Wood patio covers

How it works

For builders of wood patio covers, attached and freestanding, in cedar and glulam. The 3D model stands beside the steps for the whole configuration: a farmhouse with a patio door, a 2x ledger lag-screwed to the house under a flashing or a second row of posts, 6x6 posts in galvanized post bases, a beam with knee braces and rafters sized by their span and spaced by the snow load. The homeowner picks attached or freestanding, the width, the projection and the clearance in feet and inches, a shed roof, a flat roof behind a deep fascia or a freestanding 6/12 gable, the roofing: laminated safety glass, solid or multiwall polycarbonate, ribbed metal, architectural shingles or an open top of rafters and purlins, the tint and the color, western red cedar or Douglas fir glulam, a semi-transparent or solid stain, and each side on its own: sliding glass panels, vertical slats or a horizontal slat wall. Then what keeps the patio usable from October to May: a gutter and downspout, an LED strip in the rafters, up to four infrared heaters on the beams and a motorized shade under the glass; and the site: the existing patio, a new slab or concrete piers, travel and the permit. Glass goes on glulam only, a gable and shingles only on a freestanding cover; a wide cedar cover gets a post in the middle of the front and a glulam one does not, and the homeowner sees it on the model. Buttons take the roofing off and name every member with its size, make it rain on the roof, bring the evening, turn the heaters on, slide the glass and run the shade out. The price counts the roof per square foot for each roofing, the glulam, roof shape, freestanding, clearance, snow and stain upgrades, posts in the middle, glass panels, slats and slat walls by the foot, the gutter, the LED, the heaters, the shade, the slab or the piers, the installation with its minimum, travel and the permit service, before sales tax; every rate is a parameter in the panel.

What this example shows

• 3D model beside the steps: a ledger on the house or a second row of posts, posts in galvanized post bases, a beam with knee braces, rafters in joist hangers
• Lumber the way a builder sizes it: 2x8 to 2x12 cedar or glulam rafters by span, a pane apart under glass and polycarbonate, closer in heavy snow
• A cedar beam spans about 12 ft and gets a post in the middle; glulam spans 20 ft clear and shows its laminations
• Shed roof falling from the house, a flat roof behind a deep fascia with a hidden gutter, or a freestanding 6/12 gable with trusses
• Laminated safety glass, solid or multiwall polycarbonate, ribbed metal, architectural shingles or an open top of rafters and purlins
• Each side on its own: sliding glass panels with a fixed wedge under a shed roof, vertical slats or a horizontal slat wall
• Comfort for the wet months: gutter and downspout, LED strip in the rafters, up to four infrared heaters, a motorized shade under the glass
• Rules on the tiles: glass on glulam only, a gable and shingles only freestanding; the price before sales tax and a Letter PDF with the model