Carport advice?

[hunter S]

Aaahh come on now! we won't need to wash our cars in the future....I "hope" but "fear" you may be right!

at any rate I like the 06 concept!

[geekster]

Now where do I find an art deco carport?

[R1Z]

Be very cautious if you're only anchoring with the "feet." Some attach with only a thumbscrew, and some are plastic. Either way, with the right wind, you could end up with well-anchored feet still attached firmly to the ground while the canopy goes airborne.

It's always best to guy a structure from somewhere higher than the feet. I attach guy lines to the "couplers" or "corners" (look like "jacks" and connect the legs to the horizontals and the rafters.) Run your guy lines to a point in line with the sidewalls, equidistant between two legs. The diagonal guy lines keep the sidewalls from flapping over much, and the upper portion of the whole thing, which is the part that makes the best sail, is attached to the ground.

[AntiM]

Even with guy wires we still nail down the feet in order to keep them from dancing around and digging dust puddles.

[Steven bradford]

I've found that pounding in steel fence stakes, the kind used on farms for barbed wire or chicken wire, next to the poles, and then wrapping wire around both, really anchors these down nice, and gives extra strenght to the poles, up 3 or four feet, as high as the stake. Seems to work better than guy wires, and nothing to trip over.

[ibdave]

I've found that pounding in steel fence stakes, the kind used on farms for barbed wire or chicken wire, next to the poles, and then wrapping wire around both, really anchors these down nice, and gives extra strenght to the poles, up 3 or four feet, as high as the stake. Seems to work better than guy wires, and nothing to trip over.

Been doing 3foot rebar/concret stakes right next to the legs and duct tape the 2 together for 6 years. Never had one issue.. When done cut the tape and twist the stake with Vise Grips to pull out..

No guy wires to trip on..

[R1Z]

I've found that pounding in steel fence stakes, the kind used on farms for barbed wire or chicken wire, next to the poles, and then wrapping wire around both, really anchors these down nice, and gives extra strenght to the poles, up 3 or four feet, as high as the stake. Seems to work better than guy wires, and nothing to trip over.

Until the wind lifts the whole roof structure off the tops of the legs and blows it away. Remember that the wind creates lift blowing across the plane of the stretched tarp membrane. My canopy just slides into the couplers and onto the legs. Friction and gravity are what hold the roof onto the tops of the legs.

Always attach guy lines to the same member the tarp bunji balls attach to, so that the roof itself is anchored to the ground.

[ibdave]

R1Z Wrote:
Until the wind lifts the whole roof structure off the tops of the legs and blows it away. Remember that the wind creates lift blowing across the plane of the stretched tarp membrane. My canopy just slides into the couplers and onto the legs. Friction and gravity are what hold the roof onto the tops of the legs.

Always attach guy lines to the same member the tarp bunji balls attach to, so that the roof itself is anchored to the ground.[/quote]



The costco carports attach the roof to the legs with pins.
Have not seen one floating across the playa yet.. Don't mean that it hasn't.

[Steven bradford]

Experience trumps theory.

[AntiM]

I saw a carport fall to pieces at a regional. They hadn't secured the roof; once the wind slammed it sideways, one joint let go and then it shook apart every roof joint and the flapping roof tarp tore itself up. Yes the feet stayed on the ground, but that was about all that did.

This was several hard gusts and then an afternoon of sustained winds and an unattended carport.

Everyone's experience differs, as do models of carports.

[serafaery]

I suggested the costco carport to a campmate as a potential way for us to gain shelter for cooking/storing stuff. (Right now we have an open dome and two little tents for sleeping the three of us, so cooking/storing coolers is all out in the open and was really annoying in the wind last year.) He is concerned about the size and weight of the support structure. We only have a truck and trailer. 25 PVC pipes and rebar for the dome already takes up a lot of space and weight. He thinks the carport will be heavier and bulkier. I'd love to hear your experience of transport/weight/space issues re: the costco carpots. (I went to costco today to see if I could look at one, but I guess it's not the season for such things because there were none to be found.)

Thanks!

[diane o'thirst]

I think the one down here in Eugene has its model up year-round...haven't been in there for a few weeks, though...

The carport could be a decent replacement for the dome, unless your dome is the camp centrepiece. You could probably go without it. Personally, I've transported my carport as part of my roofload every year. I drive a midsize SUV, occasionally I haul a trailer, but you can get the carport on a 160#-capacity roofrack easily.

The carport only takes eight pieces of rebar to lock down anyway, so you can scale back your rebar load, too. And it'll last longer than PVC. It is heavier but that makes it an investment: drop $180 now, and you won't ever have to drop it again. It's easy to put up and tough as nails.

Get the Costco one, don't get the Sam's Club or GI Joe's one. Those pipes are thinner and a smaller gauge, the Costco one is virtually indestructible short of fire. I had a friend who built his, turned away for a minute without securing it down, the wind came up and rolled it for a half-mile, like a log. They chased it down and found it held together through all that.

Logistical tip: wrap the pipes in the tarps, strap the bundle closed with bungee cords, and string the connectors and feet on a length of rope to keep them together.

[diane o'thirst]

I saw a carport fall to pieces at a regional. They hadn't secured the roof; once the wind slammed it sideways, one joint let go and then it shook apart every roof joint and the flapping roof tarp tore itself up. Yes the feet stayed on the ground, but that was about all that did.

You avoid that by strapping down the soffit pipes, not the legs. There is a horizontal ridge of pipes at the top of the legs and the bottom of the roof; run rope around the tops of the leg connectors and pull the middle of the rope down to a rebar kandykane in the ground. I'll try to draw a diagram...

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[phil]

> You avoid that by strapping down the soffit pipes, not the legs.

That happened to us at this year's big dust storm. We have a four leg canopy, not the full-length carport, and we set it up, drove rebar in next to each leg, then duct-taped the legs to the rebar. Held fine, but the wind lifted the canopy off the legs on one corner. We tied each corner of the canopy to the base of each leg, but of course we never had that wind again. We'll tie the soffit to the rebar next year, though, before we duct tape the leg to the rebar.

[diane o'thirst]

Those E-Z-Up types always disintegrate out there, in any kind of wind. Only a carport and an EMT dome could have survived that hurricane.