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How to Anchor a Carport to Dirt, Gravel, Asphalt, or Concrete

Learn all about anchors for carports, how to anchor your carport, and how to prepare a level dirt, gravel, asphalt, or concrete foundation for a carport.

Bolt in concrete

You don’t want your carport to fly way like a kite. Securely anchoring your carport can keep your carport from suddenly disappearing during a windstorm. Regardless of where you live, anchoring your carport to the ground is a must.

Types of Anchors for Carports

Concrete bolts are used to anchor a carport to concrete.

Rebar anchors can be used to anchor a carport to the ground, gravel, or asphalt.

Mobile home anchors (sometimes called earth anchors) are a more secure way to anchor a carport to dirt or gravel.

How to Anchor a Carport to Dirt or Gravel

The most secure way to anchor your carport to dirt is with mobile home anchors. These anchors can be screwed into the ground by hand with a pry bar. Slip the pry bar into the notch at the top and make a half-turn twist. Repeat for a few hours until all your anchors are in and you’re totally exhausted.

Many people prefer to use power tools to make the job easier. If you know how to weld or you have a friend who can weld a few pieces of metal together, you can make your own improvised tool to connect to a power tool like an impact wrench. Here is a video showing someone anchoring a carport to gravel with a homemade tool:

How to Anchor a Carport to Concrete

If you have a concrete foundation, you should use concrete anchors to fasten the base rail of your carport to the concrete.

Concrete anchors should not be used near the edge of the concrete where they could cause the concrete to break. You should make sure the concrete anchor is at least 4 inches from the edge. The video below shows how to install a concrete anchor.

How to Anchor a Carport to Asphalt

When anchoring your carport to asphalt, you would pound a rebar anchor through the base rail, on through into the asphalt. Another option is to pound in the rebar anchor beside a post and bolt the post to the anchor.

Choosing a Suitable Area for Your Carport

One of the most important things to do after you decide to get a carport is to choose the best spot for it.

Ideally, you’ll want to put it on a level piece of ground. Of course, most areas of ground are not perfectly level by nature, so choose a place that is as close to level as possible.

Try to select an area of ground that is slightly elevated. This helps in the drainage process whenever there’s a rainstorm or a heavy snowfall. The water flows away from the carport instead of pooling around it and causing flooding. Taking some time to find the best location for your storage carport can prevent flooding, instability, and other types of damage.

Putting your carport on extremely rocky terrain means that you must clear away any large rocks in order to make the ground level. I suggest that you avoid the task of pulling humongous rocks out of the ground and go with a less rocky area.

It’s best to choose an area away from large trees. Branches can fall off older trees and damage your carport. If you put your carport near a large tree, you’ll probably have to spend time trimming its branches to prevent any collisions. Also, don’t put the carport next to any young trees. As trees grow, their branches may run into the walls or roof of your carport. Tree roots can also cause problems for your carport foundation.

After you decide where you’re going to put your carport, take some measurements of the area to make sure that there is enough space for your structure. Use wooden stakes and rope to mark the site.

Foundation for a Carport

There are four types of foundations for a carport: dirt, gravel, concrete, and asphalt.

A dirt foundation can work fine if you live in relatively dry area. If you get a lot of rain and water collects on the surface and pools in some places, then a dirt foundation is not the best idea for your carport.

A gravel base or concrete pad allows water to drain into the ground. Gravel is less expensive to use than concrete. Concrete is very durable, but a gravel foundation is sufficient for most carports

Specifics of Putting Down a Gravel Foundation

I recommend that you put down four to six inches of gravel for the base. You can even frame the base with wooden rails so the gravel will stay in the area around your carport. Look at the specific dimensions of the carport you want to buy and make the gravel base two feet longer and two feet wider than the structure. This way you’ll have a little room to walk around the structure and the extra space will help to keep the walls free of mud, dirt, and other debris.

You may want to choose gravel in the form of 3/4″ blue stone. You are looking for gravel that will provide the most effective drainage. Once you dump the gravel and spread it with a rake, you can use a bubble string level to make sure it is evenly distributed.

Concrete Slab for Your Carport

When thinking about how to level your yard for a carport, you may want to consider putting down a concrete slab. There are benefits that come with having a concrete slab. For one, you won’t have to park in standing water. Tires can suffer wear and tear if they are forced to sit in water for long periods of time. By putting down a slab, your tires will be on top of the concrete and under the protection of the carport.

The size of a concrete slab for a carport depends on the dimensions of the carport you choose. If you’re getting a carport from Alan’s Factory Outlet, use our concrete pad size calculator to figure out the exact size of foundation you need. When you buy a carport or garage from Alan’s Factory Outlet we anchor the structure to your level foundation.

If you are confident about your DIY skills, you can create the concrete slab yourself. Of course, it’s more costly to hire professionals due to the labor and equipment, but if you are unsure about handling the job the cost may be worth it.

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Alan Bernau Jr

Alan Bernau Jr. is the founder and owner of Alan’s Factory Outlet. He has helped more than 75,000 homeowners design and install custom carports and garages over the last 20 years.

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