# Forum Home Renovation The Garden Shed  shade sail as a carport??

## pinkstuff

not really sure if this belongs here but......
looking to use one of the larger type sails as a carport,instead of a fixed colourbond type.in the pics from various websites it shows people using them in the driveway as carports and im wondering if anyone on here has any experiance with these things(as carport)
they are gr8 to sit under and drink beer but im not to shure about using them as car cover.
anyone? :Confused:

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## m6sports

i put one in when i lived with my parents 
but had to have a custom one made and from memory it cost me $1000
kept the car under cover from leaves and the sun but it still let water in when it rained  
I remember thinking about a water proof one but it was double the price

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## pinkstuff

:Eek:  1000$ :Eek: 
i was looking at one on fleabay for 149$........4x6 meters.the exact size i want.why was it so expensive,was it commercial grade? the one im looking at is 280gsm.

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## Moondog55

I often wondered at the cost difference until i took a very close look at the fittings when my cheap one failed.
The cheapies use very light weight steel and webbing, we are looking at using the same size ( 4 X 6 M ) as a shade in the front of our house, we are going to buy the cheap unit and I will hand sew extra polyester seat belt webbing over the weak points, which is easy to do with brickies string and a big needle.
The keep the frost, sun and the bird poop off the car which is a big plus, but unless you use a steep slope they do let most of the water through.
Their big benefit is that you do not need a permit or permissions to put one up, just make sure that the fixings are strong, sail effect is huge and the poles and other bits will cost more than the sail itself.

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## m6sports

it ran in a track so it would butt up against the house  
At my mothers house the front door is down the side at the end of the driveway
so it was done to cover the door as well  
And yes it was a commercial grade  
wasnt cheap but still there 6 years later  
last year i got the Gerni to it and gave it a clean looked like new again
i dont think i could have done that with a cheap one without putting holes in it

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## mike_perth

The cheap ones from Fleabay arnt too bad but as said the steel fittings do rust - I hit mine with a coat of Penetrine before they went up on the second time (tree branch fell in storm and ripped it) and this time they have got no rust after 9 months (others rusted in 6)  
I would also make sure you wash it or dont park under it the first time it gets wet as mine leached dye it did come off the car but took a bit of elbow grease! 
Mike

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