Focus on Your Portable Garage - What To Do For Winter Car Shelter Maintenance

If strong winds, heavy snow, and hail regularly hit your area in the winter or early spring, your backyard is in for a big challenge. We know that portable carports should be avoided in the yard overnight to prevent them from blowing over or being crushed by snow. But some accidents will always occur, and to make the carport last longer, it is necessary to carry out carport maintenance and restoration work in the winter and early spring.

Where to set up your portable garage

You can set up your portable carport in any open space as long as it is convenient to use. However, in winter and early spring, when there are more severe weather conditions, you should set up your carport in a relatively safe location.

                （white portable garage)

For example, you can install a car shelter in an area close to a garage or house and other large buildings. Such an area will provide a barrier for the car shelter against high winds. However, your carport should not be too close to a building or be set up next to trees.

How to reinforce your portable garage

In winter, your portable garage may sway or be blown over due to high winds. To avoid similar situations, taking a few precautions can make your temporary building safer in windy weather.

Stand your carport on concrete

Many experienced users say that mounting your car shelter on concrete provides the best stability, and in winter, this is still one of the best recommendations to take. You should secure your car shelter to a concrete slab, which will prevent swaying. No high winds can lift an entire concrete slab off the ground.

Choosing the right anchor

If you wish to secure your portable garage to tarmac or asphalt, you must make sure that your anchor will hang securely from it. It is best to choose anchors made for driveways or concrete slabs, which are usually stronger, safer, and more durable.

                    （how to anchor a carport）

If your garage is a heavy-duty portable garage, regular anchors are not for you and you need to use heavy-duty screw anchors. These anchors are perfect for top-heavy portable garages because they are heavier and safer and can withstand the challenges of high winds, rain, and snow.

Use extra support

It is necessary to use some additional support. You can cross-support your car shelter for added stability. We cannot recommend the right support for you, you can find many different types of support online and choose according to your needs. Whichever extra support you choose, it's important to be clear that you need to know your carport type. Even if it is a portable carport, there is a difference between a basic portable carport and a heavy portable carport. You can't use  lightweight support to help support your heavy-duty portable carport.

How to maintain your portable garage

To keep your portable garage in top condition and maximize its lifespan, you need to focus on carport maintenance. In winter and early spring, changing weather conditions can take a toll on carport materials. Therefore, you need to pay more attention to carport maintenance.

Before maintaining your carport, do a thorough inspection of your carport. The inspection should include whether the parts are rusted as well as oxidized, whether the carport cover is torn, whether the support legs are bent, etc. After confirming that no obvious problems are present, you can do the following things to maintain your carport.

Clean the portable garage

Cleaning your portable garage is a basic maintenance task, but it should not be overlooked. The rate at which a carport age is highly correlated with how clean it is, so carport cleaning is a task that needs to be done frequently.

You need to remove cobwebs, bird nests, and dust from your carport. If you live in a snowy area, be sure to remove any snow that has accumulated on your carport. If you fail to remove the snow on time, the melting snow may penetrate the carport. And if it snows again and the snow doesn't melt it will turn to ice increasing the snow load.

If you find that some dirt is difficult to remove, you need to use a pressure washer to help you complete your carport cleaning.

Wipe down the portable garage

The purpose of wiping down a portable garage is to prevent dirt and other residues from building up on the carport and to keep it shiny and clean. Although we can use high-pressure water guns and other work to clean the carport, there are still some details that need to be done manually.

To complete the carport wiping job you only need water and soap. You need to wipe down the carport frame as well as the joint joints and make sure that these locations do not harbor dirt, leaves, and other residues.

Residue can appear after high winds and snow storms, which can carry residue such as leaves to your carport.

Coating the carport floor

Few people care about carport floors, which is the wrong thing to do. If you use concrete as your carport foundation, the floor will suffer a lot of wear and tear. In the winter, such wear and tear will be even worse. Although floor coating is low on the list of importance compared to other tasks, if you have the time and extra budget, painting the floor is recommended.

After painting, it is recommended to use a sealer or degreasing cleaner to increase the life and aesthetics of the paint.

Use weather strips

If you have a closed or semi-enclosed garage, weather strips can make a big difference.

                  (Use weather strips)

Such items help the carport to withstand debris outside and natural elements such as fallen leaves, rain and snow. Meanwhile, weather strips can help keep the carport interior dry.

Tips for portable garage restoration

Carport cover tears

Torn carport covers are one of the most common problems that portable garages encounter in the winter. You can purchase additional replacement carport covers at online stores to replace the broken part, but of course, you will need repair kits to help you with this task. Generally, you will need to clean the torn area with a special cleaning solution, then measure the torn area and cut a piece from the replacement carport fabric to the right size to fit the space.

Support leg bending

In the face of hail or snowstorms, hail may hit your carport support leg, or a large amount of snow may bend the carport support leg. In either case, your carport legs need to be repaired or replaced.

If the carport legs break or even collapse after heavy snow or hail, you need to remove the portable carport in time and replace the damaged carport support legs.

Sagging supports

If you are in an area with severe winter weather or your carport has been in use for several years, you need to focus on the carport supports. Snow and other stresses can cause the support brackets to sag. This is a serious problem, but you can still take steps to fix it. You can use a boom, set the crossbar in the area where the braces are sagging, and use a ratchet to move the braces back to the correct position. To secure the bracket, you should use a metal wire.

Painting carports

Years of use may have faded the paint on the carport. Although this does not affect the use, you can apply new paint to your carport for aesthetic purposes.

             （wood painting）

When choosing a paint, you should consider several points:

1. Paint must be environmentally friendly and safe for humans
2. It is not easy to oxidize, rust, and easy to use
3. The color needs to match the surrounding buildings

Recommended for you - two portable garages

20' x 13' Heavy Duty Quictent Car Shelter

If you are looking for a portable car shelter that can be used in winter, this one will satisfy you.

This heavy duty portable garage features a top reinforced structure. Four support beams provide excellent stability. The triangular shape of the top forms an excellent support structure.