Is it a Carport or Garage?

[Caulki...@work.com]

I was having a discussion with a guy who has a trailer home with an
attached garage. He said "it's not a garage, it's a carport". Well,
they both serve the same purpose, but that got me wondering when they
should be called a carport. Is that only when they are attached to a
trailer house? Yet I've seen identical looking structures attached to
houses....???? I've always called all of them garages. I never even
used the word "carport" until this guy mentioned it.

Is there a time and place to use the word carport, or is it just another
name for the same thing? Not that it really matters, but just
wondering.....

[Tony Hwang]

Hi,
I maybe wrong but my understanding is garage is totally enclosed with
roof, 3 walls and a door, carport does not.

[IGot2P]

In my area, and I think most others, a carport is built to offer limited
protection to vehicles. A carport can either be free standing or more
often attached to a wall of a building. Carports do not have four walls,
and usually has only one or two whereas a garage offers much more
protection and has four walls. One of the walls of a garage normally has
an overhead door for vehicle entry and exit as opposed to a carport
which the entry is normally open.

In short, carport is NOT just another word for garage.

Don

[Bill]

Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?

[micky]

I agree. But our first garage had swinging doors. Built around
1939. I know you said normally, so maybe I shouldn't say "except".
Changed to "but". It still seems wrong to omit but and start with
"Our".

In Baltimore when I got here in 1983, I was amazed to see very
expensive homes which had only carports, and almost no one had a
garage, even though it gets cold here and snows. Especially compared
to Dallas which is much warmer but a lot of people had garages.

The typical north suburban Baltimore carport then had a side wall,
parallel to the street, so you could keep some garden stuff and your
car without it looking cluttered from the street. But no front or
back wall.

But garages are becoming much more common in new houses, even
townhouses.

[Bill Gill]

Keeping in mind that most people have a 'garage' that is really a
storage room while the car(s) is/are parked in the driveway, sometimes
under a car port.

In my particular case I really believe that a garage is for parking
your car in a protected location. Of course I have a 2 car garage
with one car, and the other side is my work shop.

Bill

[notbob]

On 2013-11-20, Bill <bi...@cannabis-university.edu> wrote:

> Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?

Good one. ;)

Out in sunny California, carports were the norm after the war, when
vets were clamoring for basic housing. If it has at least a roof,
it's a carport. Typically, the roof is attached to the house, so
there's usually at least one vertical wall adjoining the roof. If you
can run around naked without being seen, from any angle, it's a
garage. In fact, my daughter lives in CA in a duplex with a carport,
and no, she doesn't run around nekkid in it. ;)

nb

[Bob F]

micky wrote:
> I agree. But our first garage had swinging doors. Built around
> 1939. I know you said normally, so maybe I shouldn't say "except".
> Changed to "but". It still seems wrong to omit but and start with
> "Our".

Mine has two sliding doors. It's still a garage.

[DerbyDad03]

Bill Gill <bill...@cox.net> wrote:

>>
>>
> Keeping in mind that most people have a 'garage' that is really a
> storage room while the car(s) is/are parked in the driveway, sometimes
> under a car port.
>
> In my particular case I really believe that a garage is for parking
> your car in a protected location. Of course I have a 2 car garage
> with one car, and the other side is my work shop.
>
> Bill

There are some that believe that parking a vehicle in a garage in the
winter promotes rust, assuming you live in an area where salt is used.

SWMBO is convinced that the floorboard and hood of our 6 year old Subaru
rusted through because we kept it in the garage. I don't know for sure, but
I won't argue with her. It's the only car that we ever garaged, and it's
the only car that rusted so badly that we had to junk it.

How bad was it? Whenever I installed a car seat for any of my kids, I
always gave it a tug to make sure it was secure. One morning I put the car
seat behind the driver's seat and gave it a tug. The plate that holds the
seatbelt to the floorboard pulled out, leaving a hole in the floor. It
didn't take much of a tug...I imagine that any type of hard braking would
have sent the seat flying.

We got the Subaru district manager involved but Subaru ruled that the
vehicle was out of warranty, rust happens, so tough luck.

[Bob_Villa]

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 9:16:41 AM UTC-6, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> There are some that believe that parking a vehicle in a garage in the
>
> winter promotes rust, assuming you live in an area where salt is used.

I've heard that of heated garages...there is more chemical reaction with melting and freezing. AFAIK

[Thomas]

On Tuesday, November 19, 2013 11:03:14 PM UTC-5, Caulki...@work.com wrote:
> Is there a time and place to use the word carport, or is it just another name for the same thing? Not that it really matters, but just wondering.....

