Author: clickgiant

There is a lot to love about cats. As pets, they can make life around your house endlessly fun and interesting – but you don’t necessarily want them crawling all over your car. If you have been dealing with the problem of cats making your vehicle something of a home base, we’d like to offer some advice in this article to appropriately deal with the problem.

At American Carports, Inc., metal carports are our specialty. Through the use of our simple Build & Price tool, it’s possible to design something that lines up nicely with your needs, suits your budget, and keeps the neighborhood cats away.

Car Covers Offer Physical Protection

As a starting point, you might think about buying a car cover to protect your vehicle while it is parked. If you are having a problem with cats crawling on your car and marking it up with scratches, the cover will protect the vehicle’s finish and keep it free from damage. As an added bonus, using a car cover will offer protection from other forms of potential damage, such as UV rays from the sun on a hot summer day.

Of course, the notable downside to a car cover is the work you need to do to take it on and off each day. When you head out to your vehicle in the morning, you’ll have to take the cover off – and then you’ll need to put it back on when you return home. This task doesn’t take particularly long, but it might get frustrating doing it day after day. As a result, you might find that you stop bothering with it at all after a while, and then it won’t provide any protection at all.

Try Various Repellant Options

If you don’t want to use a car cover to create a physical barrier between the cat and your car, there are various other techniques that people use to keep cats (and other animals) away. These tend to deliver inconsistent results, so you might have to try a few before you land on something that works.

• One of the common options to keep various types of animals away from a vehicle is to use mothballs. The smell of mothballs is quite unpleasant, and the cats may simply decide to look for somewhere else to hang out rather than dealing with the smell. Of course, that smell isn’t going to be enjoyable for you, either, so if placing them around your vehicle leads to an unwanted odor inside, this technique might not be a win in the end.
• Cayenne pepper. Another option for something you might have around the house is cayenne pepper. If you know where the cats tend to hang out, lightly dust that area with cayenne in an effort to keep them away. It might even work to sprinkle the pepper around the perimeter of the car on the ground so you don’t have to put it directly on the vehicle.
• Buy commercial products. There are plenty of products on the market that are intended to help keep cats away from your vehicle, so you might choose to purchase one of these sprays to see how it works for you.

Address the Root of the Problem

Some of the repellant techniques might pay off for you, at least for a while, but they are a hassle and probably not a good long-term solution. Do you want to sprinkle pepper around your vehicle every night before bed? Probably not. At some point, the best thing you can do is address the problem and figure out where the cats are coming from and why they are hanging around your vehicle.

Who owns the cats? Can you ask that they be kept inside, or at least off of your property? Maybe even asking that the cat’s nails are cut shorter so no damage is done to your vehicle would be a possibility. While it might not always be possible, finding a way to address the issue of stray cats entirely would be the best outcome for all involved.

Keep the Cats Away with American Carports

While the methods we mentioned above all have the potential to be effective strategies for keeping cats away, there is nothing quite like parking your vehicle in a protected space. Building a metal garage with the help of American Carports, Inc. will put a physical barrier before your car and the neighborhood cats. We’d love to help you bring this project to life! Get started on your next project today with our simple Build & Price tool. If you have any questions along the way, our team is always here to help!

One of the easiest ways to get your vehicle looking great is to give it a wash. As dirt and grime build up mile after mile, your car can start to look pretty nasty. Most car owners give it no second thought, and a quick trip through the car wash it is.

Not so fast. There is some concern that the act of washing your car could actually be harmful in the long run. Is that true? This article is going to dive into this topic and help you understand the big picture of what car washes can do to your car and how to make them a healthy part of your car maintenance plan.

If you are someone who takes car care seriously, you would probably love to park your vehicle under a roof, rather than out in the open. For that, turn to Carport Kingdom to add an affordable carport or metal garage to your property. You might be surprised by how easy this project can be, and when you order from us, the building you receive can be expected to last for many years to come. Start by trying our Build & Price tool, and contact us if you have any questions along the way!

Are Car Washes Bad for Your Car?

Determining whether or not a car wash is going to damage your vehicle depends entirely on how the car is being washed. Generally speaking, automatic car washes – the kind you pay a few dollars to drive through – are going to be pretty rough on your vehicle’s finish.

Sure, the car might look sparkly when you drive away, but some damage was likely done that could come back to haunt you later on. Some automatic car washes are better than others, but you can assume that at least a little damage will be incurred when you take this option.

