If you are wondering whether or not you should build or install a carport, but are not sure if they’re a good idea, consider a few basic facts.
-
These structures provide extra overhead storage space to house a car or other vehicle if you don’t have a garage or if your garage is not large enough to house all of your belongings plus your vehicle(s).
-
They don’t cost nearly as much as a garage to build or install.
-
There are many different styles to choose from and you can go with a very basic or even a portable model costing less than a hundred dollars or you can custom build a structure that almost rivals a garage but with a few less bells and whistles.
The picture below shows imaginative use of bamboo (from Bambutec) to construct a lightweight and attractive frame over which has been attached clear corrugated plastic. It gives an idea of what you can achieve with a carport if you think outside the traditional boxes a bit.
Obviously there is no security as such with an open carport, but then again it depends on what exactly you’re trying to protect. Modern cars are so well protected with their own built-in anti-theft devices that these days car thieves often have to first break in to your house to steal the keys before they can then steal the car! A carport is designed to shelter a car from the elements and frankly it is at little more risk of being stolen from an open carport than an apparently locked garage (for more on this subject read this article on secure garage doors).
Other advantages of moving your car from the garage to a carport include (perhaps surprisingly) better protection against rust in the bodywork; a carport protects against the elements i.e. sun, rain and frost to a degree but it also provides better airflow around the car. It is well known that parking a car in a garage will ensure that any moisture on the car will sit there and over time slowly corrode the metal.
And of course, parking your vehicles under a carport means you can free up your garage for extra storage, auxilliary space to work or play in or whatever you want really. No need to make space for the car or be careful not to scratch it moving the lawnmower for instance. This additional flexibility is also likely to be reflected in the overall value of your property too.
If you are looking for a more permanent structure, then a wooden carport may be a good option for you. These blend in nicely with the existing structures of most homes, whether they are attached to the home or even if they stand alone. Also, because they are constructed from wood they can be finished to coordinate with the home’s exterior by staining or painting the wood to match. Because wood is inherently versatile and easy to work with, you can build a wooden structure in just about any size or shape you need and can add a flat roof or an angled roof, depending on your preference.
If you want something that is less expensive to erect and/or more portable because you want to be able to set it up and take it down whenever you need to (or possibly you want to be able to take it with you on the road when you travel) then you might want to consider a model made from a nylon or canvas cover instead. These covers are draped across a framework made usually from PVC or a lightweight metal such as aluminum. These portable structures will still provide ample protection but will obviously result in a rather different look and feel compared to a permanent wood carport.
-->
If you are wondering whether or not you should build or install a carport, but are not sure if they’re a good idea, consider a few basic facts.
These structures provide extra overhead storage space to house a car or other vehicle if you don’t have a garage or if your garage is not large [...]
My friend Jonas is a professional custom storage designer. No, I’m not talking IT – he doesn’t work doing RAID 5 or some other computer storage niche. I’m talking about the type of storage engineer that works with their hands, with actual pieces of wood, and power tools that get the job done and put it all together.
Now, I don’t mean to rain on his parade, but over the years, I’ve heard my share of lectures on how my garage is full of bunk storage and he could really help me fix this by installing a custom garage storage system. He’s a friend, so he’d even do it at cost.
But the truth is – well, it’s not necessary. Let me explain.
The Things You Own, End Up Owning You…
Isn’t it funny how the more you own, the more you need to buy to manage the things you own? At the same time, you also get to devote more mental energy towards organizing these things and deciding what to do with them. Does this make sense? Why do we do this to ourselves?
Yes, I have a garage. And yes, I have some things in there. But my goal isn’t to have one of these utopian garage storage systems. It’s to own only what I need!
Jonas would say he always tells customers first to get rid of everything that’s taking up space in their garage, but, the truth is, if we all did that, most of the companies making stuff designed as “garage storage tools” wouldn’t be needed anymore. Our trash is their treasure, in a round about way.