A garage is secure, a carport is not.

[DerbyDad03]

Really? In all cases?

I can show you an unsecured garage (unlocked door or window) and a secure
carport (Doberman).

[DerbyDad03]

Well, the term "heated garage" can be ambiguous.

I have no heat ducts in my garage, but it is attached to the house and
rarely gets below freezing so the snow and slush will melt. Is that a
"heated garage" with respect to this discussion?

A garage with the sun beating down on it could also get above freezing. Is
that a "heated garage" with respect to this discussion?

[Nightcrawler®]

"DerbyDad03" <teama...@eznet.net> wrote in message news:1844117423406651697.696...@nntp.aioe.org...

Sounds like a Subaru problem. Meaning the paint job was not up to par,
along with protection of connection points (though bolts) and such. Most
newer vehicles do not suffer from this as much since they actually dip
the entire body in primer, then in the paint the vehicle will have when
finished. Wear and tear, though...

[willshak]

Google carport and then click on "Images" at top of results page.

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

[Bob_Villa]

Of course all types of heat above freezing would apply (you know that). Ours' is attached, but the Sun is low and we have many trees...so it is rarely above freezing in mid-Winter. Also...I haven't seen this on Mythbusters?

[micky]

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 08:14:13 -0600, Bill Gill <bill...@cox.net>
wrote:

>
>In my particular case I really believe that a garage is for parking
>your car in a protected location. Of course I have a 2 car garage
>with one car, and the other side is my work shop.
>
>Bill

I wanted a 5-car garage, one slot for my car, one for my wife's, one
for my workshop, one for storage, and one for the boat.

Instead I have no wife, no boat, not enough storage, my workshop in
the basement, and no garage. I really wish I had more storage.

[DerbyDad03]

The seat belt bolted through the floorboard and then through an 6" oval
plate which acted as a large washer. The whole plate pulled through the
floorboard leaving a substantial hole in what was essentially the front of
the rear wheel well. Before we junked the car I fastened a piece of
aluminum over the hole to prevent road spray from entering the car.

I suspect there may have been some reaction between the metal plate and the
floorboard that the salt exacerbated.

The hood on my '86 was similar to this one, with that little vertical
section just above the grill.

http://benjamachine.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/231200041.jpg

That vertical section got really rusty, making it difficult to find a place
to grab onto when you wanted to open the hood. I left it parked at an
airport for a few days during a snowstorm. When I got back, I cleaned the
car off, started it up and drove home. As I was getting close to home it
starting running real rough and I was lucky enough to limp it into my
driveway.

I opened the hood and found the engine compartment partially filled with
snow. It had blown in through the rusty hood while it was parked and
started to melt as I drove home, getting my wires and everything else all
wet. After it dried out it ran fine. For the rest of that winter I never
parked with the front end facing into the wind.

We kept it for the winter due to the 4WD and junked it in the spring.

[Oren]

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:46:32 -0500, willshak <will...@00hvc.rr.com>
wrote:

>Google carport and then click on "Images" at top of results page.

Simple answer is; carports do not have walls on three sides (open on 3
sides). Garages have walls and a garage door.

A lean-to can have walls or not.

[mike]

The definition is mostly irrelevant.
It is what it is and gets used the way you use it.
The only time the definition matters is when the tax assessor
comes-a-callin'.

[DerbyDad03]

I'm not finding it so simple.

Some of the Google images for "carport" have not open on 3 sides.

This one has 2 walls and no door. The roof is not a lean-to style.

http://www.usmetalgarages.com/uploads/Carports-Metal-Steel-Texas-TX.jpg

This one has 3 walls...

http://www.alansfactoryoutlet.com/Portals/72859/images/40-wide-carports-IL-metal-carports-Illinois-40'-metal-garages.jpg

This one has 0 walls...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Carports.jpg

They don't seem to fit any of the definitions above. If they aren't
carports, what are they?

[k...@attt.bizz]

No, there is more chemical reaction with higher temperature. The
reaction between solids is lower than that of a liquid. If the salt
spray is kept frozen the reaction is much slower but the reaction more
than doubles for every 10C above that. Note that brine freezes well
below the freezing point of water.

[Oren]

Parking spaces? With regional definitions?

