Melbourne Carports – A Quick & Easy Way for Buying the Best Carport for Melbourne Homes.
Do you live in the city of Melbourne or surrounds? Are you looking to buy a carport, but not sure how to start or go about it?
We can certainly help you with whatever you need.
Here are some of the things you need to know first:
Which carport is right for me?
Before choosing a carport, you need to ask yourself some initial questions – what am I using the carport for, and am I also looking to improve the appearance of my house and add value to it. The answers to these questions lies in choosing the right size and buying the best design for your situation.
How a Carport Can Increase the Value of Your Melbourne Property
There are several ways a carport can increase the value of your property. Firstly, it adds more undercover protection for your cars and vehicles. If you ever list your property for sale, it will always be more valuable if you have more car accommodation. Secondly a carport can serve as a multi use space, not just to protect vehicles. It can add an extra dimension to your property.
How to Choose the Right Carport for Your Melbourne Home
The first question is what do you need the carport for? – Is it for protecting cars or a boat or a caravan/motorhome? Will it be used for storage or an entertaining area? Answering this question will give you a much better idea of the type of carport you are looking for.
Size Considerations
Again, this comes back to what do you want the carport for. Is it for one car or two cars or a large motorhome? What you need it for largely determines the size.
Here are terms used in carport sizes:
Depth/Span – this is essentially the side in which the roof slopes or falls
Width/Length – this will be the other side to the depth or span
Height – We work on the clearance height of a carport as this is the most helpful and practical way.
Is the Carport High Enough? Make sure the height is enough to clear your vehicle. If you are thinking of buying a higher vehicle in the future, make some allowance for this as well. There can be restrictions by some councils on the maximum height allowed.
Width and Length
Make sure there is enough space so you can not only park the car, but also open your doors to get in and out. Ideally the length needs to be enough to cover the vehicle, with some extra in case of driving rain. Possible exceptions are sometimes caravans where the draw bar assembly is maybe not a s important, but cover it if you have the space.
Wind Region Specifications
Make sure that the carport you buy meets and surpasses your local wind conditions. Factors such as the wind region, terrain category, shielding and wind speed must be specified in the engineering. We can help to determine these for you and offer a comprehensive free quote on your carport, which includes those details.
Excalibur carports also provide full site specific engineering with every carport supplied in the Melbourne area.
Material Quality
Not all carports use the same steel. Look for a carport made from quality Australian made steel such as Bluscope Lysaght. Australian made steel from Lysaght has been tested for local conditions in all weather events. It’s strength is far greater than imported steel and the Colorbond coating lasts for many years.
We have national agreements with Lysaght and only use their steel for our carports.
Tip: How to Find Genuine Colorbond Steel For Your Melbourne Carport
Colorbond is the best finish you can get. The simple way to find out if it’s genuine Colorbond steel is by the names of the colours. All Colorbond names are trademarked, preventing steel suppliers from using them. Also look for the etched lettering on the back of the material.
Carport Designs
With the wide variety of house designs now available in Melbourne, it’s important to find something to match your home. To complement this, we offer all the different carport designs so that your carport will match your house and seem like it was always there. The carports work well in many houses in Melbourne, from federation to modern plans, and they do this at affordable prices.
Look to match the roof shape of the carport to your house
Add some customising to the carport to match your house – paint the posts, timber clad them or even brick around them. Change the cladding in the gable or dutch gable infills. There’s also some more advanced options available such as adding a panel door or a ceiling.
Solar Panel Integration with Carports: A Growing Trend in Melbourne
More people are looking to ease their living costs and a lower electricity bill is one way to do that. So if you could buy a carport that is also capable of supporting solar panels, then you could protect your vehicles and have the ability to save on your power bill as well. Solar panels can also give you a level of self sufficiency in case of power outages (mainly during daylight of course).
Things to Check before buying a Solar Panel Ready Carport:
Work out which carport design you will use
Find out the capacity of the solar panel system and the overall roof area you will need to fit all the panels in. From there you will then know what size carport you’ll need.
If possible, orientate the carport so that it will pick up the most sunlight.
The Ultimate Guide to Carport Materials: What works best in Melbourne
Carports can be made from several different materials, but what will give you the most benefits long term.
The materials have to be strong and last a long time. The whole structure also needs to go together easily and look good when finished. In our experience, we believe steel is the best material for carports.
Strength Wise, it’s hard to go past steel.
For longevity, again steel is the best choice. It does not rot or lose strength as it ages.
As mentioned earlier, Melbourne is a fire prone area and this is something you need to think about. The fact that steel is not combustible makes it an ideal material to use. Therefore an all steel carport is the way to go.
