The Disadvantages of Carport Garages

Carport Garages

• Popular in the 1940s and 1950s, carports are covered structures that protect vehicles from rain and sunlight. They can be freestanding or attached to a house. A carport must be open on two sides and have garage-appropriate flooring, like cement or asphalt. The roof of most carports matches that of the house, but it can be a freestanding structure with its own unique roof. They are often found on condos and townhouses instead of garages.

Security

• Carports keep your car out of the direct path of snow and sunlight, but they don’t protect it from thieves or blowing dust. Anything you store in a carport is only as secure as it would be when leaned up against the side of your house. Not only do people have free access to items stored in your carport, but so do animals. You run the risk of having cats, rats and spiders nest in anything you place in your carport aside from your car.

Aesthetics

• Poor aesthetics can be a disadvantage of having a carport rather than a garage. With a garage, you can close the door so no one sees the mattress you are planning to take to the dump or the bicycle with a flat tire you need to fix. With a carport, everyone can see your mess. Common in townhomes, carports might be shared between two attached units. Seeing your neighbor’s junk piled up next to your car can be unattractive.

Considerations

• If you install cabinets within your carport, they must either be far too large and heavy to be carried away or else securely attached to the side of your home. Unless they lock, cabinets don’t do anything for security although they do make it look neat. Carports can be enclosed to create a standard garage, but many covenants, codes and restrictions, or CC&Rs, of condo and townhome communities forbid making that change.