As you might imagine, hand washing is far better for your vehicle in terms of avoiding damage. Sure, you might still create some tiny little scratches, but if you do the job carefully, your vehicle’s finish should come away in good shape and the car will be nicely cleaned when you are done. If at all possible, opt for hand washing over automatic car washes to help protect your vehicle’s finish in the long run.

The Best Way to Care for Your Car

Just skipping out on washing your car entirely isn’t the right way to approach this matter. After all, washing your car doesn’t just make it look nice, but it also has some protective benefits by taking dirt and grime off the vehicle that could gradually harm the finish over time. So, what you’ll want to do is come up with a plan that allows you to keep your car clean throughout the year without inflicting too much unintentional harm along the way. Here are some tips to do just that –

• Mostly hand wash. We aren’t going to say that you should never take your vehicle through an automatic car wash, because that might not be reasonable for your situation. But we do think you should wash your car by hand most of the time, if at all possible. Then, the occasional automatic wash won’t be a big deal, especially if you visit a quality facility with good equipment.
• Buy good gear. Speaking of quality equipment, be sure to invest in good supplies to perform your hand washes. That means buying nice towels and brushes to work on your vehicle, and even spending a little more on quality car wash soap. The small things can make a big difference in the results you get for your efforts, so build a good kit of car wash gear and your time is sure to be well spent.
• Apply some wax. If you are willing to go through the extra step of adding some wax after you wash your car, you’ll be creating a protective layer that can help keep the vehicle’s finish in good condition. You don’t have to do this after every wash, but keep it in mind when you have some extra time and want your vehicle to look its very best.

Protect Your Vehicle with American Carports

After taking the time to care for your vehicle, it would be a shame to allow your car to be harmed by the conditions that Mother Nature might throw your way. To keep your vehicle protected, consider parking under a metal structure from Carport Kingdom. Our carports are affordable, impressively durable, and can be styled to look great alongside your home or other buildings. We are excited to work with you on this project. Start by trying our Build & Price tool, and contact us if you have any questions along the way!

For many folks across the U.S., you can count on plenty of snowy days when winter comes around. When driving in freezing conditions, we all know that maintaining traction on the road is critical for safety. If you are thinking about ordering snow tires for your vehicle, there are a few questions to ask yourself first. Are snow tires worth it? And, are they the best option for you? Here’s what you need to know before you make a purchase.

Beyond the possibility of adding snow tires to your vehicle, another nice step you can take for winter comfort and convenience is adding a carport to your property. By using covered parking throughout the winter, you’ll enjoy plenty of benefits. Keeping snow off your vehicle is only the beginning! You can also look forward to other perks, including reducing your chances of the dreaded dead winter car battery. Check out the possibilities with our Build & Price tool, and contact us directly if you have any questions along the way!

Snow Tires vs All-Season Tires

When it comes to choosing between snow tires or all-season tires, snow tires will almost always outperform all-season tires under snowy and icy conditions. Snow tires work by giving you better traction, more stability, and better stopping power. All-season tires really can’t come close when it comes to what snow tires are capable of on frosty roads.

While it’s common knowledge that snow tires are made for winter conditions, you might not be aware that these kinds of tires actually help your vehicle’s performance even when it’s not snowing.

There are a couple of notable ways in which snow tires are different from standard, all-season tires. First is the tread pattern. Where the tread layout on standard tires might get clogged up by snow and ice on the roads, a snow tire is engineered to get that snow buildup out of the treads as fast as possible. This means that the treads stay exposed to the road, rather than getting clogged as soon as you start driving, and you maintain a better grip on the road as a result.

Another factor that is regularly overlooked, but just as important, is the tread compound used to create snow tires. The rubber of a standard all-season tire is going to get quite hard in the cold weather, and the surface of the tire can be slick and rigid as a result. That does not lead to good grip in winter conditions. Dedicated winter tires will feature a softer compound, so cold temperatures don’t present those same issues. This wouldn’t work particularly well in warm weather, but that’s why they are designated for cold climates – the soft compound is a great option in such a setting.

Managing Snow Tires

As mentioned above, some of the characteristics of snow tires are not suitable for warmer conditions. For this reason, most people who own a set of snow tires take them on and off their vehicle depending on the season. They use all-season tires throughout the warmer parts of the year and snow tires when the temperatures start to drop. Yes, this means owning two sets of tires, but you get far better performance throughout the year as a result.

