Hey everyone,
I’m still pretty early in the planning stage of putting up a steel carport, and thought I’d ask here before I end up overthinking it too much. Right now it’s mainly about day-to-day convenience — I’ve got a pickup and a small utility trailer that just kind of live in the driveway year-round. Nothing unusual, but over time I’ve started noticing the typical stuff like paint fading faster than I expected, the truck getting absolutely cooked in the summer heat, and just general weather wear that slowly adds up when everything sits outside all year.
On top of that, I do small weekend projects around the house — basic DIY stuff like working on tools, cleaning equipment, swapping parts. Nothing serious, but enough that I’d actually use a covered space if I had one. So I’m not really trying to build a full garage or anything like that. More like a simple open structure that I’d actually find myself using instead of just parking under.
From what I’ve seen so far, a lot of people go with prefab steel setups from Carolina Carports, VersaTube, and Elephant Structures, mostly because they’re straightforward and don’t take forever to install. I’ve also noticed Garvee showing up more in the budget space lately, but I honestly haven’t seen enough real long-term installs to know how it compares.
I guess where I’m stuck is this part:
I can’t decide between 20x20 and 20x30.
20x20 sounds fine when I picture it, but I keep thinking it might feel tight once a truck is actually in there and I’m moving around it. 20x30 feels more comfortable, but I also wonder if I’m just defaulting to “bigger is better” and overbuilding it a bit for no reason… especially when cost starts adding up.
Roof style is another one I’m not really settled on. Single slope seems simple and cheaper, which is appealing, but gable keeps coming up when people talk about wind and drainage. I can’t really tell if that’s a real-world difference or just something that sounds better on paper.
If anyone’s dealt with these setups before, I’d really appreciate how you ended up deciding on size/roof — or if there’s anything you’d do differently in hindsight.
Thanks in advance.
