What is a Carport?

A carport is basically a covered structure used to offer weather protection to cars or camping cars or vehicles of that size.

The carport design depends on each client’s requirements, these include the completed size, the type of property to which it is attached (or is near) and the type of motor vehicle that is to be covered. The budget, as in the cost and overall prices, are affected by the design, wind and snow loading for the site address, any permissions required such as planning and building regulation… the list goes on. It is important to receive good advice to achieve the required outcome. At 123v plc. we pride ourselves on giving the best guidance on carports, car canopies and all types of covered parking shelters.

The best designed carport for your property will vary, here are some of the product choices:

Traditional Carport

Traditional carports are lean to carports, bolted on to the existing house, bungalow or garage. Posts are bolted on to an existing base, if suitable, or new foundations are built to suit. In most cases, half the loading for wind and/or snow is to the existing structure and the other half to the ground. 123v plc has an aluminium beam section that can span up to 10.1m between posts.

Free Standing Carport

This form is not fitted to an existing structure. The free standing carport post’s are installed to foundations in the ground. Given the design, lateral restraint has to be carefully considered; this is to stop the carport folding sideways. The posts and the foundations have to be stronger to suit. Many of our canopies and carports are free standing, including three that have been fitted in the hurricane and storm zone of the Bahamas. The design wind speed for these carport structures was 147mph. The product was tested to a 50% higher loading before the first was shipped.

Cantilever Carport Canopy

The cantilever carport is fitted to an existing structure, an installation of this type does not require extra posts to be fitted to the ground. Some call this a post less or a self-supporting carport. The driveway does not need to be dug up and no obstruction is made for neighbouring property. On most installations there are no permanent posts. Depending on an area’s frequency of inclement weather conditions, we provide snow posts that can be added in the event of very heavy snow being forecast. This is a belt and braces approach. Safety is always foremost in our minds. The GRP cantilever beams have a structural grade aluminium section inside them; a measure of strength and resistance. The snow posts remove the leverage from the wall and the snow load then becomes an axle load, pressing down on the masonry which alleviates all problems. If there is no suitable structure from which to cantilever, we can use posts in the ground and cantilever off those. This is, however, an expensive design due to the specification of the columns and foundations required. We use a special section for this which is registered at the patent office. For most properties this is not required and a cantilever canopy carport can be fitted.

Glass Glazed Carport

123v plc design, manufacture and install a full range of luxury glass roofed canopy carport products.

Safety glass is used as the roofing material; the supporting structure is powder coated aluminium with the fixings in stainless steel. Most of these are fitted with posts to the ground. However, we also offer a handmade cantilever model with a range of beam infills, lighting and other features to suit the personal requirement of the client. These are the top end of the carport world – the car verandas.

There is a wide range of carports to choose from online in the 123v galleries. For further information on our extensive car canopy range, please contact us.

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