Just like with any other set of tires, you want to keep them inflated to an appropriate level based on the recommendations for the tire and your vehicle. You’ll also need to think in advance about your storage solution for this set of tires when they aren’t on your vehicle, so be sure you have a garage or other space available where four tires can live for half of the year.

The Financial Picture

It would be easy enough to think that having snow tires is going to be more expensive than just going with all-season tires, since you have to own two sets rather than one. But each of those sets is only working for half the year – so they will wear down half as quickly as they would if on your vehicle for all twelve months. In the end, if your tires are managed properly and kept at a suitable pressure level, you should wind up spending the same amount of money in the long run, and you’ll get much better traction in varied driving conditions.

Stay Covered this Winter with American Carports

Adding a set of snow tires is a great way to care for your vehicle and to keep you safe on the road during the cold winter months. While you are thinking about what you can do for your vehicle this winter, also consider the addition of a parking structure from American Carports, Inc. With a quality set of winter tires and a protected place to park when not on the road, you’ll be ready for whatever the season has in store. Check out the possibilities with our Build & Price tool, and contact us directly if you have any questions along the way!

Carports are not a one-size-fits-all type of structure. While you can probably picture a “basic” carport that is little more than a roof with a few legs for support, that’s just a starting point for what can be created when building a new carport. We’d like to use this article to provide some fun, unique carport design ideas to consider for your upcoming project.

Speaking of that project, working with American Carports, Inc. is the best way to make sure you’ll get a quality structure at a fair price! With our free Build & Price tool, you can be sure that the carport you receive is going to nicely match your needs. Contact us today to learn more!

#1 – A Detached Garage

There is no rule that says you have to park your vehicle right up next to your house. In fact, in some cases, it will make more sense to establish a parking spot that is comfortably away from the home. By designing your carport to serve as a detached garage, you could even include some enclosed storage space in the back of the structure for garden tools, lawn chairs, etc. This is an affordable way to add the garage-like building you’ve always wanted, in a spot on your property that makes the most sense.

#2 – A Small Roof

Sometimes, all you need is a modest covered space to keep some of your things out of the weather. You might not even need a place to park – you could simply design a small carport to protect some supplies or maybe outdoor toys like a kayak or canoe. Whatever the case, building with American Carports, Inc. will allow you to customize the design of your small carport to make sure it has the right footprint for the space you have available.

#3 – Create a Covered Entry

We talked earlier about not putting your carport right up next to the house, but with this idea, that’s exactly what you are going to do. In this case, your carport will serve as a covered entry, perhaps taking the form of a lean-to that is built close enough to your existing house to let you park and walk inside without a single drop of rain landing on your head. If you have always wanted an entry that was protected from the elements but other construction options were beyond your available budget, this could be a great solution.

#4 – The Carport Workshop

Who says a workshop has to be a fully enclosed space? While four full walls will be needed for some types of workspaces, you could turn your metal carport into a functional shop with the right planning and by selecting some key features offered by American Carports, Inc. Specifically, think about which sides of the carport you will want to have protected from the elements, and be sure to add walls on those sides to keep the inside nice and dry. You can also customize the height of the structure to be sure that any projects you decide to work on will fit underneath without any trouble.

#5 – An Entertaining Space

Your new carport doesn’t have to be functional at all in terms of parking or storage – you could opt to use it simply as a covered patio for friends and family to relax and hang out. Again, metal carports are an affordable way to add a roof to your property without diving into more expensive forms of construction. And, since you can easily customize our designs to add the right colors and styling for your tastes, you’ll be as happy with how this carport looks as you are with how it performs.

#6 – Animal Refuge

Here’s another possibility that may serve you well – designing a carport to serve as a comfortable place for animals to get in and out of the weather, when needed. If you own property that is home to large animals – such as horses, for example – creating a carport space that they can retreat to when the weather gets particularly hot will upgrade their quality of life right away. It’s also easy to add enclosed storage space to this kind of carport, helping you store some of your animal-related supplies without taking up room elsewhere on the property.

Start Building Here

We hope the list above helps spark some creative thinking on what form your new carport could take as it is designed and built. Explore our free Build & Price tool to discover your options! And, be sure to reach out to American Carports, Inc. if you need any help along the way. Our team is ready to help answer your questions and bring your project to life! Thanks for your time and we hope to serve you soon!

