What size carport do you need – for one car or two?

The most common mistake with a carport is sizing it "to the car": the car's length and width plus a little extra. In practice such a carport is too tight – the doors hit the posts, and in rain you step out under the drip line. Here you will find guideline sizes for single and double carports, what to measure in your yard and which details are often forgotten. The figures are general guidance – the final dimensions are always set on site.

Start from the cars, not the carport

Write down the dimensions of your cars – and of the cars you might have in a few years. As a guide:

• Small and compact cars: about 3.7–4.3 m long and about 1.7–1.8 m wide without mirrors.
• Mid-size cars and estates: about 4.5–4.9 m long and about 1.8–1.9 m wide.
• Large SUVs and 4x4s: about 4.7–5.1 m long and about 1.9–2.0 m wide, often 1.7–1.8 m high or more.
• Vans and pick-ups: often over 5 m long, and the height can exceed 2 m.

Mirrors add about 20–25 cm in total to the width. The exact figures for your model are in the registration document or the manufacturer's specifications – check them before you decide.

Width: room for the doors matters more than the car

To get out comfortably you need about 70–90 cm of free space beside the open driver's door. If passengers or children in car seats get out on the other side, you need room there too. That is why a single carport is usually about 3–3.5 m wide between the posts – not 2 m like the car.

A double carport is usually about 5.5–6.5 m wide. Below 5.5 m two cars fit, but the doors between them are hard to open. If one car is a large SUV or you want to get past the cars with a bike or a pushchair, aim for the upper end.

Length: the car plus room to walk

Add at least 50–100 cm to the car's length – to walk past in front or behind, open the boot and keep the tailgate under the roof. For most cars that means a carport depth of about 5–6 m. If bikes, bins or firewood will also go under it, add room for them – otherwise the car will stick out.

Height: SUVs, vans, roof boxes

What counts is the clear height under the lowest beam, not the height of the roof. For ordinary cars and most SUVs a clear height of about 2.2–2.4 m is often enough. If you have a van, a camper, roof bars or a roof box, measure the car with them and add a margin – then you may need 2.6–3 m.

Height has another side too: a taller carport is more visible and may fall under other municipal requirements, especially near the property line. So read whether you need a permit for a carport before you decide.

Posts: where to put them so they do not get in the way

• Do not put a post where the driver's door opens. Think about which side you usually get out on.
• Think about how you drive in. If you turn in from a narrow street or at an angle, the posts at the entrance should sit further in or further apart.
• With two cars, a middle post reduces the beam size but gets in the way of the doors. An opening without a middle post is more convenient but needs a stronger structure – which also affects the carport cost.
• A carport attached to the house has posts on one side only – handy if the wall allows fixing.

Roof slope and drainage

The carport roof needs a slope so the water runs off. Exactly how much depends on the roofing and the system: each manufacturer states a minimum pitch for its panels. What matters for you is where the water goes:

• away from the house door and the yard entrance;
• not towards the neighbouring plot;
• into a gutter and downpipe that lead it to the drains or a permeable area.

The slope reduces the clear height on the low side – allow for that if the car is tall. Think about snow too: in north-east Bulgaria and in mountain areas the structure must be calculated for the local load. There is more on this in our article on pergolas in wind and snow.

What to measure before the site visit

1. The cars' dimensions – length, width with mirrors and height (with roof bars, if any).
2. The free area in the yard: width between the fence and the house, depth to the garage or wall.
3. The distances to the property boundaries and the street.
4. The height of the eaves or windows, if the carport will be attached to the house.
5. The slope of the ground and where rainwater goes today.
6. What else will go under the carport – bikes, bins, a future charging point.

With these details we will quickly arrive at the right size at the free site visit. You can also try out widths and depths in advance in our 3D configurator.

Common sizing mistakes

• A carport "exactly as big as the car", where the doors hit the posts.
• A forgotten roof box or a taller car in the future.
• A post exactly where it is easiest to drive in.
• Water running right in front of the driver's door or towards the neighbour.
• A single carport when two years later the family has two cars.

Have a look at our aluminium carports – we make them to measure for each yard, not in standard sizes. If you want a place to sit as well as to park, see our pergolas. We work in Ruse, north-east Bulgaria and across the whole country. Book a free site visit – we will measure, suggest a size and send you a quote.