We feature three roof styles in the carports, metal garages, barns, workshops, and other metal structures that we offer. They are the regular roof, the boxed eave
Our three roof systems are displayed above. At a quick glance, you might say that the left carport and the middle carport are the same. They do look similar and they have the A-Frame design but there are some major differences.
Take a close look at the orientation of the panels on the roof of those two units. On the vertical roof, the panels are running much like they would on a home or business roof, from the ridge down to the eave side or vertical. On the boxed eave roof carport, they are running from end to end or horizontal.
The benefit of the vertical roof is that water, snow, leaves, and other debris will have a much easier time running off that type of roof. Water, snow, and other debris will tend to lay in the ridges of a carport with panels oriented horizontally, like both the boxed eave and the regular roof. You never see panels on a home with horizontal panels.
"Why do you offer carports or garages with a horizontal roof?" Easy answer: People buy them because they are less expensive.
Other benefits of the vertical roof are that there’s more steel framing in the unit. A detailed inspection of the underside of the vertical roof unit shows there's hat channel running the length of the unit. That is in place to support the vertical panels and it does help the unit to be more rigid. There's deeper eave side trim on the vertical roof unit and deeper end trim. A ridge cap tops off the unit where the vertical panels meet at the apex of the roof.
The boxed eave unit's primary feature is that it is also an A-Frame unit. It has the appearance of a home roof-line or shape but has the horizontal roof panels. It has no hat channel nor ridge cap. The trim on the ends consists of a smaller L-Trim and our units do have eave side trim. Some companies do not offer eave side trim on the A-Frame with horizontal roof panels. The benefit to owning this unit is that for less than the price of the vertical roof, you can own an A-Frame carport.
The regular style unit's primary feature is that it provides a shelter and the benefit is that it is very economically priced. Because of the bend transition on the the legs or posts, there's less labor in the unit and there's no eave side trim, no ridge cap, no hat channel, making it the most economical unit that we carry.
Hopefully, we've given you more information to assist you with making the best decision possible. If you're shopping price, a regular style or boxed eave unit may be the right choice for you. If you want the best, long-lasting roof system that's virtually maintenance free, then the vertical roof is the only way to go.