In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, the last thing you want to worry about is car care. Fortunately, there’s still time to prepare for the cold and snowy season ahead. To help you get started, read on for seven easy tips for winter car storage.

#1 – Protect Your Engine

Corrosion is a big concern anytime your car sits idle for long periods, and fresh oil helps keep your engine parts lubed up and protected from this problem happening in the first place.

#2 – Avoid Flat Spots

Fill your tires up to the appropriate air pressure before you park the vehicle for the winter. If you put the vehicle away with too little air in the tires, those tires might develop flat spots while the car sits for months. Also, if at all possible, it’s wise to move the vehicle just slightly throughout the season. For example, you might decide to move the car just a foot or so on the first day of every month during the winter. That minor movement will change the contact patch where the tire is touching the ground, helping to avoid flat spot issues.

#3 – Extend the Life of Your Battery

If you leave the battery connected to your car throughout the winter, it almost certainly will be dead when you return in the spring. Even if the car is off, the connected battery will slowly drain away. With that said, some cars recommend against storing them without the battery, so check on storage information for your make and model and make your plans accordingly. If you do need to leave the battery in the vehicle, invest in a trickle charger to keep it topped off along with a battery blanket. These items are relatively affordable and can go a long way toward keeping your battery in good condition throughout the storage period.

#4 – Think About the Tank

There isn’t a consensus on what you should do with your gas tank when it comes time to store a vehicle for a while. On the one hand, some people believe it’s best to fill the tank to the top and leave it full for the winter. However, on the other side, some think draining it out is the right solution.

So, who’s right? Well, that’s hard to say, but it seems like going with a full tank is going to be your best bet. What you don’t want to happen during the winter is for water condensation to accumulate in the tank and lead to corrosion. With a full tank, you don’t have to worry about that issue.

#5 – Consider Rodents

Mice and rats aren’t shy about looking for anywhere they can hide out that is dark and comfortable. Unfortunately, that description matches perfectly with your vehicle when it is in storage mode, so you might find yourself discovering some unwanted guests in the car when spring comes around. Make it a point to prepare for this possibility at the start of storage season so you can reduce the chances that critters will make your car their new home for the holidays.

As a starting point, you might opt to use some mouse or rat traps around the area where your vehicle will be stored. This is a good first line of defense, as you might manage to catch some of the potential invaders before they have a chance to explore the vehicle. In addition to the traps, try to block off the easy paths for critters to get into your car, such as the exhaust pipe. Of course, it’s essential to remove these impediments before you run the car again, so make a note for yourself and put it on the steering wheel or driver’s seat.

#6 – Run the Engine

This is another one of those points that see plenty of disagreement between various parties, so you’ll need to decide where you land on this point and then proceed accordingly. With that said, it is believed by some that it’s a good idea to start the vehicle once in a while during the winter just to let the fluids move around and keep everything from getting stagnant. Even if you aren’t going to drive anywhere, you can just run the engine for a few minutes and then shut it back down again. This is an easy enough point to manage, but you will have to temporarily undo some of your winterizing measures and then put them back in place once the engine is off.

#7 – Take Cover

Parking in a protected spot is the best thing that you can do for your vehicle during the winter, whether you’re storing it or not. Keeping the persistent rains and snows off of your vehicle, and keeping it sheltered from falling debris, will make it much easier to keep your prized car in prime condition until the weather improves. Better yet, parking in an insulated garage or carport will offer an extra layer of protection from harsh temperatures.

Prepare for the Holiday Season with American Carports

There are plenty of great strategies for storing your car in the winter, but nothing quite compares to the effectiveness of a durable metal building from American Carports, Inc. If you’re ready to explore your options, start with our free Build & Price tool. Financing is available, and our 20-year warranty is always included. If you have any questions along the way, our team is always here to help!

Owning a boat is a great way to have fun exploring local waters with family and friends – but it can be a lot of work to store and maintain. If you don’t have a good plan for how you are going to store the boat you plan to purchase, consider buying a carport for your boat.

With a carport on your property that is specifically intended to serve as a home for your boat, you’ll always have a covered place to park the vessel when it is not in use. Read on for five careful considerations before making your purchase! Or, if you’re ready to start customizing the perfect home base for your boat, explore our free Build & Price tool today.

Start Building

#1 – Choose a Location

Choosing a location for your carport is the most important part of your project. You need to figure out where on your property this new home base will live and how you’ll get your boat in and out of the carport. Remember, you’ll have to be able to drive right up to the carport to drop off the boat along with enough room to maneuver your boat while it’s on the trailer. Only move forward with the project once you have figured out exactly where the carport will be constructed.

