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Old 07-22-2013, 04:12 PM   #1
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Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

Hi all,

I am looking for some help/leads on a project to put a roof over by Sprinter Van. I have narrowed my desire to have a (attached to the house) carport cover my van for a few reasons:

1> I don't want to have to pour concrete, build another driveway behind an existing driveway, build a foundation, and build a building/carport over that existing foundation. Quotes ranged from 28k-35k, more then I want to spend.

2> My existing retaining wall is attached to the driveway with rebar and is pretty solid imho. The neighbor has some 25+ foot tall Leland’s that offer both privacy and protection from hale and the elements.

3> I don’t want a standalone aluminum / steel building on the driveway because I will lose full access to my basement, which has its own garage entry.

So ideally, having a roof attached to the house on one end, and posts attached to the concrete all on the other end seem like an ideal situation. The internet is full of pictures for “house attached carports” but I seem to have a hard time A> getting a vendor to answer their phone/emails/call me back or B> finding someone to come install one

Here is kinda a sample picture and vendor site (that won’t call me back) of what I am looking for:


Here is my poor van sitting out in the elements waiting to be covered properly.


Anyone have any suggestions / thoughts?

-Tony V

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Old 07-22-2013, 11:59 PM   #2
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

hey Tony I don't know where you live, but here are a few things to think about in adding a carport attached to your house:

zoning and lot line proximity: is that retaining wall at the edge of the drive on or near your property line? Most communities with zoning and some subdivisions have set back requirements for structures. I.E. you cant build a roof next to a property line. Check the minimum required setback with your local building or zoning official, or online at the municipal or county website.

assuming a modest sloping carport roof and beams below and clearance above the sprinter roof plus anything you might store on the roof of the van, do you have enough available height on the house side before you get to the upper window sills?

does your subdivision or HOA allow open carports?

noise: pick a roof system that won't be too noisy in heavy rains if bedrooms are near by. Also consider what it will look like from your windows above. Will it collect a lot of leaf debris?

that looks like quite a span from the house to the wall. Snow loading and wind uplift may require robust sized beams if you want that wide of a span or intermediate columns which may interfere with your existing garage access.

carport roof runoff- will that be a problem for your neighbors basement or crawlspace?

you are trying to contact I assume relatively small bulders during their busy season. Try calling early (like before 7:30) on a Monday before they head out to job sites. Fall might be easier to reach them.

PS consider adding lighting and a well located power receptacle to keep the van charged in the off season.
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Old 07-23-2013, 07:11 PM   #3
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

One way around HOA and zoning issues is to search your neighborhood to see what others have done. If they have carports and the city argues point to the ones hat you found as pre existing conditions that were allowed.
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Old 09-02-2013, 11:43 PM   #4
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

One thing that might be nice, while designing your carport, perhaps consider adding in a power pedestal and a sewage clean-out.

Don't call the clean-out a "dump station" or else every neighbor will be siccing their lawyer brigades on you, however the same exact thing called a sewage clean-out is accepted... either way, it will allow you to empty the black/grey tanks discreetly.
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Old 09-03-2013, 04:02 AM   #5
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

As an update I decided to ditch the carport idea since my offset with my neighbor was not enough to support a carport and am back to building a garage in the backyard. It won't be anything fancy but will be four walls and a tall roof for the van plus my SUP boards. I will have a small loft in the top of the garage to store my boards.

I will post pictures of the progress when we break ground.

tv
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Old 09-10-2013, 07:12 AM   #6
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

Here is the latest update on covering my van. I have some prelim drawings from my builder and have asked for something very basic with enough room to cover the van. I already have a full unfinished 1900 sq foot drive in basement to store all kinds of things so a larger outside building is just not really necessary.



I will have a small loft built in the ceiling or on the side walls for easy removal and storage of my SUP boards.



Pretty basic floor. The side door should be pretty close to the sliding door of the van for easy access.

All in all a very basic building that will protect the van from the elements.

Let me know if you guys have any thoughts / suggestions.

tv
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Old 09-10-2013, 07:07 PM   #7
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

Put in two small screened windows or high screened louvers to get some ventilation to reduce the chance of mold and mildew from putting away a wet van and the buildup of motor and fuel smells from clinging to your interior fabrics.

LIghts on the sides of the ceiling or rafters not the middle. And a plug in located at the back for shore power and one at the front for maintenance chores.

The mandoor location looks like its setup for backing the rig in versus nose first. Why bother with that hassle ? you will want to load stuff in and out of the back more than get to the engine compartment -remember this is a MB, not a service intensive Ford
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Old 10-15-2013, 10:33 AM   #8
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

As an FYI the building process will be starting this week with the site work / pouring of the new concrete driveway and foundation. I will make sure to include pictures as it is built. My biggest concern at this point is the concrete trucks destroying my existing driveway.

Thanks for your feedback Spenard! I have made the change to the existing plan for the mandoor.

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Old 10-15-2013, 01:46 PM   #9
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

thanks for the update. sounds exciting.

not sure of the distances here but wouldn't they pump the concrete to your build area rather than pour direct? That would avoid the truck being on your driveway and it's easier to control.
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Old 10-16-2013, 06:47 AM   #10
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Re: Cover my ride - Sprinter Carports/Garages and more

Is it possible to fit 9-ft wide door? Large vehicles often require mirrors to be folded in and barely fit through 8-ft door; which are sometimes just under 8-ft wide. Son-in-law has 9-ft doors and Tahoe fits but not by that much. My son is building new house and it has 10-ft single door for his full-size pickup truck. If it can be done in your building width it shouldn't affect cost much.
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