Compare all six steel building types by what they cover, how big they go and how much of them closes in.
Building types
Each card opens the full page for that building type, with sizes, options and site prep.
Metal CarportsOpen cover for cars, trucks, boats and small campers, 12 to 30 feet wide. Close in one side or all of them when you want walls.Learn more 
RV & Boat CoversSide heights from 12 to 16 feet for campers, pontoon boats, livestock trailers and heavy equipment.Learn more 
Metal GaragesFully enclosed and 12 to 24 feet wide, with roll-up and walk-in doors placed where you need them.Learn more 
Metal BarnsA center building with lean-tos down the sides, in three models: Apex, Summit and Pinnacle.Learn more 
Metal WorkshopsWelded steel frames 12 to 30 feet wide, with room for a bench, the tools and whatever you are working on.Learn more 
Commercial BuildingsHeavier framing and a vertical roof, up to 40 feet single span, or industrial buildings up to 60 feet clear span.Learn more Advance Solutions LLC is an authorized dealer for every building on this page, and our job is to help you choose one and place the order. All six types share the same basic parts: a galvanized steel tube frame, steel roof panels, and your pick of roof style and color. What changes from one type to the next is how wide and tall the frame goes, and how much of it is closed in.
The quickest way to narrow it down is to start with the thing you are protecting. A bass boat and a pickup need open cover and a few feet of headroom. A tractor, a winter supply of hay and a stock trailer fit a barn layout with a tall center bay. A welding bench needs walls, a door that locks and room to work around it. A business that wants a wide, open floor belongs in the commercial line, which uses heavier framing.
Height catches people out more than width does. Side heights run up to 16 feet, so a camper with an air conditioner on the roof calls for an RV cover rather than a carport at a low setting. If you are torn between two sizes, think about what you will want to store over the next few years, not only this season. You can add onto an existing building from the same manufacturer later, so starting smaller is a fair choice when the budget is tight.
Not sure how ordering works or how to pay for it? The how it works page covers the order, site prep and install day, and financing and rent-to-own explains the ways to spread out the cost. Check the delivery area to see where installs happen.
Side by side
Typical uses, and the listed widths for each line. Your exact size gets set in the 3D designer.
| Building type | Typical use | Open or enclosed | Typical widths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carport | Cars, trucks, boats, small campers, a shaded outdoor work area | Open, partly enclosed or fully enclosed | 12 to 30 ft |
| RV & boat cover | RVs, pontoon boats, livestock trailers, heavy equipment | Cover only, partly enclosed or fully enclosed | 12 to 30 ft, with 12 to 16 ft sides |
| Garage | Vehicles and storage behind a locking door | Fully enclosed | 12 to 24 ft |
| Barn | Tractors, hay, trailers and farm equipment | Enclosed center, with open or closed lean-tos | Set by the barn model and lean-to sizes |
| Workshop | Repairs, projects, tools and a workbench | Usually enclosed, lean-tos available | 12 to 30 ft |
| Commercial | Shops, small warehouses, storage, agricultural buildings | Enclosed, vertical roof required | Up to 40 ft single span; industrial up to 60 ft |
How to choose
Most buyers end up deciding between two neighbors on the table above. Here is how to break the tie.
The difference is walls and doors. A carport is a roof on posts, the lowest-cost way to keep a vehicle out of the sun and rain. A garage closes all four sides and adds roll-up doors, so it locks. If security is not a worry, the carport is usually enough.
A barn is a center building with lean-tos on either side, which suits farm use: the tractor in the middle, hay or a trailer on the sides. A workshop is one open room laid out around the work. If you mostly park and store, lean toward the barn. If you mostly fix, build or weld, pick the workshop.
An RV cover is essentially a carport built tall, with sides from 12 to 16 feet. RV covers are made tall enough to add a lean-to later, so the camper gets the center today and the truck or the boat can go beside it next year.
Workshops are listed up to 30 feet wide. Past that, or when the building is for a business, the commercial line takes over with heavy-duty panels, heavier framing and engineered trusses. Every commercial building gets the vertical roof, and anything that wide sits on a concrete slab.
Every building
Gauge measures steel thickness, and the lower number is the thicker steel. The standard frame is 14-gauge galvanized tube, 2 1/2 inches square. The upgrade is a 12-gauge frame made from 2 1/4 inch tube.
Panels are 29-gauge as standard, with 26-gauge panels as an upgrade. Each panel is 3 feet wide.
Carports and RV covers run 12 to 30 feet wide, garages 12 to 24 feet, and workshops 12 to 30 feet. Commercial buildings reach 40 feet in a single span, and industrial buildings go up to 60 feet of clear span. The tallest side height on offer is 16 feet.
Wide ones. Buildings around 30 feet wide and up have to go on concrete. Narrower buildings can sit on level ground, gravel or asphalt. The install crew does not pour concrete or advise on it, so a slab is something you arrange with a concrete contractor before install day.
Regular, boxed eave and vertical roofs are offered across the line, and you choose one in the 3D designer. The one exception is commercial: every commercial building is built with a vertical roof.