Carport or Garage Shed? Choosing for a Barossa Block

If all you need is to keep the sun, hail and bird droppings off the car, the caravan or the tractor, a carport does the job with less steel and sheeting, and it goes up quicker. If you need to lock things up, keep dust and vermin out, or work inside, you want an enclosed garage shed. Plenty of Barossa blocks end up with both, and the neatest answer is often a shed with a carport bay under one roof.

We build steel carports and steel sheds across the Barossa and around our Mount Pleasant workshop, and supply both as kits. Here is how we would help you choose.

When a carport is the right call

• Shade and hail cover. A roof over the car keeps the interior cooler through a Barossa summer and the paint out of the hail.
• Tall vehicles. Caravans, boats, horse floats and trucks need height. An open carport can be built extra-high without the cost of tall walls and big doors.
• Airflow. Open sides let a hot engine or a wet boat dry out.
• Off the house or shed. A lean-to carport attached to the house or an existing shed uses one side of what is already there.
• Quick to build. Fewer parts, no cladding and no doors to hang.

Our carports come as a 3 x 6 m single, 6 x 6 m double, 6 x 9 m triple, or a custom size, with a gable, skillion or flat roof in your choice of Colorbond colour.

When an enclosed garage shed wins

• Security. Tools, quad bikes and anything worth stealing need walls and a roller door that locks.
• Dust and vermin. Out on a gravel road or next to a paddock, an enclosed shed keeps the dust off and the mice and birds out far better than a carport.
• A workshop. If you want a bench, power and somewhere to work in winter, it needs walls.
• Storage that stays dry. Driving rain gets into an open carport. Feed, hay, timber and anything cardboard want a closed shed.

Or both, under one roof

A layout we get asked about on rural living blocks is an enclosed shed for the tools and the car, with an open carport bay alongside for the caravan or boat. One roofline usually looks tidier than two separate structures, and it can go to council as one application. The 3D Shed & Carport Designer lets you lay out the bays, set the heights and check the van fits before you send it to Sean.

Sizing it for what goes in

1. List everything that has to fit, now and in five years. The second ute, the bigger van, the side-by-side.
2. Measure the tallest item with everything on it: the caravan with its air conditioner, the tractor with the ROPS up.
3. Leave room to open doors and walk around, and in a shed, room for the bench and shelving.
4. Think about turning in. On a narrow driveway, a wider opening saves a lot of reversing.

What the council looks at in the Barossa

Neither a carport nor a garage shed of useful size is exempt in SA. Only small outbuildings (15 m² or less, no higher than 2.5 m, roof span 3 m or less, plus siting rules) are excluded under Schedule 4, and there is no matching exemption for carports. So plan on development approval for either.

The Barossa Council's Build a shed guide says it looks at what the building is used for, its size and scale, how it sits relative to neighbours and the street, whether the materials and colours are non-reflective and suit the area, and that it is not over a wastewater disposal area or a council easement. As a general guide, sheds on town blocks in the Neighbourhood Zone are under 80 m² with walls under 3 m, and in the Rural Living Zone up to about 200 m² with walls under 4 m. Our guide to building a shed in the Barossa covers the whole process, and the PlanSA zoning tool tells you your zone.

For carport, verandah and pergola approvals across SA, see do I need council approval for a carport.

Still deciding?

Send Sean a photo of the spot and a list of what it has to cover, or design it in 3D first. We build across the Barossa, the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide and Murray Bridge from our Mount Pleasant workshop, or supply it as a kit. Call 0455 579 207.