Portable Car Shelters

[Guest TUFBUICK]

Does any one have any input on a Portable Car Shelters.

What is the best brand and price. Which ones to stay away from.

I am one car to many and need to store a car this winter.

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[keiser31]

Go to the "Our Cars & Restoration Projects" posts and talk to "unimogjohn". He stores his car in one and he gets snow.

[dship]

(An ROA member asked this question on the RivList forum awhile back and this was my response:)

I'm about to go into my third winter with a Portablegaragedepot.com car storage

unit with great results so far. I bought the silver quonset (round) 10X20 size

with one zippered entrance to store one of my 92 Rivieras...its just under 200"

long (the other Riv goes in my garage).

In hind sight, I should have gone with a 12X20 with two entrances

front/back....a little more room to open the car doors and gain entrance from

both ends. I chose the quonset so that the snow accumulation would just slide

off with little/no effort by me...works just as I anticipated.

I top off the gas tank, add StaBil, and run the Riv for 10 minutes. I put a

tarp down on the dead soil inside the storage unit, drive the car over it, hook

up a battery tender, put an interior-use cover over the car body, and tie up the

sides of the tarp to the car. I store my Riv's from November til April never

starting them during that time.

Works for me...

[72caddy]

I used one while our house was being added onto. I wish I had followed the advice above about tieing the sides to the car. We had some high winds during a thunderstorm and one 'leg' lifted up and down a quarter panel putting a crease. Then I really staked the poles down good - the next storm separated the poles at the roof line and then came to rest on the top of the convertible roof.

So find one that all the components screw together (glue or tap them yourself) and you should be OK. The materials were tough and durable and didn't even leak much (when it was together)

[Guest my3buicks]

I had a round topped Cover-it - I had it anchored down properly, and never had a wind issue and I live in the country with lots of weather. Of course plastic and a tarp are a must for on the ground and a good quality cover on the car. I sealed the sides of the Cover-it down with inner tubes filled with sand. It says to put a vent in the back wall, I didn't do this at first and quickly realized that this is a must!! I used it for several years, and it kept the car in there as nice as the ones in the real garage. I think the round top helps with weather, both wind and snow. If I needed one again, I would not hestitate to use one.

[Guest cben09]

Hi winds can be a problem,,,as well as heavy wet snow,,,,it freezes on the sides near the bottom,,,,building up,,freezing more,,,till the whole thing pops,,,I saw several pop 3 years ago,,,that was AFTER the winter we got 4' of snow in 3 weeks of march,,that was not good either,,,,several barns poped,,,,I was luckey,,,only a few branches and trees down,,,I check the roof timbers daily,,if in doubt,,,,,,The fluffy stuff is NO problem,,,,,it's what ya dont expect that gets ya,,about 2 in the mornin,,,Oh yes,,,I'm in southern Maine, This mornin was --8 , at 7am,,The Cummins started w/ no plug in,,,hahha,,,Ben

[Guest windjamer]

I used one for a number of years untill I built my garrage. I still have one I use for the wifes car. The ones I have used and I have had four are like the one pictured,cost about $200. As mentioned befor,wind and snow can be big problems. As I am on the forth one I think I am pretty much of an expert on the problems with these puppys. After lots of formentioned problems,heres how I do it. I drill and screw EVERY joint,I cut a hole in the exact center of the lid of 8 five gal. pails to center a pipe slightly larger than the tent poles. I filled all pails with cement and then inserted the tent poles in the pipe. I drilled a hole through both pipes and bolted them togather.Sound extreem? Not when your on the forth one If your in a snow belt buy a roof rake,five inches of heavy snow will collapse that puppy. Beleave me I know:eek:Good luck. BTW I dont think they are Antique insurance approved.

[ted sweet]

i have a 2 car one from shelterlogic for 10 years, 24x20x10 for my daily drivers

finally had to replace the fabric this year.

big thing is to have it anchored very well and to remove any snow.

[Guest TUFBUICK]

I was wondering why no one ever came up with two poles that could slide (FOR ADJUSTMENT) along the bottom frame. Those poles would them run from side to side under the car and you could park the car wheels on them after you made your adjustment to wheel length. That along with the normal tie downs would assure a non fly away shelter in any wind condition.

Maybe I should patent that and make millions!

[charlier]

Before purchasing one of these shelters the original poster might want to check his local zoning and ordinance laws.

Believe it or not in some places it is against the law to erect and use one of these car shelters.

Unfortunately, the township where I live has such a law so I cannot erect one of these shelters on my property.

[Guest windjamer]

:mad: Charley, you dont own that property, you only live there mantain it and pay rent in the form of taxes. We have a major local bike race in the aeria and draw thousends of partisapents and spectators. Every year they pass the same route and every year the owner of a house on the route gets cite-ed for some stupid sh*t like a broken window in his garrage. Its a LITTLE window for gosh sakes. I wish they would pass my house. I would build an outside priviy and stand it in the front yard the morning of the race and take it down the same night:D

[Jay Wolf]

As with any of the lightweight shelter that one or two people can carry watch the snow load. This was mine in 2004!! It was odd, I went out and started my truck everything was OK when I can back 5 minute later it has collapsed.

