We bought an Abba Patio Carport from Amazon to use as a winter jobsite office during so we could heat it and be a little bit more comfortable during breaks while building a deck in our carport office. Watch the video (below) to see how Mark built it, learn some tips and tricks that aren’t in the instructions, and find out how this carport can make working outside a little bit more comfortable.
Watch Mark build the Abba Patio Carport
In this carport office assembly video we show:
We couldn’t find a video on how to assemble an Abba Patio Carport, so we made a video on how to assemble an Abba Patio Carport.
And that Abba’s directions are like all directions: They tell you what to do, but not how to do it. And even then, you still need to learn the alpha-graphic language of whomever wrote the instructions. In this video, we fill in as many blanks as we can, especially if you’re trying to tackle this carport build solo.
Whether you’re storing your Harley, your hoarding, or using it as a winter jobsite office / storage center like us, thinking beyond the directions is required. In other words, we tried to include all the stuff that’s not in the Abba Patio Carport directions that you definitely need to know.
What you’ll learn from this article
- The “carry a 155-pound box alone” trick
- Site set-up and assembly tricks
- Translating the stripped down alpha-graphic instructions into Tab A Slot B results
- Unfurling and managing the vacuum-packed covering
- Pulling the cover over the frame–waaaaayyyy not easy until it is
- Locking the frame to the ground with Spax timber screws
The Box Challenge
AmazonArmy dropped 155-pounds of steel, vinyl and cardboard on your front stoop and now what? Unless you’re an NFL center, it’s way too big to wrap your arms around, and if you don’t have help to get it in the backyard, what do you do?
Two people can manage it, but we don’t always have two people.
Solution: Cut rectangles out of each side of the packaging (don’t cut too deep or you might slice the carport canopy) to create “handles.” You’ll be surprised how much 155 pounds doesn’t feel like 155 pounds when you have something to hang on to.
The Instructions Alpha-Graphic Language
The legions of IKEA instruction jokes are popular for a reason. These companies are “writing” for an international market. I get it. Ideally, I’d read the instructions, break open the package, compare parts to drawings, isolate details, and then I start assembly.
The only problem with that is real life. Kids need to go places, taxes, where’s my phone?
However, if you’ve got the bandwidth, it’s a good path. And that’s part of why we made this video. We’re all doing 80 other things and the deck we’re building for this project isn’t going to install itself.
The Frame 1.0
- Place the box 12 feet or better from the build-location–far enough away to be out of the way, close enough to not be an Uber ride.
- Cut the box open and separate the parts into categories based on the Parts List in the instructions. For small parts, a table is highly recommended. Don’t work on the ground, if you can help it.
- Start with the center rafter assembly. All the parts fit together well, but they swivel, so I froze them with a few wraps of Gorilla Tape.
- Put the rear rafter assembly together.
- Put the front rafter assembly together.
- Connect the assemblies. The tubes have holes for bolts, but these don’t apply to this assembly at this point.
- Install the legs one corner at a time, then in-fill the center.
- Install the feet. Note that the legs are tapered and the feet match that taper. Run bolts and fasten.
The Cover
The Abba Patio Carport cover isn’t a bed sheet. It’s not rocket surgery either. But there’s also a lot going on, too, and I don’t want you to gripe at the bar with your friends what a PITA this thing is–and it can easily go there–I want you to say you solved for X and your Abba carport is getting the job done as your winter jobsite office.
Here’s what you need to know about the cover:
- It’s vacuum packed, so unfurl that thing.
- It is “shaped” so there are contours that need to be managed.
- It is also a plastic shopping bag of sorts and exhibits all the behaviors these things exhibit: they’re tensile, sorta, then a snag, sorta, then you can’t get them off your hands, sorta….
To pull the cover over as a unit, as much as could be expected, I slide a bottom frame piece into the sleeves at the center of the cover on the side I needed to pull over. I also lash two lines to the left and right grommets. Knowing a few knots here like a bowline knot and a half hitch go a long way to smoothing out the process.
The rod through the center spreads out the cover and gives me something to pull straight. The end-lines enables me to manage the floppy ends of the cover. And keep it moving up and over the frame.
The formed pieces are going to snag and need to be further expanded as they move over the frame. You’ll have to tie things off every so many feet to adjust this or that, but we got the thing over in around 15 minutes.
Frame 2.0
Install the side rails in the sleeves near the bottom of the cover. THESE bolt holes actually accept bolts and a bracket. The sleeves are stiff plastic-y vinyl that’ll give you fits, but, no different than the cover, advance, uncrinkle, advance, uncrinkle.
The Door
This is an exercise in scraping some dermis off the epidermis on your knuckles because it is a hook-and-loop (Velcro) system that goes between the cover–now pretty tightly on there–and the frame.
Lash everything together with these bungee type things provided and you’re in business.
Ground Screws
Abba Patio Carport provides a pile of 6-inch, smooth shank nails to engage the ground through the holes in the feet.
I’m not saying they don’t work. But I also know there’s a huge difference between a nail and a screw, so we punted to some super long Spax structural screws and drove them into the ground–frozen solid in this case. As heavy as the Abba Patio unit is, it’s also a giant sail and we want to hedge our bets from it going anywhere.
Add a small space heater, and we’re up and running at break time with our winter jobsite office.
Why We Chose a Carport for a Winter Jobsite Office
We work outdoors year-round and we have all the seasons and all the extremes. As you’ll see in the video, it was a windstorm with snow on the ground and it was single digits cold. The same applies in summer. It’s wicked hot or rainy and, while tarps or sheet plastic can work, they’re ~80% effective, 1 million percent embarrassing and grossly inefficient.
They’re also sails when the wind whips up.
The more batteries and chargers we depend on, the more stuff we have that can’t get wet. And tarps don’t work that well by surprise when I’m working on a deck more than watching storm updates on my phone.
And, tarps don’t work for people.
We just need to warm up from time-to-time without having to run to the truck and crank the heat, so a carport office makes sense for us. The Abba carport office is a perfect space to store the battery center every contractor has. But whether it’s batteries and concrete and people, or your Harley, we hope these tips help get it off the ground.
Result of the Winter Jobsite Office Project
Here’s a summary of what you need to know about the Abba Patio Carport.
- Dry space to store jobsite supplies–including us–in arctic temps and high wind conditions in well-above freezing temps. Concrete, tools, and the charging center stayed dependably dry in the winter jobsite office, something not dependably with tarps, Tyvek or sheet plastic.
- This winter jobsite office takes 2 hours or so to set up (the first time), also while making a video about it and it’ll take the same to break down and store, but unlike the million janky canopies production companies gave us for TV builds or that we tried ourselves, this thing is bomb proof. Those other things are in the trash.
- Heavy but storable when not in use.
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