Boat Storage

I wanted to entertain the minds of members here, hoping that at some point some one has encountered a similar situation.

I recently moved to a new house with land. I did so to upgrade to a larger house, but also to have the freedom to do more of my hobbies. In the past I have kept my boat at my parents under a carport. When I purchased my house I had intended to do the same thing. To make a long story short I found out after the fact that my house was under strict homeowners covenants. The listing realtor failed to inform me of this, partly due to the fact that the house was a foreclosure, and secondly she was lazy and didn't care. Basically what this means is I am unable to build a carport (boatport) or something similar. I then decided I would just build a shop, (originally a long term project), but found out the shop has to be so many feet behind the house, and also have a concrete (only, no asphalt or gravel) driveway up to it. After getting some quotes this was going to add an additional $8,000 to the shop, bringing the total to around $24,000 for the size of shop to make it worth my while and be able to house the boat.

This is a good hunk of change to shell out, especially since I'd have to finance it in order not to deplete my savings. In all regards I feel as though for the price, I'd almost be better off just letting my boat sit out and when it looks like hell in 10 years, buy another one and sell my. (even though it wouldn't be worth much)

As I'm not want to let things just ruin, I was curious if anyone had something clever to better help protect their boat. I have a boat cover, but due to the hail we receive I'm looking for something that has a hard top. I thought maybe building something that sat on the boat or trailer, that wasn't technically a building but maybe functioned the same. Not sure what that would be but I thought maybe someone would have an idea.

I appreciate all ideas, as at the very least it may spark something creative.

Re: Boat Storage

I would entertain sueing the RE to help pay for the shop.

Re: Boat Storage

Listing real estate agent's job is to sell the property.
Her job is to represent the seller, by law.
I don't know if she was required to disclose this, but if she was, she would have had you sign off on it.



Don't know of any trailer mounted shelter on the market.

How about buying a 24-30' cargo trailer.
Or two. One to store the boat in, and one for the shop.

That is, if you are allowed to park trailers on your property.

Re: Boat Storage

Dont know if was the realtors fault altogether. Did you tell her what you wanted to do and she mislead you into believing it was not going to be a problem. Or did you not ask. One of you could have called the city building dept and asked about any covenants in that neighborhood.
Any how I have my boat sittn outside under a canvas cover 6 mo a year, indoor storage in the winter. and my boat looks excellent for its age. Its not the end of the world

Re: Boat Storage

Just build a shop... you will want to store your boat and other projects inside. And when you get a new boat you need somewhere for that one to go.

There are some things you might be able to get away with... like just pour an approach and just drive on the grass instead of making a full drive back there. Dont know what size building we are talking... but the guy where i store my boat in the winter has a 60x80 and his floor gravel in most area where stuff is going to be just parked and have concrete just in shop/working area. But concrete throughout is always nice.

Re: Boat Storage

In the beginning I had made it quite clear that I wanted a shop or some other kind of protection for my boat. Many of the houses and shops, but none were really big enough for my pontoon. When I bought the house I was told there was no covenants in the neighborhood because it was incomplete, and once it had been completed the residents could decide to establish a HOA and adopt a covenants they approve or leave it as be. My thinking that whatever I would build would have been done before the covenants meaning if they didn't like it there wouldn't be much I could do.

I've been told be a few people that it was the listing realtors job and closing company's job to tell me about the covenants before I signed the closing papers. I went back through all the paperwork thinking that maybe I had agreed to it unknowingly. After looking into it there was never a mention, and I never signed anything stating I was aware of the restrictions. Unfortunately I'm stuck so I figured I might as well make due.

If I build a shop it must be behind the house, must be on a concrete slab (if big enough for a boat or car), and it must have a driveway to it. They don't want you driving on the grass. The dumb part about this is that since it's so costly to build a shop, everyone leaves their boats in the backyard, which means they drive on the grass. I've talked with a couple neighbors and they said if the building restrictions were even a little less strict they would build one to house all their crap, which currently sits in the yard. The developer is who currently approves all building. I've been half tempted to propose building a carport that is fully enclosed on all sides but the front, and saying it's an over sized loafing shed, and then I'll just happen to store my boat in it. But then if he dislikes it afterwards he is the type of person to pursue legal action over it, which I'd hate to put myself in.

This has what's got me thinking that maybe I could build some type of hard cover that fits on top of the boat when parked, but a couple of people could take off. No idea how it would work though.