Carport Construction - Make the Early Decisions

All carport construction initiatives require early desicions about materials and building methods so that you can scope your project with your budget.

When building a carport it is important to choose strong materials that when constructed will be sympathetic to the style of your house. The choices you will have to make are which material you want for your piers, your roof structure, your roof and your floor.

What you make your carport roof from should be close to the roof of the house you are attaching it to. A good example is tiled roofs, the basic principle would be if you have tiles on you house Unfortunately sometimes these materials are no longer made, so if that happens to you then consider a material that you can blend, rather than match exactly. The exact same thing happened to me with my carport. The house I was building my carport on had colored roof tiles. The roofing structure I wanted was simple, so I chose a lighter colored metal roof that was pre-finished in the same color as the part of the color scheme of my house. In this way I used a simple, lightweight material than blended nicely with the style of my house.

I chose a flat roof style, and so had to use 12 x 2 inch timber beams that could span a wide area. My house has a complicated pitched roof, so I though that this simpler style, coupled with the roofing color tie-in would be a better way to go. By choosing this method of carport construction I alleviated the need to build a complicated roof structure to support a heavy roof.

Your next major choice is what to construct the post from.  You are not limited to timber of metal here, and can consider brick, cement block, or stone. Whichever material you choose to build your uprights from, they need to be strong enough for the roof you choose. I recommend that they be strong, decorative, easy to paint and easy to access and maintain.

The floor of your carport is a again an interesting carport construction choice. A good, cheap option is gravel or pebbles, yet most people prefer something a little more substantial. A good option is concrete as these days there are many options available in terms of patterns and colors. Personally my favorite is brick paving as it adds a really tasteful look to your carport floor.

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3. Wood Carport
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