DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Need a bit of help with my back patio construction plans

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  AndyGump 
#1 ·
Hello all,

For this question I ask that you refer to the attachment with the colored coded wood beams.

I currently have a very old, and rickety aluminum patio roof, approximately 16ft flat sloped roof going off the masonry of my house. It's probably the ugliest thing on my house. I was thinking about tearing it down and replacing it with a 4x6 (blue in image), 4x4 (beige), and 2x6 (pink) wood frame construction, with tongue and groove 1x8 [not shown in attachment], asphalt felt and solar reflective paint on top of that [not shown in the attachment]. I currently have a concrete slab to work on (dark gray in image).

The roof has a 2 degree slope.

You'll notice on the back there isn't support, I figure a 4x4 anchored and lag bolted into the masonry would be ok? I could also put some vertical 4x4's against the walls to the slab supporting this as well if that should be done, but I don't currently have that planned (need advice there).

The scale of this is 8ft high at the beginning where it's attached to the house. The wide part is 27ft wide, it's 16ft length of roof.

My plan was to first make this a suitable patio area, then maybe, eventually close it in with insulation and drywall, with french doors (that's why the middle part has a bit more spacing between the 4x4). That part would be done at a later date. Right now, I just need a functional back patio.

My question among any other addressable issues here that I can't see is the roof. I cannot find 16ft 2x6 boards, and I don't want any weak points in the middle of the roof. Is there a certain kind of joist that would join these, or is that just not the right thing to do with a roof construction?

Thanks for any help you can provide! :)
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 · (Edited)
Where in the world are you and what is the climate? These are very important factors. Your "flat" roof and wind uplift of a 16x27 roof can be considerable. - Make sure it is properly anchored to whatever slab you feel is adequate for the purpose.

Since you seem to be looking at converting the covered patio (in the future) into an enclosed room(different use and conditions), do yourself a favor and start out right since eventually it will be inspected by someone and you will have nothing but costly problems later. This could even come up when the house is eventually sold or other modifications are made.

When you say a "masonry" wall, what is the actual construction and method of connection?

Dick
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply. This is in Tucson, Arizona. The home is constructed of brick. Right now I'm simply planning it out, and I do plan to get a building permit as well. I just want the plans to be pretty solid before I submit anything for approval.

Kyle
 
#7 ·
Well, in my experience, any reputable lumberyard will carry 2x6x16 lumber. It's what we consider a "premium" dimension in that we sell a LOT of them.

But in the absence of 16 footers, I've seen people "bypass" one joist past the other over a central beam. A couple of thing about this in my opinion:

First, I think you'd be better off. A 16' board is almost never meant to span 16'. And if I was going to spam that far, I'd use something beefier than a 2x6.

Second, if you do pass two single-run joists or rafters over a central beam, you want to use 10' or even 12' pieces, as I think most places like to see at least 10" of joist overlap.

You may already know all of this and if you do, I apologize. I just know the value of knocking ideas around & simply want to be helpful.

I'd be eager to learn which lumber yards have told you that they don't stock 2x6x16s. At least here on the East Coast, they're a dime a dozen.

(Not really, but you know what I mean...!)
 
#12 ·
Kyle,

I know this may be of limited use to you, and it isn't exactly what andy is talking about, but here is my town standard for patio covers . It has basic info about size of lumber and headers required for spans etc.. You may ask your city if they have a similar document.

One thing they make abundantly clear, is that if the patio cover is ever to be fully enclosed, the standard patio cover guidelines are worthless and the structure must be built to an entirely different standard.

Guy
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top