A Buyer’s Guide to Metal Prefab Garage Kits and Car Ports

Metal Garages, Steel Car Ports and Metal Prefab Garage Kits, oh my!

This article is all about metal prefab garage kits, steel car ports, and other prefab building kits… you get the picture. It’s all about building yourself a steel cave to house your car or truck in. Or heck, anything else you’d like to fit in there. But before the metal prefab garage kits “Dream it /Build it”, comes “Buy it”, so we will take an in-depth look at almost every aspect you could think of, when considering getting one. Read on, and prepare yourself to make an informed decision. 

If you’ve been on the lookout for a metal prefab garage kits, the solution that’d be cost-effective and simple, you might want to consider purchasing a steel garage. This type of structure is an ideal fit for home use, small businesses, farms and even small-scale industrial ventures.

However, most of these metal garage kits are prefabricated. This means that the major components have already been crafted in a factory. When the pieces of the garage you’ve ordered are delivered to your proverbial doorstep, all that needs doing is simply assembling the parts. Simply? It depends, as we’ll see shortly. But if you’re able to, you would stand to save a assembly time and money.

Prefab garage kits come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and styles. You could for example fix yourself a one- or two-car garage, or you can save some valuable time and hard-earned dollars by opting instead for a basic carport. Most metal garage kits can be ordered with any available, made to order, custom features such as special or extra doors, windows, lighting, etc.

Metal prefab garage kits are often stand-alone structures, however in some cases they can be upgraded to fit neatly at the side of your house, store or farm buildings.

Let’s take a look at what these can be used for:

Uses of Metal Prefab Garage Kits

• Car port storage

  Do you own a house with a relatively considerable amount of space on the property? Are you tired of having your car be exposed out there in the driveway? If you’re fixing to expand your real estate assets, a steel garage can accommodate all of the storage needs you might have and opting for such a kit, will save you a lot of money down the road. Most residential buyers will want the garage to store their car in. However, if it’s just the car you want to get out of the rain, it might be worthwhile to invest in just a carport. 

• RV storage

  For the adventurous families out there, there’s the option to store your RV safely away in a steel garage, until it’s time to take her out into the unknown again.Garages can be ordered in a variety of sizes or custom made. Whatever it takes to keep your RV and the belongings within safe from harm and even theft.

• Farming equipment

  An obvious use for the farmers amongst you, the ability to store farming equipment,, easily, organized and in close proximity. Metal garages can be built up to impressive sizes with multiple bay doors. You could fit a whole lot more than a tractor in there.

• DIY Space

  If you’re like me and you like to build birdhouses or vastly more complicated things than I will ever come up with: a steel garage could be the ultimate hideaway home for you to conduct experiments, build things, get mad at building things, etc. Especially if you don’t have enough place in the house, or you don’t want to risk messing it up.

• Hobby

  Now this could really mean anything. Could be a darts club, a place to paint or work on a project on a work bench with your kid. Whatever floats your boat.

• General Storage & Protection

  It’s a closed off space near your house, that protects anything inside of it from pests, nature and man alike. What’s not to put in there?

Types of Metal Prefab Garage Kits

• Garages by roof

  • Metal garage roofs are generally available in three big types.
    • Regular (barn)
    • Boxed-eye (A-frame)
    • Vertical (A-frame)
      • These are great for use in areas where snow falls during the winter months. Because of its vertical panelling, the snow will glide right off, instead of putting pressure on the structure, as is particularly the case with box-eyed models.

    • Garages by walls

      • Common types of metal garages categorised by structural type:
        • Straight-walled
        • Arched
        • Clear span or multiple span.
      • A clear span garage doesn’t have any columns on the inside to help support its weight and pressures.
      • Arch types and straight-walled types both refer to the outside form of the building. Arch types are typically seen more in agricultural contexts, as they are more suited to certain applications.
      • Straight-walled buildings on the other hand can give more usable space per structure, compared to arch buildings. These are in like manner easier to blend into already existing buildings. Straight-walled buildings are commonly used for commercial, industrial, and many other occupancy types.

