Carport suggestion

jbres wrote:
gheicher-I like your idea of having them do all the framing work and roof, and then do the sides yourself and buy the sheets of metal from local supplier. How hard was it to install the side pieces yourself? I would imagine that would make a major cost savings for myself.

So as to have something to which to fasten the siding, I filled in between the vertical metal supports with 2X4s, both at the top and about 4 ft from the bottom. Fastened the 2X4s to the metal posts using L brackets and sheet metal screws.

The metal siding, actually metal roofing, was cut to length by the supplier. Special colored self drilling screws that had a waterproof washer was supplied with the panels. These screws were used to attach the siding to the 2X4s but I had to drill a small hole first when attaching the siding to the metal supports. I had to do some minor cuts at he top of some panels for the roof rafters. Also about 10" of the last panel at the end had to be trimmed. I used a reciprocating saw with a metal blade. Two sides were done this way.

The right side was a bit more complicated since I wanted clear polycarbonate panels in the center to provide more light into the interior. This required using more 2X4s and more but smaller panels.

Was able to do all the work myself, but it would be a bit easier with a helper, especially handling the larger panels. Each panel spanned a 3 ft wide area.