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How to Buy A Carport Or Garage in Texas (or anywhere else)

There are a lot of places in the world where protecting your vehicles and equipment from the weather are important, but probably none have a wider variety of damaging weather conditions than right hear in North Texas and East Texas, where our summertime temperatures regularly exceed the century mark, and hail and damaging wind are a moment to moment fact of life throughout the year.

This blog is mostly about storage buildings, that usually means portable utility buildings of the type that are built at a facility, and then shipped to you, where they are leveled and blocked up, and ready for use. They are not all used for storage, some are used for shops, or offices, or game rooms, or just about anything you can think of.

What about those times when you have something bigger to store, like a car, or a tractor, or a motor home? What if your problem isn’t storing something, but protecting something from the sun and the wind and the hail? Sometimes you might just need a building that’s a little larger than a standard size storage building. Maybe you need something like a place to park your boat. A carport, or a full scale garage might be just the thing to keep your vehicle from an extra trip or two to the body shop each year.

Steel buildings

Solid steel buildings like carports and garages can be manufactured very efficiently, and surprisingly inexpensively due to the advent of modern modular building systems. They can be cut and welded to the right size and shape before hand, based on your specific requirements, and then put together on your property in a very short time, for a very affordable price.

How to buy a carport or garage

It works something like this. You decide what width and length you want the building to be. Set down with your local dealer, and he will guide you through a process on paper. Essentially, you will be designing the building with the help of an individual who is trained to help you through.  With the basic information about the buildings size, you will be given a price for the basic carport like structure. Then, you decide whether that is suitable, or whether more might need to be added.

Accessories

There are:

• Leg extension

• Braces

• Gable ends

• Enclosed Sides

• Enclosed ends

• Roll up doors

• Walk in doors

• Windows

• Storm anchors

And even a few other things.

If you want longer legs on the building, they can be added for a small cost. If you want the sides completely enclosed, simply say so, and the cost of adding sides can be added in. If you want to add ends, to completely, or partially enclose the structure, the cost of those can be added in as well.

Of course, if you close all four walls, you will have to have a door to get into the structure. You will then choose the type and size of the door, or doors, add any windows you want, and at some point you will be asked about such things as extra bracing, storm anchors and other accessories. Just have them add what you want.

What you will have

In the end, you will have your customized, personalized building designed and ready to be built on your property. When you are asked about the ends of the buildings, don’t be too surprised at the cost. It costs more to enclose an end than a side, because the ends add extra framing that the sides already have. Most modern modular systems are built with steel. These will be galvanized steel rails, with galvanized steel sheeting which is given a very meticulous paint job and usually carries a “rust through” warranty for 20 years or more.

Most storage buildings require little in the way of upkeep, but like all structures they will benefit from a little attention, and will offer longer, better service and help to preserve your investment. Just add these inspection items to your lawn, garden and home exterior maintenance program, for spring and fall if you like.

Start with inspection.

A brief, periodic inspection of the building is a good place to start. Check for such things as:

• Roof and corner damage.

• Door operation.

• Window operation.

• Weather stripping.

• “Levelness”.

If a door or window is not opening or closing properly, the reason could be that the building is no longer level. A minor shift could cause a corner to sag, which could, in turn cause a wall to be out of square. When this happens, the first sign could be a sticky door or window. If this is the case, use a standard spirit level to check, and adjust the shims where needed to bring it back to level.

Moisture can be another problem The nature of wood is to absorb moisture. When humidity is high, it can swell causing sticking problems with doors and windows.

Weatherstripping:

Degraded weather seals can allow moisture in as well. To visually check on the condition of the weather stripping, stand inside the building and look at the door. If there is an excessive amount of light coming in around the door, there is a chance that it might need to be replaced. Moist or discolored spots around the door, or door framing is another indicator.

Cleaning:

Keeping your storage building clean will extend its life. Pay particular attention to the roof of the building and such problems as fallen tree branches. Tree branches on the roof of your building can cause other debris to build up , which can cause moisture problems, which can in turn degrade the roof, or weigh it down to the point of sagging. I have seen debris collect on the top of a storage building  for long enough for a tree to grow a foot tall in the soil of the gathering debris! This can also cause insect problems in your storage building.

The same is true of the bottom of your building. If you have dirt building up as mounds, or small dirt trails coming up the blocks, termites could become a problem.

When the exterior walls of the building get grungy, you can clean them with some water and mild soap, using a soft bristle brush, and a garden hose for rinsing. Do not use abrasives that could damage the paint, and cause future problems with corrosion.

Other concerns:

If you find loose screws in the siding, you can “snug” them back in place, adding a little silicone caulk around the threads and head of the screw is also helpful. Just make sure they are snug, and don’t strip the threads.