Here in Spain the summer sun burns bright and clear most days of the year. And even in these cash-strapped times clear air, warm weather and balmy nights help us to remain cheerful, not having grey skies and repeated rain to contend with. However, too much sunshine without sun block doesn’t just frizzle skin but can cause similar damage to the paintwork of your car, leaving it susceptible to rust and general degradation. Keeping the old jalopy in good visible as well as mechanical shape makes financial sense for when you come to sell it on. It’s quite common to see paint damaged vehicles on the costas and in the mountain areas of Pinoso, Jumilla and Fortuna. We can’t smother the car in factor 30 but we can protect it with a carport.
Whether freestanding, adjoining an existing building or house, a carport provides cover from the fiercest sun, and built with timber and insulated roof panels it blends nicely in with the garden. A garage is an expensive item to have built, whereas a wooden carport assembled by a professional carpenter using treated, quality timber works out at a fraction of the cost. And adding ranch-style horizontal timber to the sides gives excellent, added protection. Also, with a wooden carport it can initially be built to house the car only, or as needs increase be quickly, easily and cheaply extended at a later date to cover logs, bicycles, jet skis and whatever needs to be protected from the worst of the elements. Another plus with a wooden carport is that climbing plants find timber easy to hold on to, and in no time the carport will have blended perfectly into the surrounding garden area as a feature.
Wood is a natural product and looks the part, opposed the glaring metal or bricks and mortar. With the insulated roof panels it is surprising how cool it can be inside. Based on the border of Murcia and Alicante, professional carpenters Woodworks Direct can build a high quality timber carport to any shape or size required. Using only quality, fully treated timber (essential for a sturdy, long lasting carport) their team will assemble your carport exactly where you want it, or for you DIY experts, provide a flat-pack carport complete with all the fixings and instructions. Every piece of timber is stained to a choice of colours, which gives the pre-treated wood added protection against bugs and the weather. It’s important to watch the bank balance these days, and leaving your car to languish in the sun will not help it in the long run. Paint damaged vehicles are near impossible to make good without a re-spray, which can be very expensive. With some older cars it makes them near impossible to sell and can reduce insurance replacement value considerably. So as much as we all love the sun here in Spain, remember it can also damage paint badly, fade interior fabric and eventually crack and make brittle anything plastic, and in a modern vehicle that is a fair chunk of the car. Get a timber carport. You will not regret the decision.
