3 Ways to Maximize Your Investment in a Carport

If you wish to create some extra space for storing vehicles and other items on your property, you might consider creating a carport.

Carports are more affordable than adding on a garage, and they’re already a popular solution for vehicle storage in many parts of the United States, especially areas that have generally warm climates throughout most of the year. They’re also a relatively easy add-on solution if you already have a garage or primary carport and need some additional space.

Benefits of a carport

• Protection from the elements: The most obvious benefit of using a carport is that it will give your vehicle or equipment protection against the rain, sun, snow and hail. Even if your carport is not fully enclosed, at the very least it will have a roof to give you the protection you need to keep your vehicle in good condition.
• Additional storage In addition to serving as spots to park your vehicle, carports can also provide you with some additional storage space for other items, including landscaping tools and equipment, lawn mowers, ATVs, motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats or other items.
• Shaded space: On hot, sunny days, you can clear vehicles out of the carport and use it as a shaded space that allows you to enjoy the outdoors but with a bit more comfort.
• Added value: When well-designed, a carport can add considerable value to your home, which is important if you are planning on selling at any time in the near future.
• Security: Carports provide shelter and security for vehicles and equipment from potential vandalism or burglary. When located close to or attached to the home, people are much less likely to go into a carport than if you’re parked on the street.

Getting the most out of your carport

Another great benefit of carports is that they are highly versatile. You can find many ways to customize them to fit your needs and give you some additional functionality beyond their ability to keep your vehicles and equipment protected from the elements.

Here are several examples of some popular methods of customizing carports and increasing both their practical and financial value.

Solar carports

A carport offers some additional roofing space, which means more opportunity for adding solar panels.

One popular approach is to create an overhead solar canopy rather than mounting solar panels on to the existing structure. The benefit of this approach is there is less of a footprint—you don’t need additional space like you would with a ground-mount solar panel. A solar carport will typically feature a slanted roof in one direction, an angle or curve in a single direction toward a flat surface or a very slight angle, all of which are options that provide shading and coverage to vehicles underneath while also getting the most possible sunlight.

This approach also eliminates issues with limitations due to the roof angle or orientation with the carport, because the panels themselves act as the structure’s roof.

Storage racks

Depending on the configuration and design of your carport, you may have some additional opportunities to set up storage racks for better organization of your equipment and items.

One popular storage option is to purchase bike hooks for storage up on walls. This frees up quite a bit of floor space, as leaning bikes up against the carport wall can clog up your walkways and limit your ability to store other items.

There are other types of racks, shelves and hooks you can easily set up on carport walls that can be used to store kayaks, garden tools, hardware, ladders, baskets or boxes of items and other random odds and ends that might otherwise be strewn around your carport or property.

If you have a garage or carport already and find yourself running out of space for storage, this additional storage ability will be one of the greatest benefits of adding a new carport, and that storage is completely customizable based on your specific needs.

Overhead storage

Overhead storage functionality is also important for maximizing the benefit and value of your carport. Items that get stored overhead tend to be things that don’t get used quite as frequently, but still need to be within arm’s reach. Examples could include tires, car parts, camping equipment and seasonal decorations.

The great thing about overhead storage systems in carports is that they can be highly complementary with other storage solutions, including shelving, freestanding racks and cabinetry.