Lets Talk About A Metal Carport as a Backyard Workshop

I bought a small house recently that came with a single car garage. Its got enough space to hold a car, washer/dryer, and a decent sized work bench but not much else. I keep my e30 track car inside but it doesn't leave much space to work on or store any other toys.

I'd like to buy a small boat sometime soon and I have a chumpcar miata that needs to be pulled from it's current resting spot and to my house where it can get more attention. I'm considering pouring a concrete slab in my backyard and buying one of those metal carports (18'x21') I see advertised for $795 installed. It would allow me to keep some more toys at home with basic protection from the elements and also provide more shaded workspace. Unfortunately, $2,000-$2,500 is about the max I'd like to spend on this project, so that rules out a nice enclosed garage with lift etc.

Does anyone have experience with these inexpensive structures or the many companies that sell them? permits? Any advice? I'm in the Bradenton, FL area. Thanks

Watching with interest.

Carport Examples

Not to rain on your parade immediately, but you might check into the local building codes first before spending any $. It's very possible there are limits to where you can put one of those in your area due to the high incidence of hurricanes. When I built my last shop in a coastal area it had to meet 130 MPH windload specs. Here inland it has to be 100 MPH; this only applies to permanent structures. Removeable structures aren't covered.

If you don't do this, it doesn't meet the windload and the local code people spot it, you'll have to take it down. It's a safety thing; flying metal sheds are deadly.

FWIW, you might be able to do this in steps; pour your slab first. Then use one or two of those HF tarp shelters as temporary shelters while you save up enough $ to build a solid building. That might not be as difficult or long term as it sounds, cinder blocks are cheap and with proper installation typically meet high windload.

EDIT: A quick check shows an 8x8x16 concrete block for $1.42 at Lowe's, 3 24 foot walls 10 feet high will take about 850 blocks then add about $150 for mortar. There has got to be someone in your area that will sell them cheaper. If you can stretch a string taut and make a mudpie you can lay block quite well and there's your walls. BTDT.

The ribs in the roof panels run the full length so they collect leaves. The wraparound roof models probably work better but they look lower class. Thats all i know-besides the fact that i really want one. :D

I have one that I park under and I like it. When I was ordering there was the option of walls. If I thought I wanted to work on cars when it was raining sideways I would think about them. In my neighborhood the cool thing to do is just hang tarps on the sides to enclose them, but I don't have a very classy neighborhood. If they meet code and spousal approval, they work.

Is you garage attached or detached? Can you move the washer and dryer out of the garage into the house? That'll free up some space for little money (in theroy) Depending upon design, you could slowly expand the current garage. Start with a concrete pad (with footings if required) add roof and walls as budget allows. Morphs from parking pad, to carport, to garage.

pics of current building would help.

you can build an actual garage for not too much more..

if you have an existing carport, and live somewhere that the weather makes it tolerable to work outside, you can add sides that will give you a little more shelter. My carport:

We put one in at my dad's house a couple years before I moved to AK and we sold out/moved. You basically lose your backyard to concrete and steel, not necessarily a bad thing but something to consider especially if you have kids or some on the way. It was good at keeping the snow and rain and sun off of our cars. It was not so good at being a work space for multi day projects, as we used it for parking.

While it certainly beat working on a car in the dirt, an apartment complex, a stick in the eye, or being in the way of the main driveway until things got back together, it's still no where near as nice as having a garage. I'd get one again for stoarge more than a work space in a heartbeat, just about anything's better than parking in the open.

Ten plus years w/ a 12' x 20' carport on a 4" concrete pad, just because it would fit between the house and 24 x 28 garage, needed room right now w/o rebuilding the garage. Do most of my work out there temperature permitting these days as the garage has long since overflowed.

Park my DD there summer or winter, saved from the elements. It's a drive thru, so convenient.

Painted a F-150, XJ and '81 Chevy PU. Fabbed a 8' steel flatbed w/ headache rack. Project build and regular vehicle maintenance. MIG welding is fine, TIG requires a tarp over the wind side. It's a work saver in rain and hot sun over not having it.

Planning a new garage, could go 3-1/2 car wide if I take it down or build new 2-1/2 car and keep the carport, think I might keep it tho.

They are versatile, you can adapt them to needs but they won't ever be a true garage. In my current situation I'd rather have it than not.

YMMV

Mine works great for boat, jet ski and Hovercraft. No permit required in GA. Got 1/2 covered sides for sun protection. Best deal,ever..

Thanks for the opinions and insights fellas. I ordered one today with the same dimensions as the one pictured. I was able to avoid the need for paying an Engineer or pouring an expensive slab with footers and having to design structural tie-ins between the slab and carport. The dude at the building department suggested to me to pour a slab that is just slightly narrower than the footprint of the carport and then anchor the carport to the dirt rather than the concrete. Otherwise, I was going to need sealed drawings showing all of that as well as pay for inspections. Total cost is $1100 for the slab and $795 for the carport. I'll post some finished pics in a few weeks.

cool! it should make a good place to spin wrenches

cool! it should make a good place to spin wrenches

Got it all finished up. I'm pretty happy for just under $2k!

That turned out awesome.

Well done, sir. Color me impressed.

Nice!

wish I had had the room to go wider on mine

I've been kicking around getting one of those to put my boat and truck under. You might have just talked me into it. I like it.

Well done. I'm still working in the dirt under mine. I should get cement.

Jeez, now you've given me some ideas.

I've been trying really hard not to look at the local building codes to figure out just how much pad I can have.

I honestly love it so far. My only complaint is that rain does fall a couple feet onto the slab depending on the direction/angle of the rain, but the main goal was protection from the lethal FL sun. And it does that well!