Building a cover for future TT

[mikeschu42]

I'm hoping to buy a new TT in the spring. Working on getting our site prepped, and was considering putting up a sort of car port to keep it protected. The site is an acre of land that we own at a local lake - we will use the TT as a weekend get-away, and occasionally take it on camping trips.

I'm thinking about building a simple sloped roof, open sides, that would cover the TT. The TT we're looking at is 37' overall length. So, if I build the roof, how much of a span can I get away with to avoid having posts in the front, preventing me from opening the awning or outdoor kitchen? What do folks do at permanent sites?

[westend]

mikeschu42 wrote:
No HOA or building permits required at my site for open structure such as carport. I'm looking to go very low cost with this... I recently found a stack of 10 38' roof trusses on the local craigslist for $free$!, so that will be the basis of the roof. I've had to clear a bunch of fairly tall and straight trees from the site, so I'm really wanting to use the logs for the posts and beams. Either corrugated metal roofing or plywood and shingles, whichever can be found cheaper. I realize this is a bit unorthodox, and I'm not expecting it to last forever, but hopefully I can put something together that will keep the TT out of the direct sun and most of the weather.

Do you know a local with a sawmill? These guys will cut your timber for not much money. I'd suggest to anchor your log posts (a few ways to do this) and if you can't mill the beams, attach a lumber ledger. Anything attached to round post and beam will be more difficult than flat, square surfaces. And please, observe conventional span spacing with roof trusses. If you try to cheat using larger spans, it could be a real problem later. You can always buy a few trusses that replicate your freebies.

[gheicher]

See my metal shelter at My campers website.

[dadmomh]

Free! Free is good! I just took a look at our cover - about 36' or so and we have 8 posts. Surely 10 trusses should give you plenty of support. The metal roofing would probably be less $ since you might not need as heavy roofing plywood and then the metal over. You might check with some roofing companies and see if they have leftovers from jobs that they'd like to get rid of for not much $. The labor would certainly be more using shingles, and you should have tar paper under the shingles. Any connection with someone in the building design field that could give you some guidance on structure and strength? Suggestion....don't wait until July and August to do this like we did. It was a killer.

[2012Coleman]

Sounds like something they built on the reality show Mountain Men - be sure to post pics.

[mikeschu42]

No HOA or building permits required at my site for open structure such as carport. I'm looking to go very low cost with this... I recently found a stack of 10 38' roof trusses on the local craigslist for $free$!, so that will be the basis of the roof. I've had to clear a bunch of fairly tall and straight trees from the site, so I'm really wanting to use the logs for the posts and beams. Either corrugated metal roofing or plywood and shingles, whichever can be found cheaper. I realize this is a bit unorthodox, and I'm not expecting it to last forever, but hopefully I can put something together that will keep the TT out of the direct sun and most of the weather.

[dadmomh]

When thinking about the Rockyport, formerly ROOport, we were only thinking for the trailer. But since DH has the garage occupied with a complete woodworking shop and RC airplanes, there was no place for my little convertible. So we went a bit bigger, then a lot bigger. Our lot has a slope so we needed to build about a 4' retaining wall, which was a ton of work and a LOT of trips to Lowes. The rock and gravel guy became a regular visitor. Not counting all the Lowes trips and the rock and gravel guy, seems like our approx. 26' x 36' metal - installed - was just over $3,000. It is designed to withstand winds up to something I don't remember, but if they get that strong, we've got lots of problems to worry about. I asked the owner how many days it would be for installation and he laughed and said "just a few hours". Think it took the crew maybe 6 hours and it was finished. Amazing. We did consider building one with wood, etc but DH would have still been working on it if we'd chosen that route. Including the timbers for the retaining wall and WAY more fill than was estimated, we were in for about $7000 and plenty of sweat equity, but we wanted the protection for both the trailer and my car. If you consider roof damage, misc damage to the trailer and replacing a convertible top, we feel like it was a good investment. When the owner did all the measuring and pricing, he said he was making sure it was high enough so that when we got that Class C or A that we'd have plenty of clearance. NOT gonna happen. Like everything else, you start out with a plan and it grows rapidly, but it not only serves it's purpose very well, and if/when the time comes that we sell our house, we feel like it's a good feature.

[CaveRun]

I built an open carport on the side of my 2 stall garage... Its 16' wide x 25' long.

Why not get a ''metal carport'' and be done with it ?... And it will last a lifetime!... Plus, it will most likely be much cheaper in price than building one!

You can see mine in this thread:

Travel trailer covering when parked at home

[Doug33]

Make sure you leave enough space above the TT roof/sides to allow for air flow through A/C, vents and appliance exhaust.

Do you have this site rigged for utilities?

[Oasisbob]

We bought our 18 wide from Tri State Canopy a few years back. They set it up in a few hours. I could have built one but being all metal and no maintenance at a good price set well with me. No worries thus far. We have seen high winds and snow. Whatever you do I suggest going bigger and taller than you think you will need. Best of luck

[korbe]

In many jurisdictions, any structure of this nature would require it to be engineered. A structural engineer can give you many options.

[bid_time]

There is no one size fits all answer. You can span the whole 37-feet if you have the right size steel beams, rafters, posts and footings. Your answer depends on how much money you want to spend. If I were you I would look at some pole barn kits and see what you can get to work out for your particular situation. But the longer the spacing between the posts the more expensive it's going to get. And you are probably looking at a 20-foot spacing (or more).

[dadmomh]

The regulations on carports/covers are going to vary widely depending on the state or county where the site is located. If the land is in any sort of HOA type community, they may have additional regs. You would probably get more complete and accurate info by contacting the building department in that county.

We had a steel carport cover built for our TT, my convertible and DH utility trailer. It is about 26+ feet across and about 36'long. There are no posts at either the front or rear. The posts are bent to fit our specific cover are spaced about 8' apart on the sides and they go from the ground, up and over and back down to the ground on the other side. We have a gable at the rear only, the front is open. We have no restrictions in our HOA and live in the county.

[Bigbird65]

I'm interested in your project also. I think there may be some good metal kits available.