12×20 Single-Car Carport

About This Design

A 12×20 footprint covers one vehicle with room to walk around it and still open both doors — no garage to build, just posts and a solid shingled roof. The framing follows the same post-and-beam engineering as our open-lattice pergolas (ADR 027), swapping the lattice for a shingled deck that actually sheds rain and snow.

Set the posts on a poured pad and there is no wall framing anywhere: no studs, no siding, no doors to hang.

Key Features

• 12×20 solid shingled roof on 6×6 posts
• Open-sided freestanding structure — no walls to frame
• Knee-braced 6×6 posts on standoff post bases — the same lateral detail as our pergolas
• Full cut list and materials BOM through the same framing engine as every plan

Build Notes

Set the posts on standoff post bases anchored to piers or the slab, run the beams and rafters per the framing drawings, then bolt a knee brace at every post-to-beam joint before sheathing and shingling the roof deck. The braces are the lateral load path — do not omit them; the engineering notes below give the through-bolts each brace end needs at the design wind.

The BOM covers posts, beams, rafters, roof sheathing, shingles, and hardware. Concrete for the pad is priced separately or supplied by others.

Best For

Right-sized for covered parking without the cost of a garage. Want an open-lattice shade structure instead of a solid roof? See our pergola plans.

Engineering Notes

The framing engine checks this carport's posts, knee braces, footings and roof uplift at 115 mph, Exposure B — the ASCE 7 basic wind speed across most of the interior United States. It is not a stamped design: a higher wind zone, an open or coastal site, or a jurisdiction that asks for sealed drawings needs a local engineer to review it.

• Knee-brace force 1108 lb on the 8 width braces (transverse wind) at 115 mph Exp B — use 2 × 1/2" through-bolts at each brace end in one row along the brace, 2″ apart, 3.5″ from the brace end (1377 lb, single shear, wet-service wind).