Patio cover installation in Riverside CA - shade that fits the way your patio faces

Most people who call me have a patio they've stopped using after lunch, or an old cover that's seen better days. The price mostly comes down to the size, the material, solid or lattice, and extras like lights or a fan. The schedule mostly comes down to the permit, and whether your design fits standard drawings or needs its own, so I put both in a written estimate once I've seen the patio. If what you really want is walls and windows, that's a patio enclosure, which is a different job.

I start by looking at which way your patio faces and asking how much upkeep you're willing to take on, because those two answers pick the cover. Solid gives you full shade and lattice lets more light through, and if you'd rather skip sealing and worrying about termites, aluminum is usually where I point you, since termites can't eat it, it won't burn and it needs almost no care. From there we lay out the posts, dig and pour the footings, fasten the cover to the house and seal that joint so water runs off instead of in, then frame it, set the roof and clean up. I spend more time on the footings and the house connection than on anything else, because nobody looks at them once it's done and they're where a sag or a leak starts.

A cover is sometimes the first step toward a room. If you think you'll want walls one day, we can work through sunroom design now so the posts and footings land where a room would need them, and if low upkeep matters most, our vinyl sunrooms are worth a look.

Which office handles the permit for your patio cover depends on where your address falls, so that's the first thing I check. Where the County of Riverside covers your address, it issues permits over the counter for residential Alumawood patio covers, though each one still gets a land use check against ordinance, setback and height rules, and a design that goes past its pre-engineered drawings may need formal plan review. The county lets you or your insured, state-licensed general building contractor pull that permit. Inside the city, Riverside offers standard patio cover drawings that speed up plan check. When your job needs a permit, we prepare and file the paperwork and meet the inspector on site, and I'll tell you what's settled and what's still up to the city or county.

Most of what we see here are slab patios off a back slider, some with a worn-out wood cover and some with nothing at all. We're based in Riverside and work in many of the cities around it in Riverside County and San Bernardino County, and patios in Jurupa Valley and Corona look a lot like the ones here, so we plan them the same way.