Creative Use of Carports
The addition of a carport to your home can increase the value of your home while increasing the enjoyment you and your family have in your home. If you think carports are strictly for cars then you might be able to benefit from the wide numbers of uses a carport actually has. Of course, the vast majority of carports are intended to protect vehicles from the elements. However, some creative souls are using carports in other creative ways.
I friend of mine loves to entertain. His parties are legendary. He always manages to combine the right guests and food and his parties, big and small are always raved about. He lives on the west coast and regularly laments that he can't trust the weather to cooperate with his party planning. This conundrum is experienced by many that live in British Columbia, Washington State, or Oregon State. In a flash of party planning brilliance he added a double wide carport to the side of his house!
I don't think my carport has seen more than 5 days worth of car storage in it's life. Instead I used a really cheap and fast carport kit to build myself a fabulous outdoor entertainment area. I ran a garden hose to a sink and hooked up one of those nifty Lee Valley Tools tap extenders, and ran the drain to one of my flower beds. Roll in my stainless steel bar-b-q, and I have the most convenient kitchen in the great outdoors that I could ever wish for.
Carports can come in all sorts of different varieties. The most common type of carport is the one that attached to the side of your home or to the side of another structure. These types of carports generally have a single slop roof or a flat roof. The decision to have a flat roof allows you the potential to build a second story on top of the car port.
There are also free standing carports or stand alone carports. These structures are generally constructed away from the home and are generally used to store seasonal vehicles like RVs or farm equipment. Some creative souls have constructed free standing carports for use as picnic shelters. In this manner the carport is used much like a gazebo.
The creative use of a carport can really extend the living space of your house. With a few tweaks and special planning the carport could be used for vehicle storage during some months and used as living space during some other months. Consider adding a carport to your home - 21393
I friend of mine loves to entertain. His parties are legendary. He always manages to combine the right guests and food and his parties, big and small are always raved about. He lives on the west coast and regularly laments that he can't trust the weather to cooperate with his party planning. This conundrum is experienced by many that live in British Columbia, Washington State, or Oregon State. In a flash of party planning brilliance he added a double wide carport to the side of his house!
I don't think my carport has seen more than 5 days worth of car storage in it's life. Instead I used a really cheap and fast carport kit to build myself a fabulous outdoor entertainment area. I ran a garden hose to a sink and hooked up one of those nifty Lee Valley Tools tap extenders, and ran the drain to one of my flower beds. Roll in my stainless steel bar-b-q, and I have the most convenient kitchen in the great outdoors that I could ever wish for.
Carports can come in all sorts of different varieties. The most common type of carport is the one that attached to the side of your home or to the side of another structure. These types of carports generally have a single slop roof or a flat roof. The decision to have a flat roof allows you the potential to build a second story on top of the car port.
There are also free standing carports or stand alone carports. These structures are generally constructed away from the home and are generally used to store seasonal vehicles like RVs or farm equipment. Some creative souls have constructed free standing carports for use as picnic shelters. In this manner the carport is used much like a gazebo.
The creative use of a carport can really extend the living space of your house. With a few tweaks and special planning the carport could be used for vehicle storage during some months and used as living space during some other months. Consider adding a carport to your home - 21393

