Members Audiopile Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 I'm figuring on purchasing a portable carport... maybe. The purpose is I'd dearly like to get my gear trailer and Sprinter van under cover when they're parked and full of gear. Out in the open they cook in the summer and sweat on the inside in the winter. I have zero knowledge about portable carports other than knowing they exist and there's various types. I'm hoping some here have been there, done this and can offer advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 I have one that I've been using almost 15 years. Easy to set up and measures 10 x 20'. $ 159 at Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/10-ft-x-20-ft-portable-car-canopy-69034.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted May 7, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 I have one that I've been using almost 15 years. Easy to set up and measures 10 x 20'. $ 159 at Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/10-ft-x-20-ft-portable-car-canopy-69034.html Thanks Bill. I think something more robust is likely in-order. I'm figuring on going with a metal structure... probably about 14' x 36' x 12' high. I have a nice concrete slab (14' x 36') between my house and shop... that's where I'd like to put it. Trouble is, it's between my house and shop... so there will be some snow shedding off the shop and house roofs onto the proposed carport roof. I investigated doing a permanent structure, but the contractor quotes I got for that idea was stupid big bucks and seemingly "complex"... and we may decide to do something different in the future... being "move the house". Seemingly the portable carport idea may serve the purpose comparatively inexpensively without a deep commitment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 8, 2016 Members Share Posted May 8, 2016 I'm watching this as well, as my new midlife crisis vehicle needs the same treatment as Mark's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bugzie Posted May 8, 2016 Members Share Posted May 8, 2016 OK Andy I'll bite.....what did ya get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted May 8, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2016 I'm watching this as well' date=' as my new midlife crisis vehicle needs the same treatment as Mark's.[/quote'] At this point, without further advice, I see Cosco offers a 14' x 38' x 12 eve height shed for $3564 delivered, DIYS assembly. Looks good to me... should provide the suitable cover if it doesn't collapse under the likely snow load. My game plan at this point is to go with this device and remove the carport panel under shop eve in the fall so that in the winter where the snow sluffs off the shop panel... it doesn't cave in the carport roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted May 8, 2016 Members Share Posted May 8, 2016 Sorry, thought you were looking for a portable unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dbMontana Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 OK Andy I'll bite.....what did ya get? Indeed Bugzie -- you beat me to it! Do tell Andy. Does it have (a) propeller(s)? ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted May 9, 2016 CMS Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 Mark, have you considered building a structure yourself? Trusses are available at any lumberyard. Metal roofing/siding panels cut to length from the local tin roof guy. You've got the slab. Put up 6x6's, top with a header beam, trusses every 4 feet, 2x4 purlins every 2 feet, roof panels screw to those. Add some diagonal bracing, sturdy structure that'll never collapse under a snow load. In my corner of the world, RV parks are full of these "pole barns" that cover RV trailers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 And would probably stand up those nasty Palouse winds better than a manufactured metal structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted May 9, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 Sorry, thought you were looking for a portable unit. Sorry I wasn't more specific. I'm learning there's a fairly broad spectrum of car port types that qualify as "portable". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted May 9, 2016 CMS Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 Definitely. If you bury the 6x's into concrete footers, while that reduces longevity, it removes the need for most bracing and makes the structure bulletproof against high winds. For older folk like us, it'll outlive us by decades... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 Where I live, we get a LOT of window. My neighbour had one of those temporary car ports, held down by a dozen 2x2' patio stones. It STILL blew away. Another neighbour put up a large (1200 sq ft?) metal hangar. No idea what it cost, but it went up quick, was easily permitted, and will stand up to any kind of wind. If I had to install a car port on my property, I would build something like what Craig suggested. Pre-fab trusses are easy to permit as they come with an engineer's stamp. Around here, you are not allowed to build your own trusses (unless you pay a P.Eng to test and stamp them), but you can still build rafter roofs. Doubled 2x top plate, Bird's mouth, etc., ridge board, you know the drill, it's how we've built houses for a hundred years. The easiest way might be to use a ledger board against your house for one side, but that could increase permitting and insurance complexity. A simple free-standing structure based on 6x6 poles and sonotubes below the frost line is doable for the DIYer, safe, and permitable in most places. Use a long ridge vent in the roof, makes finishing it a breeze, and it will be easy to enclose the structure more fully at a later date if you so choose. Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 No propellers, no legs (well not THIS particular midlife crisis vehicle anyway)... I picked up a 1953 GMC 3/4 ton long bed 5 window, hydramatic, all stock, all original except for upgraded wheels and tires (still very stock looking). It was a 20 year old restoration, no rust, for the most part all intact. I have put about 100 hours into it, good runner, all that's left before driving is all new brakes, lines, hoses, master & slave cyls. Hope to be done before summer hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted May 10, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 10, 2016 Mark' date=' have you considered building a structure yourself? Trusses are available at any lumberyard. Metal roofing/siding panels cut to length from the local tin roof guy. You've got the slab. Put up 6x6's, top with a header beam, trusses every 4 feet, 2x4 purlins every 2 feet, roof panels screw to those. Add some diagonal bracing, sturdy structure that'll never collapse under a snow load. In my corner of the world, RV parks are full of these "pole barns" that cover RV trailers.[/quote'] Trust me: I've laid awake at night trying to talk myself into going there, but it's complex (or I've made it complex based on experience). A couple months ago I had a contractor build a pole construction building on one of my properties. The new building codes required a bit more than a cubic yard of concrete per pole hole... as I recall the pole holes were 3' square by 4' deep.... pole spacing was 10' apart. I really don't want to concrete saw a bunch of 3ft. sq. holes in my concrete slab and excavate them 4ft. deep just to keep a roof held to the ground in a building code compliant manner as I'm fairly sure a good slug of 1/2" wedge concrete anchors into that 6" thick concrete slab will be sufficient. I dunno: I've been meaning to get a roof over that slab for going on 20 years. It ain't happened yet. Approx. 10 years ago one of my neighbors put up a $3,500 prefab metal "portable car port" of similar size and in a similar type of setting... and I was all poo-poo on his good idea... back then... cause I'm a-gonna build something "real" for my car port on my slab. He's been enjoying his cheap car port for the past 10 years that he put up in an afternoon... I've been eating I'm a-gonna crow. On the plus side: I've developed a slew of recipes for the eating of crow... most/all involve an adult beverage to wash it down. Trouble is: I don't know how much longer my liver can hold out processing the crow meals. And I really want a roof "there". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted May 10, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 10, 2016 Nice Andy. That has the potential (as you know) to be "here on out for you". I'm really hoping to finish my 10 year in the works '66 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup project this year... and you might have offered the inspiration to get er done. "All" I have left to do is the finish body work, change the frame to the '72 frame I have, replace the bed, and paint, and finish the interior and some other stuff... piece of cake (if I was 20-something). I'd better go finish planting the garden (and take a nap). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted May 10, 2016 Members Share Posted May 10, 2016 Those are tough building permit requirements. A couple of years ago, my church wanted a picnic shelter. Local phone company gave us 6 no longer used telephone poles. We hired a guy with an old phone company truck (the kind with a pole auger) and he dug the holes and put the poles in for a few hundred bucks one weekend. We got some prefab aluminum truss, and some sheets of corrugated tin roof. Five guys and two days. Survived a number of hurricanes and nor'easter with no issues. It ain't gorgeous, may not meet the code where you are, but its 30x40, cheap, strong, and fast to erect. Best of luck with this project. Sort of makes putting together a band, learning 200 songs, and learning to get along, look sort of easy.... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted May 10, 2016 CMS Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 Yep, I've seen and lived the same thing...we like the "better" structures, but then our neighbors throw up some piece of crap and it works just fine. Determining what is "good enough" shouldn't be this difficult..... Your code requirement doesn't have any realistic engineering backing it...that's WAY more concrete and surface needed. If the soil is sandy or is expansive clay, then a wide footprint at the bottom is warranted. If there are ridiculous hurricane winds, then the weight is needed. But both weight and surface area?...I don't see it for your neck of the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dbMontana Posted May 10, 2016 Members Share Posted May 10, 2016 Sweet indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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