Everything got wrapped up and the new patio cover looks great. The roofing works well, but there was a major problem the first time it rained. The installation instructions for the roofing product list that you should be 24-36 inches on center for your supports with no further details. Due to the pre-existing header, I hadn’t checked the real rise. I knew there was some and that was the end of the thought. Read the rest of this entry »

The next weekend was dry and I was able to get all the cross beams up and more. Each of the 2×8′s is set on end and has a 4 by 4 inch notch cut out on the garage side to allow for the gutter. With the board on the garage already having all of the supports mounted, I was able to get each one into place and set quickly. Work like that should always be done on the ground in the name of efficiency. Read the rest of this entry »

Always Know the weather. It can’t be said enough and I got caught by it. There was a deadline in play of Halloween since we were hosting a party and we wanted the patio to be usable for pumpkin cutting. The forecast had a chance of rain and I didn’t think that it looked that bad outside so I started prepping all the boards for a final coat of paint.

As the rain started to fall, I had to scramble a bit. I’d already been painting the header beam and it was still a bit wet. I also had a number of boards that I’d been working with on the ground in front of me. I had some plastic out to be used as a drip cloth if needed. I unfurled as much as I could, but it only covered about half of the structure. Thankfully with a garage full of stuff, A tarp was only a few steps away. These tarps have a history with home improvement. When we re-roofed the garage, this was one of the two tarps that covered the roof until it was finished and weather proof. Read the rest of this entry »

By October, the rain had started back up and the water issue came back to the forefront. With good weather scheduled for a weekend, I picked up supplies and started planning for the project. I was figuring that I would just start the prep work of getting things painted and ready to start the replacement.

Word got out to the family and again I had a crew that was ready to work come Saturday morning. What was supposed to be a light weekend turned into a full blown project. Learning from previous mistakes, I was ready for them to show up and we got to work right away painting the new beams and tearing down the old ones. Read the rest of this entry »

Just before moving onto fourth street, I had my first experience with the patio. It was early Summer and I hadn’t spent to much time on the patio yet since the weather wasn’t that great yet. It started to rain and then the thunder and lightning came in. We were tucked into a spot where the wind wasn’t blowing at us that much and so we were safe.

Pretty soon, I noticed that there was water running down the wall of the garage that should have been protected by the patio cover. The water should have ran off the garage, onto the patio cover, to the gutter, and then down the drain. I quickly realized that the water was running right down the wall and eventually by a electric socket and this scared me a bit. The stereo was unplugged and after the storm lightened up, we made our way inside. Read the rest of this entry »