Carport Review

I recently purchased a starter home out in the country that had no garage, no carport, no nothing! It also had many renovation projects to keep me occupied for the next ten years, but that is another story. It’s pretty sunny here much of the year, but we do get a fair amount of snow and ice in the winter, so I knew I needed something to protect my Jeep. I love that Jeep! I want to keep it looking great. So, I called a couple local building contractors to get prices on attached and detached stick-built garages. It had been quite a while since I had looked into garage kits, as most of my recent projects had a built in garage.

Wow! I soon discovered that labor prices have gone up a bit! Then I went to the lumber yard, thinking I’d put up a garage building kit myself. The sticker shock wasn’t much better there. The salesman then mentioned that they carry a line of carports and carport kits that I might want to check out. I’d seen these units around a bit, but didn’t know much about them.

The first thing I learned is that they cost a fraction of what stick-built or post-frame garages cost. That’s a big plus for me. The sales guy had my attention. He offered carports and kits in a variety of sizes. I was looking at the single car units, but he showed me 2-car units, as well as larger units to cover RVs. I was impressed. He priced one for me based on having someone put it up for me. The price was very reasonable, but I’m pretty handy so planned to erect it myself. The price for the unassembled kit was amazing. I made my purchase that morning. By late afternoon I had the thing built, with the help of a friend who I plied with pizza and a couple cold beverages. Then more pizza, followed my more..well, you get it. It was simple to build – much easier than building a traditional garage. It rained that night, but the Jeep looked fresh as a daisy the next day, with nary a water spot!

I tell you what. I’ve saved heaps of money and time in not having to wash that car again. I did a wax job the other week and it still shines like a beauty.

A couple of other factors made my decision to go with a carport kit. The materials used are heavy-duty, weatherproof materials. The metal roof will probably last forever, or at least much longer than a shingled roof. The other key is that the carport is movable. If I upgrade homes, I can invest an afternoon taking down the carport here, and another one putting it up at the next place. Of course, I’ll call my buddy again, and have to shell out the pizza and the cold ones.