What is a carport?
It’s often joked that there are four different seasons in Alberta; getting ready for winter, winter, still winter and recovering from winter. While this is obviously tongue in cheek, Calgary residents know how frustrating the seemingly perpetual snow and ice can be, especially when you’ve got to go about your daily business. There are some Calgary homes that have a garage to protect them and their vehicles from the worst of winter, but for many people, they simply don’t have the space to install a full garage on their property. A garage also comes with a high price tag: it requires foundations, connecting to your home’s electricity and will add to your home’s tax value as it counts as an extra room. For those looking to protect themselves and their vehicles, a carport is a great option.
You’ll have seen carports springing up all over the city. They are covered structures that typically sit somewhere on your driveway to protect your cars. Many people choose to install them next to their house where there is an external side door, and in these cases the carport attaches directly to the house and is supported on the other side with metal poles. If you don’t have an useful external door or your driveway is out front, you can build a free standing carport that will protect your cars.
How a carport saves you time
Not only do carports add value to your home as they provide extra storage and some summer shade, but they also help to save you time:
- No winter clear up – the biggest way that a carport saves you time is by keeping the worst of the winter weather away from your vehicle. While carports typically have open sides, they will protect your car from snowy build ups in big storms, and often block the coldest temperatures from icing over your vehicle overnight. This means that you’ll be able to get straight in and on your way each morning.
- Less snow to clear – another way that carports are time savers is that they cover up a good sized portion of your driveway, especially if you get a double carport. This means that there is considerably less snow to shovel or blow in the mornings. You’ll also find that choosing the right carport roof can help to push snow away from your home onto your yard, meaning that there’s even less to tidy up.
- Everything in one place – finally, a carport has many of the same benefits as a full garage in terms of storage. You can mount hanging pegs on the poles for shovels and windscreen scrapers, as well as keeping your buckets of salt and sand outside so that all of your morning chores can be completed from one simple stop.
Different Carport Designs
As with all home improvement projects, there’s a lot of different carport designs that you can add to your home. Each different design comes with a different price tag and project scale, so you’ll need to decide which carport design will fit your budget and continue to save you money. Some popular carport designs include:
- Carport tent – for many Calgary carport owners, the addition of fabric walls can make a huge difference to the amount of time you have to spend warming your vehicles up in the morning. A carport tent is a freestanding structure made from connected metal poles. The whole thing is then covered with an enormous tarp that attaches to the frame. The walls can roll down during the winter months (you’ll need to make sure you have a way to anchor them to the ground) and then rolled up in the summer to allow for good air circulation. A fair warning – a carport tent is necessarily the most pretty of designs, but it’s cheap and definitely helps save you time.
- Solar powered roof – if you’ve built a more permanent carport structure with deep sunk posts and a solid supported roof, you should definitely consider adding solar panels to your carport. Your carport is often in an optimal position to receive the most sunlight anywhere on your property, so you can turn your new structure into an energy saving and money making adventure. Many carport builders choose to invest in a full roof solar panel system to maximize their energy producing potential.
- Wooden post and beam – the aesthetic curb appeal of your home should be an integral part of any carport design discussion. While the tent and solar panel options definitely fit the function piece of the equation, they don’t look particularly beautiful. This is when you might want to consider a traditional wooden carport structure. The beauty of wood is that you can stain it any colour that you like, and it’s a timeless look that will blend neatly with any house. The rafters for the roof will lend a certain air of elegance to your carport project and the solid nature of the post and beam structure will keep your vehicles safe from the worst of the Calgary winters.
Roof Designs To Save You Time
The overall goal of a carport is to save you time in the winter mornings by keeping the snow and ice off your vehicles. It therefore makes sense to think carefully about your roof design. There are two main options. Firstly, a slanted roof which attaches to your home allows snow to fall off in one direction. Secondly, an A frame roof, which looks more aesthetically pleasing, and will dump snow in two locations. If your carport is right next to your home, you’ll want a slanted roof, while if it’s going to sit in the middle of your driveway, an A frame will save you time and avoid big snow piles.
Get In Touch With Us!
Installing a Desert Sun Patios carport is incredibly easy, and can be done at any time of year, though many Calgary residents choose to do it as part of their getting ready for winter preparations. There are a wide variety of design and size options, so start saving time today by calling into our Calgary showroom.