What’s In My Garage
My garage at the moment is fairly simple. I’ve got a bike. With it, there’s a garage storage bike rack. Makes sense, right! I’ve also got a DIY screen printing set up, and for this, there’s a desk and a cabinet for all my things. Other than that, I’ve got a couch and a bookshelf with a bunch of old punk rock zines and magazines. That’s it. Nothing mounted to my ceiling, nothing installed coming out of the wall, no cabinets with fancy locking mechanisms to hide some scary hazardous chemicals I wouldn’t want in here any way (and which would offer less protection than securing your garage doors in the first place). Also, nothing that might need protection from the elements which of course then gets us on to the topic of garage door insulation kits.
Keeping life simple is usually a lot easier than trying to simplify a mountain of consumerist toys that you only own because Mother Culture promotes the idea of ownership.
For me, I’ll keep my couch, my bike rack, my book shelf, my cabinet, and you can keep your garage storage systems, thank you!
-->
My friend Jonas is a professional custom storage designer. No, I’m not talking IT – he doesn’t work doing RAID 5 or some other computer storage niche. I’m talking about the type of storage engineer that works with their hands, with actual pieces of wood, and power tools that get the job done and put [...]
A common problem that many people have when purchasing a safe is determining where in their home they should install it. There are a number of different factors that should be considered before choosing a final location. Although a gun safe can be located in a number of different spots, there are better locations than others to store it.
A good tip to locating a safe is to have it stored in an unobvious location. For many homeowners, a secret room or basement are just not available. By far one of the most common places to store gun safes is in your garage. Due to its popularity, it is not the ideal storage spot for discretion, but often provides the greatest ease of installation.
If you do decide to install your safe in your garage, be sure that you follow a couple of practical suggestions. You may need to take additional precautions to keep the contents of your safe secure. The first thing that you are going to need to do is relocate or lock up some of your tools. The last things that you want lying next to your safe are the very tools that will assists in cracking it open.
Remove blow torches, power tools, saws, and other instruments that an intruder may use to break into your safe. If these tools are not readily available, you should be able to avoid theft by opportunity. An intruder should have a difficult time finding the necessary equipment to crack your safe. For this reason, you should also avoid storing flammable or other explosive items near your safe. Keep gas tanks, pressure tanks, and other flammables on the other side of the garage or outside in a storage shed.
Finally consider taking the opportunity to replace your existing garage doors with more secure garage doors. Standard garage doors are noted for the ease with which they can be broken into, but upgrading to a high security garage door provides a level of protection that is vastly superior and able to withstand even the most determined attempts to break in.
If you follow these few practical tips when installing your gun safe in a garage, you will be well on your way to having a more secure and tamper proof solution for your valuables.
-->
A common problem that many people have when purchasing a safe is determining where in their home they should install it. There are a number of different factors that should be considered before choosing a final location. Although a gun safe can be located in a number of different spots, there are better [...]
Being burgled is an upsetting experience; the cost of replacing stolen or damaged items (hopefully through insurance) is frequently cited as secondary to the fact that someone has violated your personal sanctuary, the place you call home. So it’s worth taking the trouble over security.
Now, when it comes to security in the modern world, most people are familiar with the idea of taking sensible precautions to protect their home by fitting locking bolts to windows and deadlocks on entrance doors. Yet when it comes to the garage it’s surprising how many folk assume that the flimsiest security measures will suffice.
Not only do many people’s garages in fact contain items of considerable value, to a burglar they also often provide an easy route into the main house.
Even if you don’t keep an expensive car or several in your garage, you quite likely have a good stock of tools ideal for assisting a break-in and if your garage is integral to or otherwise adjoins your house it also provides excellent cover for anyone attempting a break-in to really go about their business completely unobserved. Most integral garages also provide an obvious weak link – direct access via the internal door to the house.
It should be obvious what the answer is: secure garage doors. Unfortunately, the majority of budget vinyl and steel garage doors just aren’t up to the job. They have woefully ineffective locking systems that the average person could defeat with a bit of effort and most burglars can dispense with in seconds. They are also of course made from materials that are either easy to deform or break.
Due to the more robust nature of wooden garage doors, these often have much better locks but are still no match for a determined intruder who is likely to deploy considerable force, using either a jemmy (a powerful steel crowbar) to pull at weak spots or simply kicking the panels in.
