The investment in covered storage for your belongings in the winter can be an excellent investment. If you do not have a garage or need more space than you have, consider the value a carport can offer. What you’ll find is a durable, highly reliable structure that can handle just about any weather conditions with ease. Could it work for your specific needs? Here’s what you need to know.
What Is an Arrow Carport?
What is a carport able to do for you? A carport is a structure designed to provide a way to shelter vehicles or other items. Unlike a garage, a carport is typically open on all sides and features a roof overhead. That creates shade and provides protection from falling objects, rain, and UV rays. For those who need an outdoor structure, the use of these structures can be quite valuable because they are durable and provide a wide range of functional uses. Most importantly, they can be reliable throughout the year, including well into the winter months.
How Do You Use an Arrow Carport?
There are many uses for a carport. In fact, there is no limit to the number of ways you can use carports at your home or business. Though they are traditionally used for shelter for a vehicle, like a car or truck, they are versatile enough in numerous styles and sizes to fit just about any purpose. Here are some ideas on how you can use them.
- Create an outdoor office space. Whether for your employees to work or a space where you can spend time outside of your home working, an Arrow carport can work very well as an outdoor office space. It provides protection for shading. And, when the weather starts to warm up in the spring, you can feel comfortable enjoying some time outdoors.
- Out-of-season boat storage: With winter weather, it is always necessary to pull your boat out of the water, but instead of putting it into someone else’s costly storage warehouse or location, why not store it at home? Carports work as boat storage for most types of boats, depending on the size and style you select.
- Playground space: When the fall weather arrives, it can still be nice to have an outdoor space set up for the kids to play. That includes during the colder months and later in spring. You can use a carport as a cover to protect against UV rays and to keep the area rather free from snow. That way, there's plenty of room to spend some time outdoors when the weather allows for it.
- Outdoor workshop: Just because the winter months set in doesn't mean you can stop working on your projects, from repairing that collectible vehicle you just purchased to woodworking, crafting, or other activities. While a carport is not a fully waterproof solution, it can create a space for you to work outside throughout the year.
- Storage of your equipment: You can use a carport to help with the storage of all types of equipment, from lawn and tractor items to storage of your ATVs. Again, this is not watertight storage, but it is enough to help protect these pieces of equipment and vehicles from a significant buildup of snow on them.
Finding a few creative ways to use carports is easy enough to do. Just consider all of the ways that you could be using this structure to meet your ongoing needs. What you’ll find is that carports are versatile and highly functional to fit most needs with a bit of planning and organization.
Is an Arrow Carport a Good Investment?
Metal carport investments can range from very affordable to quite expensive, depending on what you buy, the size, and the quality of the product. Most of the time, an Arrow carport is going to be competitively priced and a solid investment. If you need outdoor storage or more square footage for your home or business, it's worth investing in a carport to get those benefits.
There are a few reasons why carports work well for so many people with numerous needs. These are good investments for reasons like these:
- Competitive pricing. Buying a metal carport creates space for you to work in or use, but it does not have to be expensive. Overall, the cost is controllable based on your needs. At the same time, carports are also much more affordable than the construction of a traditional, permanent garage on the home or near a business. There's no need to pay for the design, building, and maintenance that goes with a garage.
- Long lasting. Carports can last for years and provide consistent and reliable care throughout that time. It is important to buy an affordable product that fits your climate and to ensure you maintain it long term to get those benefits. Yet, most people will find these are a solid solution overall.
- Added square footage. When you don’t have a garage or enough space within your home or business, a metal carport adds square footage and usable space that you would not otherwise have. In many ways, that in itself makes it a solid purchase.
- Reduces damage. Placing a carport in your driveway creates a way to protect the value of your car, truck, RV, boat, or other valuable equipment. That means you don’t have to worry about those investments suffering damage from hail or storms.
- Adds value to the property. High quality carports add value to your home. If you plan to sell the home in a few months or years, and you do not have a garage, having a carport could help attract more buyers than if you did not have any.
Carports are a solid investment. An Arrow carport helps ensure you’re buying a quality product that will be easy to set up, use, and maintain for years to come.
Is an Arrow Carport Good to Use in the Winter?
In short, there's no reason not to use them in the winter months. These are highly durable structures that can handle most climates in the U.S. Manufacturers designed them to handle strong winds and snowfall. You will need to maintain them. During the winter months, when excessive snow falls, you also need to remove the snow from them in a safe manner to minimize any risk to the structure. Nevertheless, they are durable enough for routine use in most climates.
They Are Wind- and Snow-Load Rated
One of the misconceptions about these structures is that they cannot handle the weather. That’s not the case in most situations. When buying an Arrow carport, you will see a number of details about the product (be sure to compare them all!). That includes the snow load rating and the wind rating for the structure. This allows you to find a product that fits the type of climate in your area.
In short, many carports are highly durable and able to handle ice, snow, rain, and even blaring heat without a problem. It is important to consider what is likely to occur in your area and choose a metal carport that’s durable enough for those conditions specifically.
Key here is to compare the wind- and snow-lad ratings on these storage spaces. These ratings tell you how much snow the roof can withstand and how fast the wind can be without putting the structure at risk. They give you some insight into choosing what works for your area. These ratings make it easy to compare products.
They Can Be Enclosed
Here’s even better news. You can use a carport enclosure to help create a more year-round acceptable space to meet your needs. Enclosing a carport allows you to add three sides worth of coverage to the structure. That means you have more protection from the elements within the carport.
Most Arrow carports offer enclosure kits that are easy to install to create this type of durability. Enclosures create privacy, block out the wind, keep more of the moisture out (though they are not actually waterproof), and make it possible to create more of a usable outdoor space you can use throughout the year.
These enclosure kits are typically fabric covers treated with UV protection designed with triple layers of woven polyethylene material to make them water resistant. Though several options exist, you can add them to your Arrow carport and remove them when not needed.
How Do You Choose the Right Arrow Carport?
Finding the right carport for your home takes considering your needs, budget, and overall features best suited for the way you plan to use these structures. Some things to consider include:
- The amount of space you have dedicated to a carport, including the ideal location where you hope to position it
- Weather conditions in your area to determine the durability that you need overall
- Sizing is based not just on the space available but also on what you plan to store within it (from boats to RVs or just a few picnic tables
Take some time to check out the carport size options available for Arrow carports. That’s a good starting point to get an idea of what size you need. Then, check out the features, the wind- and snow-load rating, and the cost before making a confident purchase.