Carport Construction the Easy Way

Thinking about a new carport construction on your home? Then decide early about the building methods you want as this will guide your choice of materials.

When building a carport it is important to choose strong materials that when constructed will be sympathetic to the style of your house. You have four main decisions to make: the roofing material, the roofing shape, the upright construction, and your choice of flooring material.

The roof of your carport needs to be a good fit with your existing house roof. A good example is tiled roofs, the basic principle would be if you have tiles on you house Occasionally these materials may weather after a few years, and so matching them may be worse that choosing an alternative you can blend. My carport is a case in point. The house I was building my carport on had colored roof tiles. I wanted a lighter roof, so I chose a product that was coated zinc alum in a color to match the trims on my house. In this way I used a simple, lightweight material than blended nicely with the style of my house.

I used heavy timber beams that could span about 20 feet wide to build a flat roof. I could have built a hip and valley style of roof to match the house, but given I was not using the same material on the roof as the house I thought it better to go with a different, yet sympathetic style rather than an 'almost match'. To match my carport construction to the house would have meant a complicated design, and as an owner builder I didn't want to do that.

Your choice of upright building materials can be more imaginative by adding brick, cement block or stone into the mix. No matter the material of choice your carport piers have to be strong enough to take the roof frame and the roofing material. I recommend that they be strong, decorative, easy to paint and easy to access and maintain.

The last choice in carport construction specifications is the flooring. You could use a cheap material, but I would recommend a solid and attractive flooring choice. and these days there is significantly more choice with patterns able to be pressed into the wet cement. However if your want a really tasteful look I can recommend brick paving highly.