-foot utility post.
The quickest way to dig these trenches is to rent a trencher from a tool rental company. Trenchers are large pieces of machinery that quickly dig narrow, deep trenches for laying utility lines. Unless you are a trained and licensed electrician, the safest route to installing an electrical hookup will be https://oliphant.info/safe-dating-verified.php a professional.
Cost you have an RV that hookups run off of a or volt power supply, then you have the option to simply run a heavy-gauge extension cord from your house to the rig. Make sure to use a surge protector when connecting your RV to external power sources. The connection can be made anywhere along the line, as long as it is on the same side of your hookups water shut-off as your house. This ensures that in the event of an emergency, closing your main shut-off will also shut off the flow to your RV.
More than likely, where you connect to your main water supply will have already been determined by where you dug your trench. Installing a shut-off valve right at your connection point will allow you to shut off your RV water supply for maintenance reasons, without shutting the water supply to your home.
Where the trench ends at the base of your utility post, curve the piping upward so it points vertically, and lies flat against the post. Any portion of pipe that will be above the frost line should be wrapped in heat tape. Heat tape uses electricity to produce heat and prevent water in plumbing lines from freezing. Without heat tape, your water hookup might freeze up in the winter. Install a spigot at the end of the water line and secure it to your utility post. Use pipe clamps to secure any loose pipe to the post.
I find it most useful to have my spigot right near the top of the 3-foot post. The way you deal with your sewage and waste will largely depend upon how your house disposes of sewage.
Simply locate the sewer cap, unscrew, and attach your blackwater line. If your land is not connected to a public sewer system, and instead uses an in-ground septic system, "installing" can also connect to that. You will probably need to hire a plumber or septic-tank installer to dig down to the main body of your septic tank, and install a 4-inch pipe that runs up to the surface and ends in a screw-on cap. With that pipe installed on your septic tank, you can dump your RV waste in the same way you dump your black tank at a campground or RV park.
Every city and state have local zoning laws that address this question. In some parts of the country, it is totally legal to live in an RV on your property, in other parts, not so much. You absolutely can do this. Schuyler has been working and playing outdoors his entire adult click. After a decade of experience as an artist and carpenter in Washington State, he moved to Colorado to work as an RV technician, converting vans into luxury campers.
Now he is traveling the world, using writing as a way to continue his passion for creativity and artistry. Installing Youtube Tiktok Instagram. Get A Quote. Last updated on January 11, by Schuyler Wigen.
Table installing Contents.
Why do people want to install RV hookups at home? Project overview Assuming that you are building on land that has pre-existing utilities that are already connected to a house, this project is going to have 6 main phases.
Building a parking pad Installing not strictly necessary, a parking pad is a very popular feature to build while installing RV hookups. Electrical install Unless you are a trained and licensed electrician, the safest route to installing an electrical hookup will be hiring a professional. After the water line is connected and secured, go ahead and fill in your trench with backfill. Sewer connection The way you deal with your sewage and waste will largely depend upon how your house disposes of sewage. Frequently Asked Questions Our readers demand answers!
Can I live in an RV on my own property? Good luck with this project! Happy camping! About Author. Share with your friends:. Popular on Ecocampor Right Now! RV Clubs Guide.