Despite all the well meaning advice, I am planning to get a boat in the near future. As part of this, I am planning to have a metal boat cover built. I am looking for advice and recommendations.

I am located down in League City/Kemah. I have a vacant lot to build this on. The lot is long and pretty narrow, so I am a little constrained by width. It also must look nice, as I am also constrained by the wife's agreement on this. Cost is also a consideration.

My current plan, in my head at least, is a metal 'carport' that is about 25 or 30 feet by 20-25 feet. I would also like an small room attached to this. The websites I have looked at show I can add a 5' room onto the end of this easily.

How tall does this need to be? I don't have the boat yet, but maybe it will have a T top. I am talking about a center console bay boat here, not some tuna offshore monster. Do I need a slab under the outside portion of this? Or would some lattice block or rocks be good? I imagine I will need a slab under the room part. How thick should I go? I am planning to build it wide enough for two 'bays', but would consider single wide if costs get too steep.

When I google builders, all I get are national companies. Any local installers yall recommend? I am sure I will have other questions, but that should be a good start.

Since you are building it from scratch you might as well put a slab under the whole thing. I think you will regret it later otherwise.

Also, it would be super nice to have your boat bay pull through. Is your lot wide enough to accommodate a loop around to the back?

Slab if nothing else should help you keep your cover should the wind pick up.

I have several fishing boats down near Kemah / Clear Lake shores. I keep my bigger boat in a marina and the smaller boat in storage. I have a 24-25 foot El Pescador fishing boat, you will need at least a 35 foot long storage shed. You need 8-10 foot longer than the boat because of the trailer hitch and motor sticking out in the front. My small boat has a T top on it and it requires at least 11- 12 foot high door, 14 foot door preferred. Don't go too small, if your building it go at min 35 foot long but 45 foot preferred. 12 foot wide is plenty for a small boat but wider is much nicer for storage your boat junk. One good way to figure your total length is go look at some boats on a trailer that are for sale and measure them with a tape, trailer hitch and motor will add 8-10 foot length usually

I have built plenty of shed and barndo's …. They are simple to build and price will depend on if your enclosing it with a a big door or leaving it open style more like an open carport. Roll up doors are cheap and will / can break in high winds, regular wind rated garage doors are much better for that area if your enclosing it.

Send me a PM if you want- I know how to do all this stuff and can give you some advice.

Also remember Kemah is in a hurricane rated area, you don't have to build it to wind code standards but you won't be able to insure it if you don't build to wind code.

Only advice I have is that most credible boat manufacturers will give you "overall length on trailer with motor in down position" specifications in their product specs. With that being said, also most credible manufacturers offer "swing away tongues" so you don't have to build your building so long to accommodate long trailer tongues.
Most boat companies will give you both overall lengths with both a swing away tongues and standard tongue.
Swing away tongues are now standard with lots of your better boat companies. The swing away tongues can save up to 4' or more in total length.
My experience has been that if you don't fully enclose your boat in a building with four sides, you will still need a decent storage cover or the boat is going to still get sun, blowing rain, dust, moisture, etc.
Plan larger than you now think you need for future boats
and as another post said it's really nice to have garage doors at both ends so you drive through to park it instead of backing in. That is just a nice convenience if you can do it. Being able to open both ends also is nice when it's hot and you want to work on the boat and have some air flow.
Another thing is to plan your electrical so you can have a convenient place to plug in your battery charger for the boat batteries without having to run a long extension chord.

If you are working on a budget I personally would build the best building you can that is totally enclosed. Perhaps a perimeter concrete foundation the building can set on and utilize a gravel floor with the perimeter foundation planned for a concrete floor you can pour at a latter date to save on initial cost.

ETA: Sun (UV rays), heat and moisture are the biggest nemesis to your boat's gel coat finish and its interior. Secondly, rats and mice are something I see constantly doing damage to boats in storage.
Having a good structure to minimize the above is paramount to keeping a boat nice for the long term.

Where are you located?

Kemah

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Kemah

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let me add that my buddy has a hurricane rated design for a building like you would need using wood pilings and metal sheeting, it looks like a metal shed or carport but its cheaper than standard metal buildings. He also has it "wind rated" with an engineer's stamp so it can be insured if desired. He builds these down along the coast in Port Lavaca / Sea Drift / POC area... they are nice sheds and cost quite a bit less than a regular metal building. IF you are interested let me know. They look really nice too
Here's an enclosed one he just built- wind rated. It will also have a wind rated garage door on the front. He builds them as carports / rv sheds as well. he is building some of these for some big ranch down there that wanted some nice sheds around their ranch. I think this one is 24 wide x 40 deep..

Those look really nice.

Milwaukee. Thought I would add that we have lots of folks always ask us about garage sizes vs. boat size and our general rule of thumb is take the boat length and add 8' - 10' for garage length. This is full towing length for standard non swing away tongue design trailers and motor in towing position. So if you are looking at a 24' boat think 32'-34' of garage to be on the safe side. This can vary by boat and trailer manufacturer of course but it is a good "safe side" guide.

heres his simple design carports for rvs, boats, etc.. I think this carport is around 165 ft x 55 ft deep, but each bay is around 27-29 ft by 50 feet deep. Also, you can add sides to these carports, we have one that goes down to 8ft on 3 sides and the front is open

I would love a pull thru full enclosed, but I don't think that is in the budget right now. Maybe

That looks great. Is that a flat roof, or is there some pitch that doesn't show well in the pics?

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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That looks great. Is that a flat roof, or is there some pitch that doesn't show well in the pics?

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the roof has quite a bit of pitch, its easy to change (its easier to see the pitch if you get on a regular computer with a bigger monitor), just chainsaw or cut off the pilings to your desired pitch and height... I could help you build one of these, you just pay all the cost. I have a house down in Clear Lake Shores so Im down there every other week or so. Let me know if you want some help, this design looks good and is somewhat cheaper than a regular carport or metal building

We are looking at building a 90 foot X 60 foot deep carport / rv style one out at our ranch down south of San Antonio,

Heck of an offer. I am a little ways out from taking action. After I get it all figured out on my end, I might hit you up on that.