Patio & Porch Roofs
There are a couple of things to pay attention to when it comes to a porch or patio cover. The support posts and the structure. When most structures are built with wood the same problems show up over and over again. Moisture damage. Rain, sprinklers or people hosing down the patio makes for future damage. Nature’s way of helping your lawn or your own self-introduced water will basically do the same thing.
Whenever supports have the chance to get damaged it seems that Murphy’s Law gets into the act. Posts are best when they are above the grade and certainly not buried in dirt. Metal column bases are one variation that will provide a longer life but they too will become damaged when subjected to excessive moisture. If you are building anything, keep things as far away from water as possible.
Metal column bases can be damaged and present sharp edges waiting to cut your feet. These need to be addressed for safety reasons. Without some power tools, grinding metal down to a safer condition will be a challenge. With the correct tool, a few minutes will make the patio safer. Determining the best way to rebuild something takes more thought and ingenuity. Contractors get paid to do this. Ask for their suggestions as this is only a few minute discussion. The overall appearance of the completed patio and cover are a lot more of a concern to you anyway. Be certain to ask how he will prevent this type of damage in the future in his plans/design.
The top of a porch or patio cover are gong to get rain, hail and snow melt. The moisture has to get off the roof to prevent more surprises. It can be a comical side note when some designs for a patio cover are 2 inch boards separated by 2 inches. Your basic “open wood” design. Looks nice. How do you reach up there next year to paint the top of the boards when the paint peels. How many painters only paint the bottom that they can see and the woman of the house didn’t go get a ladder to see the condition of the top of the wood framing? Typical wear and tear to the wood will occur and the wood will age accordingly.
But there are some tricks that you can do to prolong the life of the wood especially at the top. You can use some metal flashing on top of some of the boards/beams. At window trim, I like to have metal flashing from under the stucco or siding cover the stucco moulding on top of the exterior of the window. This prevents moisture seeping into the wood where we never look. Adding some flashing in inconspicuous locations can save expensive beams. Another thought is if you have a table saw, make a small improvement to all those little boards you are going to put up for your “Open-wood” patio cover. Cut a shallow angle on top of each board so it is no longer flat, but will shed water! Of course you are going to paint every board (we hope) before installing it up there, but if water does not sit on top of each board, you can buy quite a few years of life with these couple of tricks. Then caulk any joint/seam between two boards so the rain doesn’t settle in those gaps. You can get as complicated as you want but it is all about how long this money that you are putting into this area will last for you. No one wants to spend that money again every 5 years.
Clogged gutters on metal roofs is one of the most prevalent maintenance issues. As we all know when the sun is warm and we want to relax under the shade for a little while, who will flip a coin to decide what to do first? Nap after an adult beverage or go to the garage, get a ladder, change into grubby clothes so I can take the hose and clear the roof with mud and leaves flying and then rake up my mess and have no more time to relax. The coin toss loses no matter if it is Heads or Tails.
Construction methods that incorporate safe designs may not always be used. When I come upon a makeshift patio cover, I often feel that the old Disney Tiki Room and Robinson Caruso Tree House were better built. Whatever you want is possible and sometimes the project grows beyond the initial dreams and gets pricey, but try to do it safely.
Patio & Porch Roofs
That post looks strong. Hey, what do you mean it's not attached?
Non-professional construction sometimes forgets little things like securing the post that holds up the roof.
Without a proper column base, water soaks into the bottom of the board and deteriorates. Many column base supports hold the wood at least 1 inch off the ground to prevent this.
Moisture damage is so common at patios. There are newer column base supports that keep the wood one inch off the ground to prevent damage like this.
If your sprinklers are watering your patio cover posts, adjust them to prevent an expensive repair.
If you do elevate a concrete support for the post, at least secure the post.
Sometimes people will remove a damaged patio cover but leave some trip hazards.
This shows sharp metal edges where a patio cover was removed.
Leaving metal column bases when abandoned or not finishing an installation have created a sharp trip hazard in the yard.
They almost put up a patio cover, but instead just flattened the column base. A trip hazard waiting to cut a child's foot in summer.
Exterior lights or fans at a patio need to be made weatherproof. They said the fan no longer worked. No kidding. My mirror showed that rain filled the electrical motor from the top.
I am not 7 feet tall. Most painters aren't either. Still, they should use a ladder and paint the top of exposed wood.
Moisture stains under a patio cover are a red flag that there is a roof leak.
Termites love wood. Exposed patio covers are easy for termites to find. It happens.
The tops of patios and decorative wood beams often are neglected. Nothing is perfect but this will be far more protective. A few good, heavy coats of primer and paint covered with metal reduce the moisture damage to areas not visible from the ground.
Water was running off the roof by the chimney and saturated the framing next to the house. That is what caused this dry rot.
Patio covers should be cleared of debris at least annually and before the rainy season.
Patio covers can start to grow moss if not cleared of debris and it will only collect more material.
And if you wait a year or two you can grow a lawn on your patio cover.
These extension boards are unsafe to walk upon as they are only held by what appears to be two nails per board.
Another non-professional patio cover. Well, if it was free at least it provides some shade for one year but don't walk on that plywood.
This would be okay on Gilligan's Island, but would not pass inspections in America.
A split porch cover board and no support post. Generally we would call this unsafe.
The Spring and Summer days might have beautiful flowering vines and greenery. The vegetation and moisture will take it's toll on the wood framing that you are not able to see. Some day a board may fall down so caution is advised and check it with a probe each year.
Then there is the ancient patio cover that is over 10 years old covered with ivy. This couldn't fall down because the vines were so old they were now a tree!
All four corners of the patio cover vine had grown into the thickness of tree trunks. Mother Nature was here to stay. Compare a normal 8.5 inch brick to a 12 inch trunk of the vine. This was the same in all four corners.