[k...@attt.bizz]

A:<http://voices.yahoo.com/why-we-drive-parkway-park-driveway-2179919.html>

[Lee B]

Same basic area. Most of the 1950's ranchers around here were built with
carports - attached to the side of the house, open on two sides, but at
the back of the carport abuts the utility room with furnace etc. Maybe
1/3 of the houses still have carports; the rest have enclosed and turned
into either real garages or living space.

[Caulki...@work.com]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:01:35 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
<teama...@eznet.net> wrote:

I've seen some on homes and trailers which are nothing but a few posts,
with a roof over the top. They are attached to the house or trailer
home. Thus, they only have one wall. That is what I would have called
a carport.

Personally, if I went that far, I'd just put some 2x4's on the rear and
long side and cover it with steel siding or another siding (pole barn
style). Just having a roof seems pretty worthless to me. Especially in
winter when all the snow blows in.

[Ashton Crusher]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:01:35 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
<teama...@eznet.net> wrote:

Fully enclosed and it's a garage.

2 or 3 walls and it's a carport.

0 to 1 wall and it's covered parking.

[DerbyDad03]

Don't take this an argument, but do you have a cite for those definitions?
I have cites that say otherwise, but the problem is that depending on which
cite/site you look at, you will find differing definitions for a carport.

The number of walls will vary, some say a carport is "usually" attached to
the side of building, others do not.

As examples...

From Wikipedia

"A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to
vehicles, primarily cars, from the elements. The structure can either be
free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures a carport does
not have four walls, and usually has one or two."

One or two walls is a cross between your definitions of a carport and
covered parking.

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carport

"carport: a shelter for a car that has open sides and that is usually
attached to the side of a building."

As long as there are less than 3 walls, the words "open sides" would fit.
Again, a cross between two of your definitions.

From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carport

"carport: a roofed, wall-less shed, usually projecting from the side of a
building, used as a shelter for an automobile"

"Wall-less" fits your definition of covered parking, not carport.

I really don't think there is a clear, specific definition of a carport.

[Dean Hoffman]

On 11/21/13 4:12 AM, Caulki...@work.com wrote:

> I've seen some on homes and trailers which are nothing but a few posts,
> with a roof over the top. They are attached to the house or trailer
> home. Thus, they only have one wall. That is what I would have called
> a carport.
>
> Personally, if I went that far, I'd just put some 2x4's on the rear and
> long side and cover it with steel siding or another siding (pole barn
> style). Just having a roof seems pretty worthless to me. Especially in
> winter when all the snow blows in.
>

There would be some advantage to keeping the sun mostly off the
vehicle. Preventing hail damage would another.

[Ashton Crusher]

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 15:19:02 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03

I made mine up just like everyone else does. There isn't any authority
on the question. It's not like asking "what's pi?"

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:01:35 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
<teama...@eznet.net> wrote:

A garage is closed on all 4 sides when the door is closed. ANy kind
of door. Any kind of closed walls.
A carport has one or more open sides and generally has no door.
A garage is designed to be somewhat weather-tight, while a carport
provides a degree of protection against sun and rain.

[Oren]

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:44:19 -0500, cl...@snyder.on.ca wrote:

> A garage is closed on all 4 sides when the door is closed. ANy kind
>of door. Any kind of closed walls.
>A carport has one or more open sides and generally has no door.
>A garage is designed to be somewhat weather-tight, while a carport
>provides a degree of protection against sun and rain.

...except for a parking garage:

<http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/2011/08/parking-garage.jpg>

<G>

[Harold W.]

Caulking-Gunn scrit:

> He said "it's not a garage, it's a carport".

Carport = no doors.
Garage = doors.

[k...@attt.bizz]

So if I take the doors off my garage, it magically becomes a carport?
If I put a door on a carport it becomes a garage? Really?

I know if you put a closet in a "den", it becomes a bedroom, but who
knew about carports/garages! ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

My buddy was building a post and beam house. His dining room had floor to
ceiling windows on one wall, used the backs of the kitchen cabinets as
another wall and was open on one side to a sunken sitting area with a round
fireplace as a center piece. A big chandelier hung from the cathedral
ceiling on a long chain. It was a gorgeous room.

He had not yet bored through the beams to install the receptacles in the
dining room but he needed to get his electric inspected so he close the
construction loan and get a mortgage. When the inspector came over he asked
"Is this the dining room?" "Yes", answered my friend. The inspector said
"You need receptacles every 6 feet in a dining room."

"Oh," said my friend, without skipping a beat, "then it's a closet."

He passed the inspection and got his mortgage.

[williamst...@gmail.com]

Smile