Carport verses Garage

OK. You may recall that a little while ago I mentioned that we were thinking about installing a two-car garage. Well, in shopping around we are finding that this garage thing is pretty spendy. On the other hand a carport could be a lot cheaper and possibly do the same job.

The obvious difference between the two is that one is completely closeable and thereby lockable. But depending on what you want to do with the space, this may not be that big of a deal.

In our case, we are looking for a space in which we can park our cars off the street and have them covered. For this purpose the carport would definitely work just fine. The other thing is that a carport is a lot cheaper. A two-car garage will probably cost at least $12,000. You may be able to do a carport for about $2,000 depending on the materials that you use.

Another potential selling point for a carport will depend on your zoning laws. In some areas a carport is not considered permanent. What this means is that you can pretty much install a carport most anywhere you choose. This could be right next to the sidewalk or right on your property line. A garage is considered more permanent and must be a certain distance from the street and property lines. Again, make sure to check with you local planning or zoning commission.

You can also, probably, enclose three of the four walls. So can can set it up to where your vehicles are fairly protected from the elements. You can also run an extension cord out to your carport if you so choose.

For the most part, the big difference is that a carport cannot be locked up and cannot be completely enclosed (from what I've been able to tell). If these are not big deals then you may want to consider the money savings of a carport over a garage if you are thinking of putting one in.

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