    • Carports

      • These are essentially roofs placed on stilts for a car to be hid under when it rains, or just to have a nice place to keep it in all under circumstances.

Garages vs. Carports

If you’re just looking to stop the sun from beating down on your car’s paintjob, or if you don’t want to leave it out in the rain: a car port might be just the thing for you. On the other hand, a garage does all this –and- provides plenty of space for any accessories, tools and general storage options. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of each.

Garages

Pros

Your garage will be a very safe place (provided you use quality locks, of course) to house your car in, as well as tools and any other objects you’d otherwise put in a basement. You can buy all kinds of aftermarket accessories like cabinets, shelves, hooks and drawers, which were specifically manufactured for use in these types of garages, which you can make as big as needed to be are large enough for hosting your parked cars plus some work, DIY, hobby and storage space.

It will provide total protection from all kinds of weather elements coming at it from every conceivable direction. Oh, plus, it keeps pesky critters out.

If your family grows larger or if you plan on having friends over and you need the space for an extra place for them to stay, you might then just be able to convert your metal prefab garage kit into something appropriate.

Con

A garage costs rather a lot more to build than a mere carport, and it can take longer to finish assembling (it almost guaranteed will)).

And you’ll have to follow more legislation when you build one of these on your property, it doesn’t matter if you’re adding it to your existing home structures or having it actually built as part of your new house (which would likely fall under renovation). Building codes and fire safety require the walls to be ‘fire-rated’ to slow the spread of fire down.

Car ports

Pros

It will cost you nearly half as much to build a carport as any garage, and you won’t have to bother with too much bureaucracy. Because a carport isn’t an enclosed space like garage is, it’s not at all necessary to build ‘fire-rated’ walls.

Car ports come in kits too. A carport from a steel assembly kit can usually be set up in less than a day. If you do it yourself, you’re looking at a weekend’s work, depending on if you do it alone and how able you are.

A car port kit is all you need to block out the sun and give some protection during rain.

Because car ports are simpler structures than garages, they’re quick to build, and, if you’re handy, you can do it yourself in a weekend or two.

Cons

Most car ports are just large enough to house a car or maybe two, depending on the specific build, but that’s it.

It’s an open structure and open structures are anything but secure and shouldn’t be relied on too much in terms of safety and full protection against weather.Obviously, it also won’t keep out the curious critters.

Materials (benefits and drawbacks)

Metal Prefab Garage Kits come in many different materials. Here are the most common.

Metal

Advantages

• Less expensive – Because most steel garages come in prefabricated kits, you’ll save a lot more on construction costs than if you were to go with the materials in the next section hereunder.
• Faster assembly times– Besides the fact these usually come in prefabricated kits, steel garages have less use for internal support by way of columns than wooden structures. The absence of these parts with metal garages ensures faster assembly times.
• Resistance and durability – Steel is of course a very resistant and strong material which has a very high rate of life expectancy. It is estimated that, generally, you can expect a steel garage to remain in prime condition for up to 30 years or more.
• Eco-friendlymaterial–Highly recyclable, steel is one of the most environment friendly building materials ever. Not only can you scrap the metal when you no longer have a use for your garage, you can even buy special eco kits, which includes steel that has been recycled.

• Disadvantages to Metal Prefab Garage Kits

• Despite the many advantages of steel in the use of garages, there are a few drawbacks. So can the degree of thickness or the gauge of the steel used by different companies varywildly. This means that whether or not your steel garage is as sturdy and thick as you wanted it to be, may depend on your budget.
  • Not as attractive–It certainly is conceivable that most people would prefer wood over steel on purely an aesthetic basis. So the question here is whether you really care or not. There are fewer colour and design options available with steel than with the more traditional wood, as is to be expected.
  • Rust/condensation problems–All steel buildings are when it comes down to it, vulnerable to condensation. This in turn makes the inner structure especially susceptible to rust. This can also pose a possible danger to any tools kept inside.
  • Can be difficult to build – Steel garage kits usually call for advanced tools. Does that mean you have to be an engineer or builder by trade? Absolutely not, although some firms do recommend having some knowledge of how to work with blueprints and the basics of setting a building like this up. Others claim no prior knowledge is needed and it’s been made simple enough to understand that virtually anybody could build this without running into work halting problems.
  • Local restrictions–It could be that in your particular area, the placing of steel structures on your property freely is prohibited or at least heavily regulated. See the applicable legislation in your area.
  • Corrosion: Bad design on account of the factory may lead to corrosion of the materials. So be sure you buy from a reputable company who knows what they’re doing.

