Budget car ports- any thoughts ?
Discussion
I'm in need of a stand-alone basic shelter to provide some cover for my BMW 3 series Touring down on the Algarve, Portugal. Nothing too fancy - needs to be about 6 metres length and 3.5m' ish wide. Open-sided (to avoid need for planning permission) and preferably a pitched roof. Doesn't need to be guttered, cascading water is a Portuguese way of life. Future cars will probably be similarly BMW-sized.
Its remit is to keep off the worst of the Dec. - Mar. rain and, more importantly, to provide shelter from the fierce sunlight of Jun - Sept. Heavyish winds can be a feature of the central Algarve throughout the year. No need for power/storage sheds etc.
Nothing obviously available on the Algarve in the way of the kind of traditional oak framed kits as advertised in all the glossy car mags in the UK. So one option is to import a UK building kit and get the local guys to sort out footings & erect it. However transit costs ++ and, thanks to you know what, a degree of import duty and IVA (Portuguese VAT).
However Leroy Merlin (our B&Q but cleaner, without the pilfered product packaging and serving proper coffee/pastel de nata ) in Portugal do stock a cedar wood gazebo/carport manufactured by Sunjoy - specifically one called the "Diran". About 2K so reassuringly cheap. It seems that the likes of B&Q and The Range in the UK market the same model at the same kind of price range. I've contacted Sunjoy UK (and the 2 outlets) but none can provide the opportunity to see an assembled version in all its glory.
I'm not keen on diving in unseen although it seems reasonably solid and am well aware of "you pay your money etc" - just wondered whether anyone here had any experience of these types of shelter ? There are a few on-line reviews in various languages that seem reasonably encouraging. This is the specific Sunjoy model but I know there are several similar versions :
Its remit is to keep off the worst of the Dec. - Mar. rain and, more importantly, to provide shelter from the fierce sunlight of Jun - Sept. Heavyish winds can be a feature of the central Algarve throughout the year. No need for power/storage sheds etc.
Nothing obviously available on the Algarve in the way of the kind of traditional oak framed kits as advertised in all the glossy car mags in the UK. So one option is to import a UK building kit and get the local guys to sort out footings & erect it. However transit costs ++ and, thanks to you know what, a degree of import duty and IVA (Portuguese VAT).
However Leroy Merlin (our B&Q but cleaner, without the pilfered product packaging and serving proper coffee/pastel de nata ) in Portugal do stock a cedar wood gazebo/carport manufactured by Sunjoy - specifically one called the "Diran". About 2K so reassuringly cheap. It seems that the likes of B&Q and The Range in the UK market the same model at the same kind of price range. I've contacted Sunjoy UK (and the 2 outlets) but none can provide the opportunity to see an assembled version in all its glory.
I'm not keen on diving in unseen although it seems reasonably solid and am well aware of "you pay your money etc" - just wondered whether anyone here had any experience of these types of shelter ? There are a few on-line reviews in various languages that seem reasonably encouraging. This is the specific Sunjoy model but I know there are several similar versions :
Condi said:
Thanks for the suggestion - it s an amusing (locked) thread but is of zero practical value - basically a portal for the Co-director section of PH to pour scorn on a guy who has erected a simple four poster car port on his front driveway. Clearly he needs to work harder/get a proper job so that he can afford a house in the country with a quadruple air conditioned garage. That's what the Co-d s have (or at least their imaginary alter egos).The thread also runs the theme of particular hatred for the poor guy s Plymouth Prowler. I always thought they were OK - a sort of latter day Panther Lima - just needed a small block V8, that's all.
Edited by moffspeed on Saturday 2nd May 12:31
Snow and Rocks said:
Not sure who's available but would some local guys not knock something like that up on site from scratch for you?
It's a pretty straightforward structure with not that much in the way of material needed. You could even DIY if you fancy a project.
Yep, thought about that. Problem is that after a series of winter storms in Portugal every builder is lining his pockets with rebuilds of damaged Villas or involved in lucrative new building projects. A bit unfortunate because labour costs used to be very reasonable in Pt - but no longer !It's a pretty straightforward structure with not that much in the way of material needed. You could even DIY if you fancy a project.
I don't trust myself with the DIY. I did build a basic 4 poster car port with a 5 x 3 metre sail suspended over the top. Whilst we were away for a (weather stormy) week one of the corner wire stays failed* and my old Mercedes C class was lashed by the liberated metal cleat on the corner of the sail for a few days.
Came home to find the right rear corner bodywork of the Mercedes resembling a map of the moon. Painful.
- for failed read inadequately installed.
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