However, there are garage doors available that can withstand a prolonged attack from even the most determined intruder. In Europe the certification covering anti-intrusion (ENV 1627) specifies a number of classes, where for example a Class 1 certified door is resistant to attempts to break it down or the application of hook and traction from outside.
ENV 1627 Class 3 high security doors are guaranteed to resist a sustained attack from even the most experienced burglars using a variety of tools for at least 20 minutes. Being essentially still wooden these doors still retain their elegant appearance but contain high tensile steel inserts within.
High security garage doors are not only effective as a deterrent against intruders, but can also serve as a primary component for constructing a safe room. A safe room (also often called a “panic room” – a term originally coined to enhance the dramatic appeal of a film of the same name) is a well protected enclosed space that can be used to shelter people and/or valuables from attacks of various kinds (criminals, storms and so on).
Given the high level of primary protection that high security garage doors offer they are also ideal as the basis for creating a secure garage gun safe for example, or even converting your garage into effectively a large safe for storing all manner of valuables.
-->
Being burgled is an upsetting experience; the cost of replacing stolen or damaged items (hopefully through insurance) is frequently cited as secondary to the fact that someone has violated your personal sanctuary, the place you call home. So it’s worth taking the trouble over security.
Now, when it comes to security in the modern world, most [...]
Let’s start with some simple facts.
Firstly, most people’s homes face the street which means their garage is also street facing, which further means that the garage doors can claim in some cases as much as a quarter of the area of this frontal elevation.
Secondly, first impressions are everything and that applies to buildings as much as people. Think what impression you might have of someone who shows up for a meeting wearing a tatty T-shirt that’s missed its last two appointments with the washing machine? The same applies to your house (and by association, you, the owner) when someone gives it the once-over from the street or comes up the drive.
So it should be obvious then, that if you’re trying to increase the value or saleability of your property and your garage doors don’t look the part then you’ve just done the equivalent of turning up for a crucial interview with pizza stains down your front. And as we all know, it’s an uphill struggle to turn around a negative first impression.
Another reason to focus on your garage doors is not simply because they’re one of the most in-your-face aspects of many houses, but because garage remodelling is becoming an important consideration for modern home owners. Garage remodelling is among the quickest, easiest and cheapest ways to add space to your home and is fast becoming a primary home improvement strategy.
Even if you neither particularly need or want an additional space (for a workshop or games room or gym or utility room or whatever) you should bear in mind that potential buyers very likely will look at the potential for the garage beyond just storing automobiles and garden tools.
And when looking at a garage, guess what it is that keeps getting in their face and screaming either “useable space” or “waste of space”? Yes, it’s superficial view of things but that’s how people are, so in addition to paying attention to the quality of the doors it might also pay you to consider installing decent garage storage systems to tidy the place up.
Another consideration for many these days is security – both personal safety and protection of valuables. secure garage doors prevent intruders gaining access to what is all too often one of the weakest links in most people’s security arrangements.
Further interesting evidence for the importance of paying attention to your garage doors comes from a recent survey which revealed that for both men and women the garage door is now ahead of the front door as the most used exterior door when entering the home. This attests to the superior ease of use of modern garage doors and the level of security, especially with remote control operation.
So garage doors are more important than many people ever think about, but what are the best ones to go for? The answer to that is simple: wooden garage doors. Just as real wood window frames put uPVC and aluminium in the shade, wood garage doors simply look more attractive and feel sturdier than metal doors. They are also easy to keep looking good, extremely versatile and simple to maintain. If need be for example, you can cut window inserts into the doors to allow light through.
So to sum up then, garage doors take up a big chunk of what folk see when they look at your house and the best way to boost their perception of your house and its potential value is to install attractive wooden garage doors.
-->
Let’s start with some simple facts.
Firstly, most people’s homes face the street which means their garage is also street facing, which further means that the garage doors can claim in some cases as much as a quarter of the area of this frontal elevation.
Secondly, first impressions are everything and that applies to buildings as much [...]