[Guest my3buicks]

I think a lot of it depends on quality of the product - I can tell the one pictured above is of much poorer quality than some. Go with some of the major ones that are garaged not carports. I swear by the Shelter Logic(Cover-it) brand. The white lightweight canopy poles are not meant for winter use.

[Guest cben09]

When it turns from snow to rain at 2 am,,You better be there to rescue the mess,,,Been there done that,,,Ben in SOUTHERN Maine

[charlier]

:mad: Charley, you dont own that property, you only live there mantain it and pay rent in the form of taxes. We have a major local bike race in the aeria and draw thousends of partisapents and spectators. Every year they pass the same route and every year the owner of a house on the route gets cite-ed for some stupid sh*t like a broken window in his garrage. Its a LITTLE window for gosh sakes. I wish they would pass my house. I would build an outside priviy and stand it in the front yard the morning of the race and take it down the same night:D

windjamer, thanks for reminding me that I do not own my property.

When the stone parking area on my property was built last spring I made a point to check with my "landlord" (aka local township) to avoid any "issues".

[Jay Wolf]

After my temp collapsed (in it's defence we have over a foot of wet snow).

I bought a portable garage from the local amish.

I got a 14 x 32 (largest they can move in our county without a permit)

It has worked great, I can put 2 cars in it.

it is portable so still exempt for taxes and set backs.

here is a photo of it being delivered.

more at:

14' x 32' Portable Garage Delivered

With options like two tone and full length sky light it as over $5K but well worth it.

[ex98thdrill]

Before you put in a portable garage, you had better check on your building code requirements. There are a couple of people in my own region that had them only to find out that the local biulding codes wouldn't allow it. Even though they were a canvass tent mounted over a metal frame, they were in violation and ordered by the town to remove them from their property.

A fellow club member in my region had one, the canvass had worn out, and he sold me the framework for $35. My dad and I got the frame, went out and bought new canvass, and set it back up in our shop. We have an antique fire truck, and it is too big to buy a car cover for it. We set up the portable garage in our barn, parked the fire truck in it, and closed it right up. We've found that it works great for keeping the truck clean during long range storage. If we run into another deal like we did on the first one, we'd get another one and do the same thing.

I'm not sure I'd want to set one of those up outside with the wind and snow, but when used as a supplemental cover inside our storage building, they are great.

[ryansbestreviewguy]

On 12/18/2009 at 10:30 PM, charlier said:

Before purchasing one of these shelters the original poster might want to check his local zoning and ordinance laws.

Believe it or not in some places it is against the law to erect and use one of these car shelters.

Unfortunately, the township where I live has such a law so I cannot erect one of these shelters on my property.

Yeah I've had it where one of my neighbors was forced to take it down because another one of our neighbors got upset having to look at it. I'd consider going around to see if the community would be OK with it going up. Maybe that's just my messed up neighborhood but it can happen. 

I've looked at a lot of different car coverings and the best one here seems to fit my needs. I know everyone probably needs a different size but if you have a relatively normal sized car, it doesn't matter. 

[Mark Shaw]

IMO, the best portable car shelter (and multipurpose too) is an  enclosed car trailer.  

[1912Staver]

Very dependent on local weather conditions. Two were  in use here , number 1 is a reasonably large, rounded top , "premium unit. Its been fine. Number 2 was a cheaper , smaller unit. We don't get much snow locally but when we do it is frequently snow then rain.  Instant crushing weight. The smaller unit collapsed and was a complete loss.  Both are screwed down to heavy timbers so lots of foundation strength. But the smaller units are very lightly built these days. Buyer beware.

 

Greg in Canada

[Buffalowed Bill]

Please take heed of the caveats issued by others regarding weather extremes. I've seen too many fail, to even begin to give any positive product suggestions. Unfortunately I have a car under one of these at my nephew's place, and it needs to be moved. Rather then providing peace of mind, this is a source of constant concern, to me. When it fails the damage to your vehicle can be significant.

 

Is there a reason that you are unable to consider a substantial metal carport. It's true that they cost more, and zoning can be a problem, but you might be surprise at how little the cost difference is between the best portable garage and a sturdy metal carport. We live in the foothills where high wind is a constant threat, as is occasional snow. After seeing our neighbors loose several of the PG's we opted for a good three car metal unit, several years ago to augment the shop building. It has turned out to be one of the best investments we have ever made.

Bill

[60FlatTop]

I have been using a rental storage unit for my overflow on an as needed basis since 2005, sometimes two units. They cost $110 per month. Last year I used one for four months. Good relationship now, just pick up the phone "Tony, it's Bernie. Do you have an open unit?". I provide my own lock and mail a check each month. Last year I didn't even see him. The place is 6 miles from my house.

They are secure, TV monitored, nice doors, and the roof has never caved in.

 

I don't keep old cars parked outside in the village so it helps me stay away from cars that aren't worth the $1200 per year.

 

The tent garage I did own once got over weighted with snow and collapsed on the right front of my '64 Riviera during a snowstorm. A quick warm snap formed a tub of water over the fender. The next day's cold snap made a perfect female mold for the fender with ice. I had to wait at least a month to liberate my car.

 

"The MOST you will even get is what you pay for"

 

Bernie

Edited December 26, 2019 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)