Wood Prefab Garage Kits

• Advantages
  • Wood is in and of itself a very strong material. It has great strength and natural insulating abilities.
  • Wood is a renewable resource, therefore reducing the environmental footprint.
  • With wood, very much more so than with steel, there is a range of possibilities available for decoration. Paint a wood garage in the same colours of your house, or make them wholly different and stand out.
  • Steel is steel, but wood isn’t just wood. There are a lot of different kinds of wood and wood aesthetics, and each one has their own strengths and weaknesses. It pays to know of which wood yours will be made of.
  • Though custom wood garages are expensive, there is nothing like the richness of the grain if you can afford it. If your home has a rustic wooden feel to it, it might pay to invest more in an equally rustic looking garage.
  • No dents. Metal prefab garage kits are made very strong material, but depending on how thick and strong your steel has been manufactured, it can be liable to feature dents when faced with a strong, focused impact. However it will not break. With wood, it is rather the opposite, it won’t dent.

• Disadvantages

  • More expensive – Wood garages are a whole lot more pricy than their steel counterparts.
  • Not as sustainable – Despite being made from a renewable resource, most wooden garages are made from non-recycled wood.
  • Requires more maintenance – In order to prevent rotting, insect or fungus infestations. A problem absent with steel garage kits, which are virtually free from any maintenance.

Pricing of Metal Prefab Garage Kits

A steel garage kit is not only an ideal cost-effective way to meet your growing storage needs head on but also a durable building that lasts for more than thirty years. Such a structure can even add value to your home or other property assets. Having them be virtually maintenance free, saves you cash in the long term.

Prices themselves will vary based on company, size and design of the kit. Whether or not you let the company set it up for you or if you assemble it yourself, will also play a not to be underestimatedrole in the total pricing. Typically, steel garage kits costs between $5,000 and $30,000. The basic carport kits fall on the budget end of the finance spectrum, while a 50’x100’ garage with an included workshop reside up on the higher end. Again though, remember that these estimates do not include the installation. Which of course isn’t a factor to consider if you plan on setting it up yourself.

A rather small prefabricated wood garage might end up costing you upwards of$10,000 to $15,000. This is to be compared to about $5,000 to $8,000 for a steel garage kit of roughly the same size. However, prices really go up with a wooden garage built from scratch (so not from a prefab kit). These will cost you $100,000 or more for this type of Metal Prefab Garage Kits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCUmczKWWQQ

Some important things to keep in mind before purchasing a metal prefab garage kit!

Assembling a garage or carport is all good and well, but: where? A steel kit needs a level and sound foundation to stand firmly. Do you have a concrete slab on your property you’ve laid in advance? That’s the perfect way to ensure a strong foundation for your garage or carport. They can also be put on a level patch of soil however. This needs a few outdoors/RV anchors to really hold everything in place. As to the concrete foundation, this can usually be done with rebar.

Before making any purchasing any metal prefab garage kits, be sure to talk with your local permit organization to figure out what sorts of arrangements, if any, you will require to build the structure.

Some assembly kit suppliers will ask that you make a deposit on the garage. Try not to do this, unless you are exceptionally sure of whomever you’re buying from, and in the case of not setting it up yourself: working with. The issue with putting a deposit down is that there are an excess of variables that can happen that can make the building venture fail to work out. If this were to happen, well then you’d be out a serious amount of cash. So doing your research and being vigilant is key here! Good luck when purchasing any metal prefab garage kits.