Glass car port advice

General Discussion Forums Car Talk
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Does anybody have any experience or advice about glass car ports?

The garage is just too small even for a Mk1 and our drive is on the Northerly side of the house which already gets much less daylight so I’m looking to have a glass car port fitted.  There’s one or two suppliers online but polycarbonate is the preferred material, anyone got experience with glass please?

Many thanks,

Chris

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It all depends on what you want the roof to do.  Is it going to keep the weather out and offer you somewhere warm and dry to work on the car?  Or is it just to keep the rain and bird poo off?

Polycarbonate will eventually become brittle with the UV from the sun, however the better makes have a UV protection layer, and should last at least a couple of decades.  It is relatively light, very strong, can have excellent insulation with air channels, and can also include dichroic film in these to reflect infra red.  I had such a roof on my old conservatory - brilliant - from Omega Plastics in the west country.  The new conservatory with an “improved roof” is not a patch on the Omega one and I will be retro-fitting dichroic strips later this year.  Polycarbonate needs care to prevent it blowing away because it is so light.

Glass is vulnerable to tiles falling off the house roof higher above and carrying on down through the sheet of glass with broken glass, resulting in lots of damage to whatever is below.  Glass also has zero insulation, and forms lots of condensation drips and if not vertical needs lots of cleaning.  My neighbour replaced his wired glass conservatory roof with laminated glass and it was better, but still had problems with impact cracks, leaks and condensation.  It was also VERY heavy.  It has now been replaced with a ground floor extension on the same footprint but with a conventional roof.  Glass is unlikely to blow away!

I would be very careful before buying a kit structure because these are often minimum strength items that need significant extra bracing to survive.  Check out some built examples!

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Hi there, Sorry no experience of glass, but I built my own polycarbonate roofed carport a couple of years ago for not much money and I’m very happy with it. Obviously everyone has their own requirements and taste, but I’ll just let you know how I went about it and the things I found out as I went along.

I ruled out kits as being ridiculously expensive and not suitable for my needs.

            I firstly dug some big holes for the steel fencepost holders and encased them in concrete. Next 4” X 4” fence posts were slotted in and a wooden frame built for the roof. Cross beams were added to strengthen the frame and to facilitate the fitting of the polycarbonate sheet fixings. The steel fixings were attached to the beams and the roof panels slotted in. Edging strips and a gutter finished the job off.

            3m x 1.2m  type poly sheets of 10mm box type worked well – robust and a perfect size for me – I was able to construct a carport of 4.8m x 3m very simply.

  Things I learnt as I went along were: the upright posts don’t have to be at the corners of the frame- I had to work out where my doors were going to open, and also not restrict the angle of entry. Buy the sheets before building the frame – manufacturer’s measurements are not always exact – I got away with doing the frame first without the sheets, but only by luck. The roof needs a good slope to the gutter, and I had to compromise a bit on height in order to keep my neighbour happy with the structure. My roof is under a tree so it goes green, and needs a clean now and again - I was told after I’d built it that tinted polycarbonate would have been a better choice than clear, but depends on how much light you require.  I didn’t skimp on the fittings and I’m glad I didn’t – everything is very strong and it’s protected my car for two winters and hopefully many more to come.  Total outlay was approx. £400, and two days of quite enjoyable trial and error construction.

            Hope this helps a bit.

Colin

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I had a glass roofed extension / conservatory. They were double glazed panels though about 2’ 3" wide and about 8’ long. They were quite strong enough for one of my teenage sons to walk on every night when he would climb out the bathroom window for a sneaky fag! Not the cheapest solution though. 

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Somewhere sheltered to keep my cars round the back of my house would be great and a glass car port would be ideal except for one thing… The problem is, where I live is very exposed, near the top of a hill and North facing. We get at least a couple of 70mph+ wind storms every year. I haven’t been able to find anything that looks robust enough to cope with that at a reasonable price.

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Hi there - this seems to work ok for me, near Blackpool, major westerly winds in winter. I must admit I put in a sheltered position, but still there are pretty severe winds every winter.

4 X4 wooden posts and 3x2 beams seem to do the trick - maybe extra securing of the polycarbonate roof would be prudent for hurricanes, but if you slope it into the prevailing wind direction it should be ok. Glass was out of the question I’m afraid.

https://s31.postimg.cc/60phaczm3/IMG_2006.jpg

 

 

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Something like that might be possible - and relatively inexpensive too. It would be just enough to keep the worst of the weather off. Thanks for the idea.

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Apologies, been away from the internet for a few days, reminding the public that cars could be pretty once-upon-a-time!  Favourite moment was putting a smile on the face of a young woman when she caught sight of the car.  I’m under no illusions, she didn’t even see whether anybody was inside.

Thanks for all the advice, I’ve already priced up a semi-conservatory.  Expensive but might be necessary, I am dubious about the kit option.  I’ll revert with photos when a solution is in place, hopefully by autumn.

Chris