Apartment Covered Parking Structures : Absolute Steel

Apartment Covered Parking Absolute Steel has completed commercial carport projects throughout all 50 States and several overseas locations. As a contract supplier to US Federal government, all branches of the US Armed Forces have had Absolute Steel engineer & manufacture for extreme environments both domestically and internationally. Engineers often call out that commercial carports are to be “Absolute Steel or equivalent” for structural engineering specifications.

If you’re adding covered parking to your apartment building, then you need to look at Absolute Steel’s commercial carports. You’re making a big investment.

Why Your Apartment Building Needs Covered Parking

Covered parking is an amenity you can offer for your tenants, or you can charge a monthly fee, as many buildings do. Either way, covered parking is appreciated by tenants, and, for some, it can be the deciding factor on whether to rent or buy in a building. Without a doubt, covered parking is proven to retain tenants longer.

Covered carports provide your tenants protection from the elements, and that makes life easier as a car-owning tenant.
Covered parking protects cars from hail and sun damage.
Covered carports can help keep car insurance prices and claims down.
And who doesn’t love the shade come those dog days of summer, when it means not feeling the burn on sun baked seats in shorts?

In addition to tenant quality of life, covered parking makes financial sense. By installing covered parking, apartment buildings may experience the following:

Increased apartment occupancy.
Increased rental income.
More lease renewals.
Rapid return on investment (in some cases the investment can pay for itself in just a few years).

Not limited to new construction projects, we can help you retrofit existing apartment complexes, large or small, with covered parking solutions.

Covered Carport Design Options

Three types/styles that are most popular for multi-family dwellings are our T-frame, cantilever, and semi-cantilever carports. Here’s what you need to know about them.

Full Cantilever Carport

The Full Cantilever Carport

The full-cantilever style means the post comes down at the very edge of the roof on just one side of the structure, and the rafter extends straight out. The weight is fully cantilevered off that post. It looks sleek and really evokes a timeless aesthetic, but it offers something great for those parking under it – the post is out of the way. With the semi-cantilever roof, drivers must be wary of the post when they park. No big deal, of course, but with this style, it’s not even a consideration. Great for truck-owning states in the Midwest, where every inch in a parking lot counts.

This carport frame has a 14″ box and a 12-gauge 10-inch column supporting 15-foot tapered rafters field-welded onto the columns.

With a lot more metal and a little more installation required, this one is estimated to cost around $1,225 per space once installed, but if you’re looking for a more spacious feel and better vehicle clearance with the posts, it’s worth the investment.

The Semi-Cantilever Carport

Coming in two styles with just a slight aesthetic difference, the semi-cantilever is a great budget-friendly choice. It balances stresses and weight differently than the full cantilever carport, but it gives the same overhead protection with reduced structural demands. In this model, the posts care about a third in from one side of the roof, hence the “semi” cantilever.

Style 1 and 2 each have a 10″ by 5″ single-seam tube column and they both have 10-foot-long rafters. Where they differ is the 10″ by 2.5″ purlin on each 10-foot rafter for support on Style 1, which puts its average installed price estimated at $712 per parking space. With the slightly leaner, cleaner aesthetic on Style 2, the price goes up to an estimated $747 per spot. These prices rise and fall depending on features you choose, where you are, and so on, but the prices are a good ballpark for estimating.

Imagine if you charged $20 a spot monthly for each tenant in Style 1 or 2. Just three years in, you’d pay it all back, and you’d still profit for another 17 years before you reached the end of the warranty – but it’s common for these structures to stand for 30, even 40 years.

The T-Frame Carport System

Stand away from this carport and you’ll see the “T”-shaped frame supporting the roof. This is the ideal choice if you’ve got enough space for cars to back out on either side of a carport. If so, then you get the perk of the post being situated between the two parallel rows of cars, where it won’t be in anyone’s way when they open their door.

That allows this structure to make maximum use of space, since the posts are on the corner of parking spots, so vehicles can pull in practically bumper to bumper (or fender).

Just like the Full-Cantilever model, this carport frame uses the same 14″ box and a 12-gauge 10-inch column, but the T-Frame column supports a 30-foot double-tapered rafter that is field-welded in place.

We estimate this to cost around $995 installed, depending on your features, contractor, and location.

Customizing Your Carport

With all frame components delivered in bare steel, your carport is ready to go for priming and painting once you’ve got it installed.
On the roof, you can choose 26-gauge roofing panels in at least 13 different shades, including designer colors like Evergreen, Classic Burgundy, Brick Red, and Caribbean Blue.

Solar-Covered Carports

Absolute Steel has supplied solar commercial carport frame systems to a number of solar contractors throughout the continental US and Hawaii. When supplied with the solar array—its weight & dimensions etc. and we know your area’s Design Loads for engineering purposes, we can talk intelligently to you about commercial carports that adequately support what you’re trying to accomplish.

So, When Do You Need It?

The question isn’t why do you need a covered parking system for your building – it’s why haven’t you installed one yet? It adds value to your property. It protects vehicles and people. It improves tenant retention, because their property can be protected. It can even generate income.

Plus, you can do this all on an affordable budget with industry-leading service from Absolute Steel. If we’re trusted by companies and governments in almost every state in the union and in countries around the world, then you know we’ve got the materials for you to do your job right. Find out for yourself why these structures can be found protecting the US Coast Guard, Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and why they’re in use at universities, huge factories, parks, malls, and so many other places.

When you’re ready for a materials and shipping estimate, we’re ready to help. Give us a call.

See more on Absolute Steel Commercial Carports

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