#2 – Consider Legal Issues

You may have to deal with some administrative steps before you can build a carport. For people who live way out in the country with no neighbors for miles, this likely won’t be an issue; regulations are minimal in such areas, but it’s smart to double-check anyway. On the other hand, if you live in a city or a neighborhood with an HOA, there will be plenty of rules to consider. Get this information sorted out from the start before you place an order and schedule a date for construction. The last thing you want to do is take your new carport down because it wasn’t allowed to be there in the first place.

#3 – Get the Sizing Right

If the point of this new carport is to serve as a home for your boat, make sure that it’s big enough to fit your boat along with a few accessories. Remember, you’ll need to back your boat into the carport while it’s on a trailer, so give yourself a little margin for error to be safe. If the carport is barely wider than the boat trailer, you’ll spend a lot of time trying to get perfectly lined up for each approach.

In addition to the width of the carport also consider the length and height of the boat. It’s not only the height of the boat itself that matters but also its height when trailered. Check all these dimensions and allow some margin on all sides to be safe.

#4 – More Than One Purpose?

While you are building a new carport, you may also want to think about designing this structure such that it can do more than just serve as boat parking. For instance, you could create an enclosed space in the back of the carport for indoor storage, or you could make it wide enough to park both your boat and perhaps a jet ski or kayak. The marginal cost of making your carport bigger may be worth it in the end.

#5 – Foundation Decisions

If possible, a concrete foundation is ideal for your new carport. The weight of your boat and the process of moving it in and out is far easier with a concrete pad in place as opposed to loose gravel. Putting the concrete in place as soon as possible will set the stage for a smooth carport installation process.

Design Your Custom Carport

Choosing or designing the right carport for your boat is easy enough when you consider the basic points outlined above. You can be left with a durable, attractive structure that will protect your boat for many years to come.

If you are still interested in buying a carport for your boat, remember to explore our free Build & Price tool.

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Have you ever dreamed of creating a man shed that can serve as a place to call your own? Or maybe you’d like to surprise your significant other with this type of space as an unforgettable gift? Whatever the case, it can be hard to think of the perfect idea for a man shed space that will be used day after day for years to come. Read on to discover six of the best man-shed ideas!

If you’d like to use a metal shed for this project, remember to turn to American Carports, Inc. for that piece of the puzzle. Our metal buildings are durable, affordable, and easy to customize thanks to our free Build & Price tool. Start building today!

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#1 – A Project Space

When you first think of a man shed, you might think about somewhere that you’ll be able to simply sit down, relax, and enjoy some of your favorite passive activities. And, to be sure, that is a great option for this type of space – and there will be some of those types of ideas listed below.

But that’s not the only kind of man-shed idea that is worthy of your consideration. As an alternative, you could build a project space that will serve as a dedicated location for you to take part in your preferred hobby. For example, if you enjoy woodworking, or would like to learn woodworking as a hobby, you could dedicate your man shed to that endeavor. That’s just one of many possibilities, however, as you could use your shed to make room for nearly any kind of building, crafting, or repairing endeavor.

One thing to keep in mind when thinking about developing a project space is that you’ll need to have the right utilities available in the shed to work successfully. If you need electricity, for example, keep that in mind and plan for it as part of the budget for the shed project. You may also need a water supply, depending on what you’ll be doing. These kinds of requirements aren’t deal-breakers for an idea, but remember to consider all elements before diving in and getting started.

#2 – Build a Collection

Do you love to collect items from a specific brand, or within a general category? If you consider yourself a collector, there is nothing better than having an ideal space to gather up all of those things and display them to be enjoyed by yourself and others. It’s often difficult to fit a collection in your home, and others in your house might not share the same enthusiasm for these items. By making your man shed space for the collection, you get to keep the things you love without impacting others in the house negatively.

As you plan out your shed, keep in mind the needs of your collectibles so you can make sure the space is suitable for their display. Some items will be sensitive to dramatic weather changes, for instance, so insulation might be necessary to keep the items in good condition. Also, do what you can to design the shed in such a way that you’ll be able to still get inside and enjoy the collection once inside. If it is so packed that you can hardly walk around, it will be tricky to use it as a relaxing space, and you won’t be able to show anyone else what you’ve accumulated.

