Car Cover

I know we have discussed car covers before but it was a long time ago. I thought perhaps some of you might be able to give us some suggestions
We are seriously thinking about storing Lil Sis in our yard this winter. We have an area that is fenced on three sides that is next to the garage. The ground in this area is covered with patio stones and gravel, like a checker board. We are thinking about parking Lil Sis there and covering her with a good quality car cover.
So what we are looking for is car cover suggestions and storing out door tips.

 

My only experience with car covers are the cheap ones I use in the garage or when moteling. They are only good for keeping dust and prying eyes off.
The different adds for more expensive padded covers sound good. But where you are I'd be more concerned about moisture from under the car causing problems.

Then again you might start with a cheap vinyl shelter like I use on my drive way. They need to be well anchored down from wind and may not handle 12' of snow like you get. Even with those you'd need the car cover.
Maybe you should consider moving to Florida!

 

Florida does sound tempting but if your moving away there would be no sense to my moving there. If I was to move out of province I would probably check out Tedy's neighbourhood. We don't usually get 12' of snow as we did last year. Our snow is much the same as New Hampshire and Maine. Nice and fluffy. You know what ever you guys spend us up the coast.

 

Just my 2 bits but if you are going to store the car outside I's suggest one of these below, usually $250 Canadian at Costco. Downside to where you live, you would have to on top of snow removal so it does not collapse on the car. AND make sure you have it mounted to the ground so it doesn't blow away on you. I had a free one some years back, was awesome...... until a wind storm and a few branches from the oak tree poked several holes in it, so that's another thing to consider.... don't have it under and or close to big trees.



Another thing to consider and you don't have to get as fancy, build a basic one, plywood the sides and if not get a car cover.

 

Except for local zoning laws, building a small struture like Tedy shows is the cheapest and most permanent. Then used plywood or even cheap tarps along the sides will keep the weather out. Or even corregated roofing panels for the top and sides.
If you live in a HOA or picky city zoning can determine what you can do. Usually nothing or a structure that costs more than the wagon.
That's why you need to buy our five acres in the Florida boonies and build whatever you want.

Our other house up north has a similar breezeway between the house and garage. All I neeed to do is get Dollie to paint the front header board.

 

I think my wagon would fit in there...

 

Sorry for the delay. Since my PC died hubby and I have been taking turns with his laptop. He's not on line much except to play a few card games. It has been challenging learning to use his laptop. I was successful this evening finally finding the pictures that loaded last week.

We have decided to go with a car shelter instead of a cover. With the car at home instead of in storage we will be able to run the engine from time to time and perhaps as weather permits tinker with a few things. So this is where she will be spenting the winter...



The cover is now on the frame but I don't have a picture yet. I'll get one
later, it's tricky, it's dark when I leave in the morning and dark when I get home in the evening.
It was tight getting her parked in there but hubby managed it one day when I was at work. We had to assemble the frame around the car. In the spring we'll have to do the same thing in reverse to get her out of there. She is definitely cozy.

 

She definitely will be covered. I'd suggest some cinder blocks on at least three of the outer legs to keep that shelter from going airborne during a bad windstorm and kicking Li'l Sis like it's an enraged bull.

 

i would fasten some strapping in the inside to stiffen up the frame the blocks will help but looks like the fence and house should block most of the wind.

 

Looks a like a good place to park the wagon. On mine I put PVC pipe in the center holes of cement blocks and cemented them in. The shelter poles slip inside the short PVC and are held with bolts thru both the PVC pipe and shelter down legs. I also added support ropes like tent poles have.
After having two of the cheap ones up on our cement drive for years one was destroyed by high winds. We don't get snow but I'd worry about that too.

 

look into a cover called a car coon

 

Yours look very similar to the one I have, but mine has cross supports that go between each upright at the bottom. I had a bunch of 12" iron stakes from my lodge tent and drove one into the base of each upright. It has held up in a couple of storms we've had with winds up to 60 mph.

One thing to be aware of.......whenever there is a temperature inversion, moisture will be sucked from the ground and condense inside the cover. Then it will drip on to the car and can cause rusting if the parts are bare or just in primer. You have to be aware of this and open the end flaps to let things dry out. Check it frequently. Don't just park it and forget it.

 

You are welcome to park it there but we'll have to crawl over it or through it to get in and out of the house. No one uses the front door. But we'll all wear soft tennis shoes, unless it's snowing and then maybe our engineer boots.

 

Good idea. I was thinking about condensation inside the car caused by temperature fluctuation. We'll probably crack the windows a bit.

 

I used to put some sort of crystals in my cars to absorb the moisture. But it cost too much after awhile and I had to constantly dump the water out. Obviously it worked. Rather than crack the windows it may be less costly to roll a few down an inch.