OK. Had enough of rolling the car out into the rain to work on it. Would like to be able to roll it out of the garage and still work in the
dry(ish)
Want a locost solution to building a car port (ideally plans and timber list)
Area to be covered is approx 3m x 6.5m with the 6.5m being the side of the house.
Budget - ideally not more than £200!
[Edited on 9/1/11 by stevebubs]
Oh - and am unlikely to be able to dig holes - so need to be able to fix whatever uprights there are onto a concrete base.
Rough picture of area below. The path on the right is roughly level and intrudes into my property so guess it is best to use that for the uprights -
the drive itself slopes up to the garage at about 5 degree angle.
[Edited on 9/1/11 by stevebubs]
[Edited on 9/1/11 by stevebubs]
[Edited on 9/1/11 by stevebubs]
I'd use some Metpost bolt down post fixings like these to anchor to the concrete path then fit your timber posts. Available from Screwfix,
Jewson and so on for little £.
Yeah, met posts, tantalised timber, couple of big bolts, plastic corrugated sheet, done. Weekends work at most if you work fast and havea seonc person to hand.
I'd pour epoxy or other form of PU sealer in the post bracket when inserting the wood if you don't want the bottom of it to start rotting
(as it'll always be sucking in the wet). This will seal the bottom of the wood.
Another trick you can do is char the end with a blowtorch.
Even treated wood will suck in moisture by capilary action which won't do it any good after a few years.
Ok....so that's the base fixings sorted....what about the structure itself?
[Edited on 10/1/11 by stevebubs]
Oh and dont forget you will have to clear extra heavy snow off it.......other wise 
You'll need something like 3" x 1.5" or even 4" x 2" for mega strength. As mentioned you'll need 3" x 3"
fencing posts (you'll get away with 6' tall and slope up to the house so it runs rain away from the house)
If you space your posts at about 6' then sloping timber away from the house then put the cross beams 90deg (full length) and space them around
4' (or 4' ish to make them meet joins in the roof sheeting).
Should be simples enough
Thanks
Dan
EDIT: you could space your posts 5' and then use 2" x 2" for the long runners. Might save a bit of cash if it's a bit tight
[Edited on 10/1/11 by dan8400]
Plans here for an attached, or detached version.
http://www.buildeazy.com/carport.html
http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/article.asp?article_id=60455
If you use a metpost, put a solid pad under the wood post to stop it being sat in the damp.
I'd use 3"x3" tanalised posts in metal bases.
3"x2" bolted to house wall full length of the carport and along top of posts then 3"x2"
to form the joists to support your roofing material.
Twinwall PVC roof sheets and a length of gutter to finish off.
Have to do a fair bit of scavaging to do it for £200 though..............................................
...................but then again you can build a car for £250 !
The £200 is a bit optimistic, but not a million miles away.
I would suggest 4x2 timbers, I did, and it has not suffererd in 12 years.
I used rawlbolts to attach a length of timber to the wall of the house, sorted the posts at 2m intervals with those bolt-down feet. Make sure distance
from house to posts is correct to give a reasonable fall, and also allow you to use 3m long sheets of roofing. And don't forget to make it so the
garage door will open
I used mini joist hangers extensively
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/63868/Building/Builders-Metalwork/Speedy-Hanger-Mini-50mm-x-65mm-Pack-of-10
they make the job MUCH faster. Some ends can just be nailed through (dont use screws) And if you can borrow a chop saw, that makes accurate cutting
very quick (I did mine with a handsaw, but now have a chopsaw, brilliant)
Don't forget to fix the open side to the garage or something solid so that it will not collapse if hit or storms etc. Otherwise put some
triangulation down the side.
Def worth paying the extra for treated timber, and use a preserver on cut ends especially on the ends of the uprights. I soaked mine for a few hours
rather than just painting it on.
You also need to think about a gutter and where the runoff will go.
Good point. Some neighbours get a bit sniffy if your run-off goes onto their property!! lol
Dan
A good trick with posts is to drill a hole near the bottom at 45deg down. Then you can pour in some cresote equivelent every year.
Whatever you use, the best bet is always find a good timber yard. The cost is much less (most of them anyway) than places like Wickes etc. I find
Jewson really expensive!
I built a stable block 24' x 12' for 2 horses from plans I drew up myself. The kits were going for around £2500 to self-build, but I built
it for around £1400 sourcing the wood and using my own plans. It's been moved once an is still standing strong 
quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
Calling carpenters!
quote:
Originally posted by stevegough
quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
Calling carpenters!
Do you mean this....?
Carpenters
My brother has just built himself a carport and he is the king of everything locost. Randomly he rang round all the local HGV companies and scrounged a curtain side from a HGV. He has screwed it over the top of the support joists using batons. Its waterproof and it lasts years. Sadly however the lorry that the curtain sider came from was sponsored by nissan and he has a huge nissan logo in the roof. It is however locost.
Assuming I'm not too fussed about natural light (I'm not), what other options would you recommend for roofing..? Only 2 constraints are that it will need to look OK...and be cheap!
We are soon to be re-roofing my dads car port/wooden garage so that i can store our mini in it to save me 50 quid a month on council garage rent.
It has corrugated clear roofing which after 15 years has finally started to leak. We are replacing with the corrugated green stuff from wickes and
just adding 2 clear panels to help put a bit of daylight in there. I figure if the clear stuff lasted 15 years, the green stuff should atleast match
that and may look better too, its about 15 quid per sheet.