#3 – Get Fit

A man shed is a great place to assemble some workout equipment with the goal of getting or staying fit. Whether you have long loved to work out regularly, or if you are hoping to make this a new hobby to improve your physical conditioning, having a space that is used specifically for this purpose will make your fitness goals a little easier to achieve.

The floor is a key component in a workout area, so be sure that yours is ready to handle the punishment that it might take. Even if you aren’t going to be lifting – and dropping – heavy weights inside the gym, there will still be the weight of workout equipment to support, as well as you running or jumping up and down. To make it more likely that you’ll use the shed for as many workouts as possible, consider including some creature comforts like a means of entertainment or some insulation to regulate the temperature.

#4 – Home Base for a Hobby

Our first idea was to use your shed as a workspace where you can engage in a favorite hobby. This time, we are going to focus again on a hobby, but this time it takes place outside of the shed and likely off of your property. So, you’ll be using the shed as something of a storage area where you can keep all of the things that you use for this activity, and while maybe reserving some space to do basic maintenance or cleaning so you are ready to go each time you head out for a new adventure.

Fishing is a great example of the type of hobby that could be served well by such a space. If you love to fish, you already know that there is a lot of gear associated with that activity. You’ll have fishing poles, lines, lures, weights, and much more. You might even have a small personal watercraft like a kayak to get out onto local lakes. With a carefully-designed shed, you can make a home for all of your fishing gear and you’ll always know where it is and be able to access it promptly.

#5 – It’s Game Time

Do you love to play games? A man shed is a wonderful place to make a game space that can be shared with family and friends. The types of games you choose to put into the shed will depend on what you like to play, of course, as well as how much room you have available. A sizeable shed could serve as a nice home to a pool table, while a smaller space can accommodate something like a dart board or a pinball machine.

In addition to the games, you’ll want to design your game shed such that it is a comfortable place to relax and hang out. Some soft chairs and a small fridge, for example, would go a long way toward encouraging you and your friends to use this space as often as possible. Don’t forget to include some decorations to give it a personal touch.

#6 – Slow It Down

In a world that seems to only move faster and faster, finding a place to slow down and relax is not always easy. By dedicating your man shed to a slower way of life, you’ll always have a place to go when you want to cut off the noise of the outside world and take a deep breath. Whether you want to use this space to read some interesting books or just to be alone with your thoughts, intentionally minimal design will help you make this man shed one of your favorite places in the world.

What it means to slow down and find a moment of peace will mean something different to you than everyone else. Think about what it is you would like to do when you have some time to escape to your man shed and how you would like that time to be different from the rest of your day. It would make sense to include a comfortable chair and a small table – but you might not choose to put much else in the shed. You’ll even want to keep the decorations on the minimal side to avoid creating too many modern distractions that will pull your mind away from the relaxed state that you are seeking.

Start Building Your Shed with American Carports

We hope you enjoyed this guide to the best man shed ideas. By now, we bet your wheels are turning in overdrive with all of the possibilities for this new space. Take some time to sort through your favorite ideas until you develop a finished vision that you just can’t wait to bring to life. For a metal shed that will serve as the home for your new man space, reach out to American Carports, Inc. today! Explore our free Build & Price tool to get started.

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For most people, owning a car means parking it outside. If you don’t have a garage – or enough available space in your garage for a vehicle to park – you’ll be leaving it out in the elements day after day. That can work out okay, but some issues may come up over the years, especially in rough climates. One of the most serious issues you can face due to weather conditions is rust. Read on for a guide on how to protect your car from rust.

As a great starting point, consider investing in a carport for your property so you can park under a roof and keep the vehicle dry when not in use. Explore our free Build & Price tool to get started!

Get Started

Protect the Paint

If you want to protect your car from rust, the first thing you need to do is protect the paint on your vehicle. Why is the paint so important? Simple – it’s the paint, and the clear coat over the paint, that is doing the job of protecting the underlying metal from rust. If holes develop in that protecting coating, moisture will have the opening it needs to get in and start to oxidize the metal.

So, fighting against rust is really a matter of making sure the exterior of your car remains in good condition. For starters, if you see any damage to your paint job, don’t just ignore it and think it’s only a cosmetic issue. Even if you don’t mind the fact that the paint looks damaged, you’d be wise to have this spot fixed because it will restore the protective layer that your vehicle uses to keep rust at bay. Every once in a while, walk around your car or truck slowly to look for signs of damage to the paint and have repairs performed if you notice any problems.