Top 12 Benefits of Installing an Excalibur Carport in Melbourne
- Our Carports are Locally Made in Melbourne
- Australian Made Steel
- Everything is Included
- Site Specific Engineering is Included to suit Melbourne conditions
- Delivery to all areas of Melbourne
- Expert Advice and Technical Support available
- Full Range of Genuine Colorbond colours
- Almost Limitless Range of Sizes including Custom sizing
- Carports to suit car, boats, caravans and motorhomes
- Made as a true Do It Yourself Kit
- Coloured Screws as standard for Roof and Trim
- Custom design options such as solar panel support, infills, door support
Navigating Melbourne Council Regulations for Carport Approval
There are 2 ways to apply for council approval of your carport. The first is to approach the council directly yourself.
The second is to engage a private building surveyor to handle the approval process for you. Based on experience and feedback from other customers, it is strongly recommended that you choose a private building surveyor to get your carport in Melbourne approved. There are several reasons for this. Getting your carport approved is what they do as a profession. They usually know the right people to talk to at the council. They can process the paperwork quicker. Doing it this way is a lot easier for you. See if you can find someone local who has experience with carport type structures. Most are very competent at what they do. The council also requires full engineering documentation to show your carport is legally designed. This is where we can help you more, as every carport we supply includes site specific engineering that complies to all current standards.
Do You Need Council Approval?
In most cases, Carports require some sort of approval from the local council. So it’s a good idea to check before ordering and building. There can be exceptions, but these are in the minority.
For your information, here is also a list of Councils in the central Melbourne area, & there are many:
- Banyule City Council
- Bayside City Council
- Boroondara City Council
- Brimbank City Council
- Cardinia Shire Council
- Casey City Council
- Darebin City Council
- Frankston City Council
- Glen Eira City Council
- Greater Dandenong City Council
- Hobsons Bay City Council
- Hume City Council
- Kingston City Council
- Knox City Council
- Manningham City Council
- Maribyrnong City Council
- Maroondah City Council
- Melbourne City Council
- Melton Shire Council
- Monash City Council
- Moonee Valley City Council
- Moreland City Council
- Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
- Nillumbik Shire Council
- Port Phillip City Council
- Stonnington City Council
- Whitehorse City Council
- Whittlesea City Council
Once you know what you need and you know where you stand with council approval, it’s time to find the best carport for your situation. As long term specialists in carports, we believe we can help you to find the ideal solution.
The Role of Carports in Melbourne’s Bushfire Prone Areas
The history of bushfires in and around the Melbourne area is well known to locals, and this is definitely something to consider when ordering a carport.
To minimiseYou still need to clean and maintain your carport regularly. Make sure to keep the roof and gutter clear of leaves, as they are combustible and can lead to ember fire risk etc.
If you are diligent with cleaning the roof and gutters on your carport as well as your house, it can help to minimise risk of fire on your property.
Please note that we specialise in carport kits. We are not bushfire experts and we highly recommend that you talk with your local CFA (Country Fire Authority) about ways to minimise fire risk.
The Tools You Will Need to Build Melbourne Carport
You will need some basic tools to make the installation job easier. These include a cordless drill or screw gun, tin snips, tape measure, spirit level, rivet guns and a socket set. Aerial equipment such as ladders, trestles or scissor lift also help. Note: Always put safety first when building. For more information read the article on Tools Needed to Build your Carport.
Where are the Carports Made in Melbourne?
The main Melbourne manufacturing plant is in Dandenong South, so all the carports are manufactured locally from Australian made Bluescope Lysaght steel. Some companies advertise that they manufacture your product here in Australia. However, this does not mean that they are using Australian steel. As mentioned above, we only use and recommend genuine steel from Bluescope Lysaght. Once all the components are made, everything is consolidated and professionally wrapped, ready for delivery.
Delivery Locations
Every area is covered in and around the city of Melbourne and surrounds. Daily runs are carried out, so once your carport is made and wrapped, it is delivered to your door very soon after that. Site drops are done with both fixed body (tray) trucks as well as semi-trailers. All trucks have cranes to unload the steel onto your site. It’s always best if someone is present at the time of delivery to answer any questions from the driver.
Delivery Area for Carports Melbourne – All of Melbourne, Eastern Suburbs, Geelong, east to Sale VIC, north to Albury and Wodonga, west to Horsham, and south to Phillip Island.
Once You Receive Your Carport
After all the steel has been delivered, we encourage you to first check off the bill of materials and make sure everything is there.
Remember, if you have questions during the build, feel free to call us. We are always happy to help.
Cleaning and Maintaining Your Melbourne Carport
There is usually only a little amount of work needed to maintain your carport
Firstly, regularly clean out the gutters. This will ensure that the rain water will drain away, as well as extending the life of the guttering. Periodically wash the roof down to remove dirt and built up contaminants such as diesel dust. Again, this will extend the life of the roof.
So if you are looking for a supplier of Carports to Melbourne, give us a call or send us an email with what you need and we’ll be happy to help. You can contact us on 1300 011 191 or for carport prices, simply go to the carport quote page and fill in the details.
Kind Regards,
Ashley Fraser