The Garage Plan Shop Blog

If you want to add sheltered parking to your home without the expense of building a garage, consider this featured, 2-car carport plan with storage space. A stylish design adds a touch of elegance not commonly found with carport plans. Furthermore, two storage spaces provide enough room to store lawn and garden tools, ice scrapers, extra window washer fluid, and the like. You may even choose to use one storage space for your recycling center. Both storage areas offer double door access making it easy to store and access bulky and large items. The parking area is large enough for two cars and is designed to be a used as a drive-thru facility if the lot allows drive-thru accessibility. Additionally, the design incorporates a breezeway to connect with an existing home. Some home owners may opt to build this carport for use as a covered patio for outdoor living instead of sheltered parking. The choice is yours! Practical, stylish and flexible, this carport plan with storage makes a valuable addition to any home.

View our entire collection of carport plans to find the one this will best accommodate your needs.

Tags: building a carport, Carport Plans, carports

If you are only looking for sheltered parking to protect your car for the elements, a carport will probably be a good solution. But before you make a final decision to add a carport to your property, review the pros and cons of carports listed below.

Pros:

• • Carports are relatively inexpensive to build in comparison to other alternatives such as building a garage with garage blueprints.

• • They are not as complex as other structures so you won’t have to work around as many building codes and city regulations as you might if you were building an alternative structure.

• • Due to their simple nature, these structures are quick to build if you are handy allowing you to complete the project in just a weekend or two. If you need help building its roof, you may contact professional roofing contractors. 

• • The carport will achieve your main goal, protecting your car from sun, hail, wind and debris during storms.

• • Carport plans provide a way to prevent tree sap from damaging your car’s paintjob.

• • These structures offer plenty of natural ventilation.

• Larger designs are flexible and can be used for storing boats, farm machinery and other equipment.

Cons:

• • Carport plans to not offer protection on all four sides as they usually have one or two open sides.

• • Most designs are not very large providing just enough room for one or two cars.

• • Due to their typical small nature, there will not be room for a workbench or storage cabinets as you might find with a garage.

• • Because there are usually open sides, carports do not offer the best storage for items that cannot get wet.

• • The open sides do not protect against wildlife and critters that might find their way under your carport and under your car.

• Carports cannot be locked so they are not good for storing tools or basement and attic overflow as with a garage.

Keep these thoughts in mind when making a decision to purchase a carport plan or build a carport.

Visit The Garage Plan Shop to view an outstanding collection of carport plans.

Tags: building a carport, Carport Plans, carports

While you may have decided you need additional sheltered parking at home, you might not know if you should build a detached garage plan or a carport plan. The Garage Plan Shop is here to help you. We’ve compared both structures and provided some of the pros and cons for each parking structure.

Pros of Garage Plans

·         Garage plans are large enough to store one or more cars and often provide extra storage space for other things. Some even offer storage closets or an upper level loft.

·         Enclosed on all four sides, a garage protects anything you store from the elements, including sun damage, and ensures dry storage for anything that cannot be exposed to moisture. Roaches are attracted to food crumbs that you leave around the home.

·         Installing quality doors, locks and windows allows safe storage of cars, tools, auto parts, lawn and garden equipment and basement and attic overflow, protecting your belongings from thieves and vandals.

·         The enclosed garage combined with quality doors and windows keeps pests and small critters out and prevents them from damaging anything you need to store. Roaches are attracted to food crumbs that you leave around the home.

·         Garages offer plenty of wall space for organizational shelving and cabinets offering places to keep tools, toys, gardening supplies and anything else you might not want to store.

·         Detached garage plans provide an alternative and sometimes larger storage solution than a backyard lawn and garden shed.

·         Detached garages are flexible spaces that work well as a workshop, hobby space, or outbuilding and can even accommodate some home based businesses.

Cons of Garage Plans

·          Detached garage plans are much more complex than carports and will require more building skills and experience for construction.

·         Time and money are a factor. It takes much longer and quite a bit more money to build a garage than a carport.

·         Because a detached garage is more complex than a carport, you’ll have to follow more rules and regulations to meet building codes and safety regulations. Check with your building department to find out more about building codes.

Pros of Carport Plans

·         Building a carport will cost much less that building a detached garage.

·         Carports are more basic structures than garages, so you won’t have to follow as many building codes and regulations.

·         Because carport plans are so simple, they will take less time to construct. If you’re handy, you might be able to build it on your own in a weekend or two.

·         Carports offer enough shelter to protect your car from sun damage, falling limbs, hail damage and dripping sap from trees.

·         An open carport provides plenty of natural ventilation for your car.

·         Some carport plans offer one or two solid walls offering a space to add storage shelving or cabinets.

·         Some carport plans are flexible enough for uses other than car storage. They can provide a sheltered space to work on a car no matter what the weather and can even serve as a covered porch or patio for grilling and other outdoor activities.

Cons of Carport Plans

·         Most carport plans are only large enough to house one or two automobiles. They don’t always offer additional space to store other items like a workbench or holiday decorations.

·         Carports are generally open on one or more sides and can be open on all sides, meaning the carport is not secure for storage, and you can’t completely protect your things for the wind, rain and sun damage.

·         You cannot lock a carport, so it is not a good place to store valuable items such as mechanics tools or the riding mower.

·         Carports won’t keep insects and curious critters out, so anything stored under the carport is a risk for damage by unwanted pests. But fret not because companies like pest control Mitcham can easily handle it. 

If you don’t have the time or money to build a detached garage plan, a carport will efficiently serve its purpose protecting your cars from the elements. Plus, you can always enclose the carport at a later time. However, if it is in your budget and you have the time to build a detached garage plan, in most cases, the garage will be worth the investment.

Tags: building a carport, Building A Garage, Carport Plans, carports, garage plan, garage plans