Carport Designs

Carports are effective and economical alternative shelters for cars, instead of a garage. Even if you already have a garage, a carport offers additional parking space for cars..

A carport as a structure, evolved out of a need for home owners to build a car shelter, that did not cost as much as a garage. Besides offering a low-cost shelter for your car, it can also add to the overall ambiance of your property. If you are planning to build one, you must be on the lookout for some designs online. However, I would personally advise you to make your own designs instead of going for ready-made ones. The ones that you design on your own are the best because they are tailor-made to your specific needs and expectations. Let me present some tips on how to go about designing your own carport plans in the next section.

How to Plan Carport Designs?

Creating designs and plans, made to scale, is essential, before you even think of going for construction. It gives you an idea about budget allotment and time required for construction. Besides, planning things in advance never hurts you! Here are the things that need to be taken into consideration while creating your own designs and plans:

Decide the Budget
Deciding on how much money you can allot for the carport construction is one of the first things to take into consideration. All your choices of materials and design will be dictated by the money factor. So roughly decide on the maximum amount of money you are willing to spend on building the carport.

Size Matters
Next important thing is deciding on the dimensions of your carport structure. Depending on the size of the vehicle you park in that carport, you must decide on the length, width and height of the whole structure. If you are planning on adding some storage space, let the dimensions be a couple of feet more. The size and measurements of the whole structure will give you an idea about the material costs of designs that you create.

Choosing Building Materials
The most important choice, when creating designs is for the building materials. Your two prime choices are wood and metal. If you are looking for a low-cost structure, metal is the material that you should go for. Metal carport kits are available that come with easy construction instructions and can be set up quite easily. If you are willing to spend more, wood is the choice which can provide you with a range of elegant designs. Cedar and salt pine are the popular wood choices when it comes to building a carport. A wooden structure has a great visual appeal, compared to a metal one. Some may even go for a stone and concrete structure.

Studying Designs
Browse through as many designs as you can. You can search online or just have a look around the neighborhood. You could always come up with your own unique and unconventional design. Make a list of desired features that you want in your carport and start sketching one, which is a right combination of aesthetics and functionality.

Deciding the Location
Decide on where would you like to build the carport. Is it going to be attached to your house at the front door or is it going to be a standalone structure away from the house? Finding an answer to this question will affect carport designs that you could choose. Make sure that the carport gels well with the overall architecture of your house.