Carport Style Steel Boat Garage - Need Input

I'm considering one of these enclosed steel garages for my boat. I got these pictures off a really old boat garage thread, but this is pretty much what I'm looking for.

Does anybody have any experience with these? Where is a good place to find something like this? How much will it run me?

Be careful if you live in a windy area...

I was thinking the same type of garage, does it need a foundation to sit on or does it just sit on the ground with some really large anchors? Don't mean to hijack but will be watching what you find out on this.

That's the kind of feedback I'm looking for. It will definitely be mounted to a slab or fully secured in the ground with driven in posts because it will have to sustain some winds.

These products are more sturdy than one may think. You can still do a gravel or pack gravel floor. Mount the building to 5 foot concrete pillars and it will be good to go.

I helped install a huge version of one of these on a farm for some tractors. The factory instructions said to dig 2 channels (one for each wall) of concrete 1-2' wide 1-2' deep anyone can hand mix the concrete for this in a wheelbarrow or rent a mixer (worth the money). Strange to me though it explicitly said we didn't need expansion joints on a 100' long channel. I am not a concrete engineer but have helped put down a few slabs before. We used 1.5" lag expansion concrete anchors. For wind we made the channels in the shape of an upside down "V" 1-2' wide at the top larger at the bottom. It survived a microburst that blew the roof off of a school a half mile down the road. As for price be sure to shop it well these things are all over the agricultural world. The worst part was digging the trenches by far. Get a bobcat or a backhoe if you can!

David, having been involved in the building trade in the past I have seen a lot of equipment destroyed by condensation inside of a steel sided garage. I understand that you are down in the southern CA desert where you have much less precipitation and humidity than here on the Coast in the Santa Cruz area. In this area I would not have a steel side building with my boat in it or anything else for that matter. Also be sure you have a substantial foundation and plenty of ventilation in any sort of storage facility.

Hey Dave, I really suggest these guys. My last one got blown away, the way the wind comes over the hill it hits mine right in the mouth. They anchored it down with some large mobile home style anchors and when the wind hits this thing doesnt budge. If the wind got strong enough to blow this thing that wold be the least of my problems, Im fairly sure the roof of my house would get ripped off first. They were the highest quality company i could find. Look at the size of the framing compared to the pic you posted. My buddy is a dealer if your interested. Or you can just call the number on the website and buy direct. The price may be a little more if you dont go through a dealer though.

http://www.americansteelinc.com/

Is that all the love I'm going to get on this thread? Nobody else is rocking these steel garages?

David,
That is my garage with my old boat.
I want to home depot and picked up 3 of those open side carports for $800.00 each. Finish dimensions are 12'X 40’X 13’ tall. As you can see it is sitting on crushed rock. The wind here will never blow this thing over but we only get 70mph max wind here. I have had over 2 feet of snow on it. It has an #80 psf snow load. The original size was 12'X 20'X 10' tall to the peak but I used the extra poles and made it taller. Now its 11' to the header so I don’t need to take the tower down. I ended up having to pick up a couple extra panels to make the doors. Not bad for $2500.00. Most places want 3 grand just for the same sq. ft. covered carport that’s shorter and no sides or doors. By the way the tube steel is 3" pipe. M.

(Message edited by michale on March 08, 2008)