I have a carport that was damaged when a tree blew over on it a few years ago. It got "repaired", but the roofing was damaged and I haven't been able to afford getting it fixed. The strong winds this past week have been stripping shingles off it like crazy. Yay.
There is no way I can afford to repair the roof right now. Or probably, ever. My finances are BAD. I have considered just tearing the whole thing down, but there's a problem.
The town bullies hate carports. Others have also had problems. There is an ordinance that insists that carports can only be put behind or to the side of houses. Mine is slightly in front, in an "illegal" place.
It has been "grandfathered in", and if I choose to repair the carport, I suppose they would sell me permission to do so, but if I tear it down I won't be allowed to ever put one back in the same place- and there's no other place I can fit one (I have very little space between the back of the house and the property line, not enough for a carport, even assuming I could drive into a carport behind the house). And, in this area, you need shelter for your vehicle.
So, basically government rules have made a bad situation worse and more stressful than it would otherwise be. Thanks, statists.
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If the city government has a problem with it, ask the mayor or inspector or whoever it is how much of his or her money he or she is willing to spend fixing it.
ReplyDeleteWhy should YOU spend YOUR money on something SOMEONE ELSE wants done?
They haven't complained yet. I'm more worried about damage to my vehicle. But, yes, if they complain I'll suggest they take up a donation so I can fix it to their satisfaction.
DeleteNote to readers- A steady 45 mph wind is considered a "spring breeze" in Kent's part of the world. Not a fun place to be roof or tree, or a human trying to protect either.
DeleteYeah, and that's on days without storms or clouds. One of the weather.com alerts we get warns about outdoor furniture and other things becoming "dangerous projectiles". And they aren't joking.
DeleteNot all the shingles I pick up are from my shed and carport- some come from neighbors. Some plywood from a house roof across the street was in a neighbor's tree for a few days- but I guess it blew to a new place because it is gone now.
More and more people are going to the metal roofing, which (as long as it is properly installed, and the building underneath doesn't fall apart) just never goes bad. There are 50+ year-old buildings with the original "tin roof" all around town. Shingles were never a good idea hereabouts, partly because of the occasional softball-sized hail (which keeps hitting east of town).
That said, for something like a car port, you might be able to do it yourself fairly cheaply. It's not like the world is going to end if you use cheap shingles and it isn't totally waterproof. Offhand if you don't have to replace the plywood underneath, you can probably cover it for a buck per square foot, maybe even less.
ReplyDeleteI definitely would try to fix it myself-- although I am sick to death of doing carpentry-type things right now. Because I completely suck at it, but I keep getting roped into doing it anyway.
DeleteI couldn't use shingles without replacing the plywood, but if I could get metal roofing, I think I could ignore the rotted plywood and just screw it to the rafters. They are still OK.
It's been a long time since I've done a roof with it, but if you wanted to go with corrugated roofing you might go with plastic rather than metal. I built a "carport-style" roof over a walk-in freezer behind a restaurant a few decades ago using that and it seemed to work out well. Probably cheaper too.
DeleteI'd need to look into it and see if it would hold up to our winds. Many years ago a friend used fiberglass corrugated roofing and I didn't like how poorly it aged. The newer stuff might last better now, though.
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