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1. Call your
local building permit office. Ask them what live load you will
need for a patio cover or carport. Live load is the load
your cover will need to carry, such as snow.
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| 2nd. Measure
the area to be covered, such as the size of the slab. Add
any overhangs desired. If your patio is 10' x 20' and you
want a 1' overhang on all sides add 10+1 for the projection measurement
and 20+2 for the width measurement. in this example you would
need to order a 11' x 22' cover. |
| 3rd. Decide
where on your house the cover will attach. The wall? or the
eaves? (roof overhang)? How will this effect the size
you need? See drawings below. |
| 4th. Make
a drawing and put the measurements on it. Now when you go back
to the kit price charts, you have the information to determine
what you need to order. |
| 5th. Ask
- do you need down spouts (aluminum covers)? post brackets? setback
beam? |
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| The Span distance
is from the point of attachment to the nearest support. |
|
This drawing shows a cover attached on the roof
overhang (eaves). And uses a set back beam above the post, with
the post in the ground.
If you live in a area were the frost depth is more the 18" consider
mounting the post on top of the slab.
The overhang in most cases is the same as the house overhang.
So if the slab is 10' then the cover attached on the overhang
can be 10' (projection out from house)
You will buy locally: cement for the post, flashing to go 3" under
shingles and 12" out (minimum) on top of the cover and lag
bolts to attach the cover to house eaves at 24" on center. |
 |
This drawing shows a cover attached at the wall under the overhang.
The span is from the wall to the post. Post are on the edge of
the cover and on the top of the patio slab.
Flashing needs to be considered carefully, where will it start?
for wood lap siding the flashing is bent like the letter L and
would go just under the siding and out on to the cover at least
12". plan your flashing out before you install the cover.
You can always ask what to do at the lumber yard when you buy
the flashing.
You would need to purchase the following locally for this cover:
flashing, and concrete anchors for the post brackets, and anchors
to attach cover at the wall |
 |
This drawing shows a cover
with a fire place to go around. For an aluminum cover you would
need to order two extra inside corners and two extra outside corners
plus extra gutter. (for the sides of the fireplace). For a steel
cover no corners are needed as steel covers do not have gutters.
This cover has a set back beam (optional) and three post. |
 |
This drawing shows a cover attached on the roofs eaves
with no patio cover overhang, past the post
This is the simplest installation, the only extras to consider
are down spouts (aluminum covers) post brackets, and side overhangs. |
 |
This drawing shows a cover
in a corner, attached on two sides. Code will require that the
cover be mounted at the wall with gutters on the house eaves, so
all the water that comes off the house roof does not end up on
the new cover. Can you attach on the eaves? Not if you plan on
getting a permit, or you expect to have no leaks! The span is from
the attachment (projection) to post. Think this one through, as
the cover when sloped downward, will run off the eaves board on
the side. |
