Carports and Canadian Snow: What the Ratings Actually Mean

Every carport we sell publishes a snow load rating. Almost nobody who calls us knows what to compare it against, and that is fair enough, because the number only means something once you know what winter actually does where you live.

Here is how to read the rating, and what matters more than the rating itself.

What a snow load rating actually measures

Snow load is expressed in pounds per square foot. It is the weight the roof is engineered to carry, spread evenly across it. It is not a depth measurement, and that catches people out.

Two feet of light, dry January powder and two feet of wet March snow are not remotely the same load. The wet snow can weigh several times as much for the same depth. Add a freezing rain event on top and the weight climbs again, because ice is dramatically heavier than snow per inch.

So the question is never "how deep does it get here". It is "how much does what falls here weigh".

Our snow load calculator does that conversion for you. Put in the depth and type of snow you actually get and it returns pounds per square foot, which is the number you can compare against a carport's rating.

The three things that matter more than the number on the spec sheet

1. Whether snow slides off your house roof onto it

This is the single most common way a carport gets overloaded, and no spec sheet accounts for it.

If you are putting a carport alongside the house and your roof sheds toward it, you are not loading the carport with the snow that falls on the carport. You are loading it with the snow from a much larger roof area, arriving all at once, often wet and compacted. That is a completely different problem and it is worth walking outside and looking at your roofline before you choose.

If the answer is yes, either move the carport out of the slide path or choose a freestanding structure positioned away from the house.

2. Whether you will actually clear it

Every manufacturer expects snow to be removed from a structure during heavy winters. That is normal and it is in the instructions. The honest question is whether you will do it.

If the carport is at the end of a long driveway you do not visit in February, assume it will not get cleared and choose a higher rating than your calculation suggests. If it is beside the back door and you are out there anyway, you have more latitude.

A telescoping roof rake is a worthwhile twenty minutes once or twice a winter.

3. Height, and the Alpine option

Several Arcadia models come in a standard height and an Alpine version, which is taller. People usually choose Alpine for clearance, to fit a pickup, a van or an RV underneath. It is worth knowing the choice exists before you order, because it is not something you can change later.

There is also an Alpine elevation kit for raising an existing structure, if clearance rather than snow is your issue.

Freestanding or single-sided?

This changes how the structure handles load as well as where it can go.

• Freestanding carports stand on their own posts on all sides. Arcadia and Vitoria. They go anywhere you have a suitable base and they are not affected by what your house roof does.
• Single-sided, sometimes called cantilever, mount against a wall and reach out from it. Arizona Wave and Sydney. They keep the parking space clear of posts on one side, which matters on a narrow driveway, and they are the ones to think hardest about regarding roof slide.

Compare the ratings side by side

We carry five Palram-Canopia carport series across 16 models: Arcadia, Arcadia Alpine, Vitoria, Arizona Wave and Sydney, in sizes from a single car up to a 35 ft RV and boat shelter.

Our carport comparison table lists every one of them side by side with snow load, wind rating, sizes, shade level, mounting type, warranty and current pricing. That is the fastest way to find which models clear the number your calculator gave you.

A word on the base

Whatever you choose, the structure is only as good as what it is anchored to. Concrete pad, concrete footings or an engineered gravel base with proper anchors. A carport sitting on soft ground will move, and a structure that moves does not carry its rated load.

If you are not sure what your site needs, tell us what you have and we will tell you straight whether it will do.

Tell us where you are

Snow is a regional question and we would rather talk it through than have you guess. Tell us your town, what the carport is going beside, and whether your roof sheds toward it. We will tell you which models are comfortable and which we would not sell you.

Call 1-877-277-0190 or email sales@awnings-canada.ca. We have been supplying Palram-Canopia across Canada since 2007. Free shipping to the ten provinces on orders over $125.

Browse all carports or compare all five series side by side.