These homeowners in the Westinghouse area of Georgetown, part of the Teravista community, were being blasted by the sun on their patio each day. They were more than ready for some solid shade. A larger covered patio was the solution Archadeck of Austin designed for them. A patio roof not only provides shade, it adds a place to hang a ceiling fan for continuous breezes.
The home had a tiny covered porch out back, but the main portion of the patio was just a builder-grade concrete slab in full sun. These clients needed our help! The first thing we did was extend the patio. Not only did we extend it a bit further out from the house, in one direction we extended it across the back of the house.
Backyard before Archadeck of Austin began the project.
After project completion in Georgetown, TX.
Now you might think, with all this talk of shade, that we covered the whole extended patio with the new roof structure. In fact, part of the new patio area is not covered. The homeowners plan to add an outdoor kitchen in that area. For now, they have a nice grill in the open space.
Trust Your Porch Roof to the Professionals at Archadeck!
The roof design and construction for this project was tricky because the back of the house had an offset roof system. The soffits on opposite sides of the original covered patio area were not the same height. We were able to add a gable roof for the new patio cover with a partial tie-in to the rear slope of the house. The gable roof, open at one end, is the roof style that will give this covered patio the most open and airy feeling. To blend the new roof with the existing roof, we matched the architectural shingles of the porch cover with those on the home. We also added a cricket on the roof for proper drainage.
To make the soffit level on both sides, we used a ridge wall to build up the wall on the left side. We replicated the width of the home’s original soffits (24") for the new porch/patio cover design. Not only do extra-large soffits create more shade, they gave us room to install recessed canned lighting within the soffits themselves. We used Hardie Soffit and Fascia for this aspect of the project. We built the porch ceiling and the ridge wall with beautiful, prefinished Synergy Wood in the Colonial color.
Tricks of the Trade Enhance this Westinghouse Covered Porch
To keep the clients’ garden hose from being underfoot, we ran pipe under the patio extension and threaded the hose through the pipe. The water spigot is located on the back of the house facing the uncovered portion of the patio extension. The hose is attached there but disappears beneath the patio and comes out into the yard around the side of the patio. If we had not re-routed the hose, it would have been visible – and underfoot – in the outdoor kitchen area. Not pretty, and not safe!
We also installed conduit for easy access to utilities when the homeowners add their outdoor kitchen to the space. The project overall included quite a bit of electrical work for outlets, light and fan switches, TV, recessed mini lighting, etc. We added an outlet on the side of the patio to service the anticipated kitchen. For porch illumination we installed recessed lighting that is unique in that it is fully adjustable (360-degrees), unlike typical recessed canned lighting.
Our Compliments to the Homeowner on the Porcelain Tile Work!
We must give credit to the homeowner for the beautiful porcelain tile work on the patio surface and around the entire patio surround. He also did all the rock/stone work you see on the project. Maybe we need to hire him!
Does your outdoor living space lack sufficient shade? We would love to create a custom solution to meet your outdoor living needs. Contact Archadeck of Austin to schedule your free design consultation.
Jim Schallon, senior designer Archadeck of Austin.
