Building Carport Kit

If you are looking for a low cost face lift for your home then you should consider building a carport.  A new carport can add beauty and value to your home, and also add lots of protection and convenience for you and your car.  Not only will your car thank you with decelerated sun damage to the paint and interior, but also you pets and family members will also think that getting out of your car into a dry all-weather area is the best thing since sliced bread.

Building Materials

Carports can be made from a wide range of materials.  The most common one in my country is timber.  It is a lovely material to work with, its light, easy to cut and can be turned and sawn to create the most intricate posts and fret work to decorate your new home addition.  If you are looking for something a little more functional and less termite prone, then steel framed construction is the way to go.  If can be painted with anti-rust paint, and even better if you can afford it is to use zinc-alum or galvanized steel.  The steel posts can be made from either tubular steel of box sections, but the tubular versions lend themselves more easily to bending to make interesting shapes.

Bolt It Down

You will be surprised about the insurance that a few simple bolts will provide you.  Take for example timber posts sitting on stirrups that are anchored into concrete footings.  You could be cheap and drop in a couple of nails, but if you use a couple of 3 or 4 inch coach bolts, or even better drill right through and use a bolt with a thread and nut.  Whatever choice you make, make sure you anchor all the points of weakness for maximum strength.

Roofing Options

Whatever you decide to use for your roofing material will dictate the finished looks of your carport.  Steel sheets are functional and strong and allow for minimal falls to keep the profile of your carport to a minimum.  Conversely tiles will require a much larger fall so that you don't get water backing up and leaking into the roof space.  You can even choose some form of bituminous sheeting such as malthoid, but it's a bugger work with and in my view look pretty crappy.

Build It Yourself

Building your own carport as a DIY officianado can be very rewarding.  I suggest you hasten slowly because the cost of a major error can more than wipe out any savings you may make by doing it yourself.  It's lost of fun to DIY, but I recommend you at least get quotations from a registered builder and compare