01
Carport
A roof on four posts. Keeps snow, hail and bird mess off the car, and in most places it is the one that needs only a notification rather than a permit.
- Cheapest by a long way
- No door to maintain
- Often no permit under 25 m²
Garages and carports
A steel garage that goes up in a week, not a summer.
The frame is cut to the millimetre in our hall, comes on one lorry, and is screwed together on your slab. No bricklayer, no mortar, no waiting for weather. Open carport, half closed shelter, or a closed garage with a workshop at the back.
Up to 7 m clear, so two cars fit with no post between them
7 mclear span with no post in the middle, two cars side by side
1 weekon site once the slab has cured, whatever the weather does
0 mortarnothing is cast or laid on site, so nothing has to dry
Galvanisedbefore it is cut, and every cut end treated after
Will it fit
Start from what goes inside it.
Most garages are ordered too small by about half a metre, and the owner finds out the first time it rains and they cannot open the door. Pick what has to live in there and the plan below draws itself.
Inside3.2 × 6.0 m
Floor19 m²
Door opening2.5 m
Posts in the middleNone
A single small car with nothing else round it. Comfortable, and the door still opens fully on both sides.
Get this drawn and priced
3.2 m
6.0 m
Seen from above, drawn to scale. The dark band is the door.
Four kinds
From a roof on posts to a workshop with a door.
They are all the same frame underneath. What changes is how much of it you close in, and that is mostly a question of what the local office allows on your plot and how much you want to pay for walls.
02
Half closed
Two or three sides clad, the front left open. Blocks the wind that drives rain sideways onto the car, and gives you a wall to hang things on.
- Shelter without a door
- Wall for tools and bikes
- Cladding to match the house
03
Closed garage
Four walls, an insulated sectional door and a side door. This is the one that keeps the car warm, dry and out of sight, and the one your insurer likes.
- Sectional door with a motor
- Side door and a window
- Insulation if you want it
04
Garage and workshop
The same building made longer, with a partition. Car in front, bench and shelves behind, with its own light and sockets so you are not working off an extension lead.
- Two or three metres extra depth
- Separate light and sockets
- Insulated if you work in winter
Why steel
The three ways to get a garage, and what each one costs you.
Nobody buys a garage twice, so it is worth knowing what you are choosing between before you sign anything.
Light gauge steelwhat we build
Cut to the millimetre indoors, screwed together on site in about a week. Straight walls, a clear span, and nothing that has to dry before the next trade can start.
Block and mortarthe traditional one
Six to ten weeks with three trades and a lot of weather. Thick walls eat into the inside, and a wide opening needs a lintel that is expensive on its own.
A sheet metal kitthe cheap one
Up in a weekend and honest about what it is. Thin sections, bolts that work loose, and rust at the cut edges within a few winters of road salt.
How it goes
Four steps, and one of them is yours.
1
We measure the plot
Where it can stand, how far from the boundary the office allows, and which way the door should face so you are not reversing into the street.
2
Drawing and price
A plan with the bolt positions and a fixed price. If a permit is needed we say so here, not later.
3
The slab is poured
This part is yours, or ours if you would rather. It has to cure before we come, and that is the only real waiting in the whole job.
4
A week on site
Frame, roof, cladding, door. We leave with the place swept and the door working.
Questions
What people ask before they order.
Do I need a permit for a garage?
It depends on the floor area and how close it sits to the boundary. In most of the countries we build in an open carport under about 25 square metres and set back from the line needs only a notification, while a closed garage needs a permit. We tell you which one yours is at the survey, before you order anything.
What do I have to prepare?
A level reinforced slab or a set of pad footings, and a power cable if you want light and a door motor. We give you the drawing with the bolt positions, so your own groundworker can pour it, or we arrange it.
How wide can it be without a post in the middle?
Up to about seven metres clear with a standard portal, which covers two cars side by side. Wider than that we either deepen the beam or put one post in, and you see that in the drawing before you decide.
How long does it take on site?
About a week once the slab has cured. The frame goes up in a day or two, then the roof, the cladding and the door. Nothing is cast on site, so rain does not stop it.
Will it rust?
The steel is galvanised before it is cut, and every cut end is treated. The frame carries the same guarantee as the frame of our houses. Wet snow and road salt are what kill a cheap carport, and neither touches a galvanised section.
Can it match the house?
Yes. The cladding is the same range we use on the houses, so render, timber boards or standing seam metal in the colour of your roof. Most people match the roof and leave the walls plain.
Start here
Send us the plot and we will draw it.
A photograph of where it should stand and the make of the car is usually enough to start. You get a plan, a fixed price and a straight answer about the permit.
An answer in two working days. Written by the person who would run the job.
The survey costs nothing. You pay once you accept a drawing and a price.
We tell you if it needs a permit. Before you order, not after.
Thank you. Your message is with us and we reply within two working days.
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