0 Skillion Carport Kits – getting the roof fall direction right

Attention: Before ordering your skillion carport kit-

make sure the roof is sloping the right way for you and the guttering is on the side you want it to be.

To some people this may not sound likea big deal, but don’t get caught out ordering a carport kit then finding out the roof is not falling the right way for your house or site.

Here are a few important factors to remember:

Check which way the roof falls – The roof sheets usually fall across the width or span of a skillion carport. This is how an engineer will usually look at it.

Check which side the guttering is on – the gutttering will be at the low end of the carport so that the water from the roof sheets can be collected and sent to the downpipe.

When you fill out the enquiry form with Excalibur Carports to get a quote, we will assume the width to be the side that the roof sheets will fall across

ie. a 6m wide carport will have it’s highest point at one end of the 6m, with the low end being at the other end of the 6m

Just a little of time working out the orientation of your skillion carport can avoid any possible problems and ensure your carport goes up as you want it to.

We hope this helps. If you need any more information, please call or email us and we’d be glad to assist you with your carport kit.

Warm regards,

Keith and Ashley
Excalibur Carports

0 Skillion Carport Kits – Selecting the right height

Warning – make sure your skillion carport kit has enough height to fit your vehicles, boat, caravan etc.

One thing that many people do not realise when ordering  a skillion or flat roof type carport – different systems and designers have different ways to measure the height.

Some of the options are:

• The highest point of the carport – to the top of the roof at the high end
• Clearance height at the high end
• Clearance at the low end
• To top of frame at the low end

The difference between the height at the high end and the  height at the low end will depend on several factors including:

• Amount of  roof pitch – depending on the roof sheet profile
• Size of frame being used – this depends on the size of the structure and the wind rating required

As a simple example, a 6m Skillion carport that is listed as 2.4m high could have a height of 2.4m at the top of the frame at the high end or a clearance of 2.4m at the low end. It makes a big difference – if the 2.4m was measured at the high end the carport’s clearance at the low end would end up being under 2m, which is not practical in a lot of cases.  if the 2.4m was measured as a clearance at the low end the carport’s height at the high end may be too high for the house or site (very possibly over 3m).

As you can see it’s obvious that you ensure the carport kit has the correct height.

If you have any questions regarding the height of your DIY skillion carport before ordering,  check with us here at Excalibur Carports and we give you the information you need to get the right height for your carport kit.

0 Installing diy carports on sloping driveways

Installing a diy carport on a sloping driveway

In a few cases, people have a sloping driveway and are not sure how they can build a diy carport kit over it. Well the solution is a simple one as long as you adhere to a couple of requirements:

1. Design the carport to the highest point from the ground level

– in the case of a carport, this will usually mean the posts and what size is needed to support the whole structure.
eg. if the carport is 2.4m high at one end and the driveway slopes away so that it is 3m high at the other end, the carport will need to be engineered to support a 3m height.

2. You must concrete the posts directly into the ground

– yes I know it would be handy sometimes if you could just fix some footing plates to the existing concrete/footings, but as the footing plates are designed for a 90 degree connection for their strength, they just won’t work. The solution is to either straddle the existing driveway so that the posts go into the ground either side of the concrete, or simply cut some squares out of the concrete, drill the holes, and then concrete the posts in. The result is cleaner to look at, stronger in terms of the structure, and you won’t be kicking your toes on any footing plates.

Handy Tip: Dowel into the existing concrete slab as well, so that the footings and slab will not move independently, causing high spots and trip factors.

So if you have a sloping driveway and need a carport, click on the quote link below and we’ll find a solution for your needs.