Car Washes Are Important

It might be surprising to find out that getting your car wet can help prevent it from rusting, but that’s exactly the case. When you wash your vehicle regularly, you remove dirt and small bits of debris that could gradually damage the paint – and lead to the issues we were talking about above. With consistent washing, the exterior stays free from build-up and you’ll be less likely to run into problems with your paint and clear coat as the years go by.

On the topic of car washing, consider doing it by hand if at all possible. Yes, driving through a local commercial car wash is convenient, but it’s also a harsh way to wash the vehicle and you might wind up damaging the exterior slightly as a result. It doesn’t take particularly long to wash a car or truck by hand, and the supplies to do so are relatively affordable. Collect a small kit of car washing supplies and get into the habit of performing this task regularly.

Refresh the Protective Layer

When a vehicle drives off the dealership lot, it has a clear coat over the paint that protects the paint job and the metal beneath. Over time, however, that clear coat is going to diminish, and the protection will be reduced. You can build back up this protective layer by waxing your vehicle’s exterior. That’s right – waxing your car is about more than just making it look great, although it will do that, as well. By waxing the car once or twice a year by hand, you’ll restore some protection and help stave off rust for as long as possible.

Park Under a Roof

We hope you enjoyed this helpful guide on how to protect your car from rust! We mentioned this point in the introduction, but it’s worth reiterating here – parking in a protected spot will go a long way toward caring for the condition of your vehicle over the coming years. Parking in a garage is a great idea, but parking under a carport will do largely the same thing at a fraction of the cost.

If you’re ready to protect your vehicle, explore our free Build & Price tool to get started!

Start Building

It’s easy to understand the appeal of working and living in an RV. With the freedom of exploring the countryside always close at hand and the reduced expenses associated with this living arrangement, your life can be instantly transformed. With that said, making the switch to this type of lifestyle can be intimidating, and you’ll want to have a detailed plan in place before getting started. Read on to learn how to start working toward this kind of lifestyle!

And once you’ve found your home base for your RV, keep your RV covered with American Carports. Our free Build & Price tool is a fun way to create a design that is perfect for your RV!

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Secure the Right Work

Before you think about working and living in an RV, first and foremost, you need to make sure you have the right kind of career. Specifically, you’ll need to have a position that can be performed remotely most – if not all – of the time. If you have to go into a physical office in a specific location day after day, you won’t be able to extract value from living in an RV.

Also, the space you have to work will be limited in an RV, so take that into account. Most people who live and work in a camper need nothing more than a laptop to perform their duties. If you need more equipment, it might not be possible to handle your job successfully while living on the road.

Acquire a Suitable RV

If you don’t already own an RV, the next step will be buying something that is going to serve your needs on the road. Factors to consider include the following –

• How many people? Will you be living the RV life on your own, or do you have a significant other to consider? What about kids, or pets? This is the biggest factor in the type and size of RV that you purchase.
• Account for extra room. An RV that you are going to live and work in will almost certainly need to be larger than an RV that you just travel in for occasional vacations. You’ll have more things to keep on board, and you’ll want a little extra space to spread out.
• Determine a reasonable budget at the start of the process and then do what you can to find an RV that stays within that limit while also meeting your needs.

You don’t necessarily need to purchase a brand-new RV to make this transition, as plenty of quality used RVs are available on the market. The budget you have available will go a long way toward determining whether a new or used model is a better fit.

Plan Smart Destinations

To be able to travel and work, you are going to require certain things like internet access and the ability to plug into a power source. That means, most of the time, that destinations deep in the woods won’t be as suitable as RV parks and campgrounds that are developed with some modern amenities. Pay specific attention to the quality of internet service at various places – even if a given campground has Wi-Fi, it might not be good enough for your work to be completed.

Start with a Trial

If you currently own a home, don’t dive too deep into this process before testing out the waters. Consider taking a month or so away from home to live and work in an RV to see how it goes. Is the lifestyle everything you thought it would be? Can you see yourself and your family doing this permanently? Everything comes with pros and cons, so it’s best to test it out and see how it goes before making too many decisions that you can’t easily reverse.

Stay Covered with American Carports

Is transitioning to working and living in an RV going to be right for you? Only time will tell! If you are interested in this possibility, learning as much as you can about the subject is a great place to start. We hope this article has been helpful.

Remember to explore our free Build & Price tool when you’re ready to create a home for your new RV!

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