Last summer I replaced the windows in my home with new double-pane windows.
As usual, the old windows ended up in my garage.
This is where everything ends up either as a temporary stop or permanently.
Garages are great for storing things.
The problem is that there is now not enough room for the car.
My poor little car ends up staying outdoors all night, rain or moon.
I can tell that the car is aging faster than it was when it was being protected.
We are in the middle of fall right now, and leaves are falling at record rates.
Combine the leaves with fall rain and we have some nasty rotting stuff oozing onto the paint of the car.
I had decided to build a carport to alleviate the car protection problem.
I just needed some simple carport plans, and I was about to attempt to draw them myself when some friends started telling me about all the elements I had to consider putting into the drawings, such as load-bearing columns, slab thickness and steel rebars, truss configuration for roof load, and hardware to secure trusses to the carport beams.
I already knew about these things, but I am clueless about the specifications.
That's when I decided that a set of simple carport plans wasn't so simple that I could tackle that part of the job myself.
I actually needed what are commonly called blueprints.
These are a bit more sophisticated than what I could draw myself.
The plans I got are quite detailed, but they are easy to read.
They also included a bonus a supply list that will save me lots of trips back and forth from the local box store.