In our area, most newly built homes include some sort of covered deck, covered patio, or lanai. We get calls almost every day to add these types of projects, either to complete a new build or as a retrofit to an existing home. Prefabricated aluminum louvered pergolas are another option, but the cost of those is prohibitive for most of our clients; stick-built patio covers—we call them pavilions—like the one shown here are less expensive and, in my opinion, add better value to a home.
Our clients were already living in their recently completed home (see inset photo at left) when they called looking for a grade-level deck covered by a pavilion. After discussing the project, we recommended that they build an elevated patio instead—which costs less than a deck in our area—and put the money saved toward landscaping.
We framed the pavilion with triple 16-inch-wide LVL beams, which bear on 6x6 PT posts at the outside corners. The side beams carry into the house wall framing, which we beefed up to carry loads down to the foundation (photo below).
The ridge beam is a double 2x10 that fits into a ridge beam pocket that we framed in the second-floor house wall. The outside of the ridge load path is brought down to the LVL beam with a doubled 2x4 post. The only tricky part of the roof is the cricket layover roof that creates the valley to push the water away from the house wall.
We clad the beams with 1-by rough sawn spruce painted to match the house. The two support posts, which bear on 28-inch-by-28-inch-by-42-inch-deep concrete piers, were clad with a stone veneer to match that used on the home’s front elevation (photos below, left and right). The ceiling is unfinished 1x6 tongue-and-groove pine with Trex low-voltage lights, which are used in the soffit, as well.
The real beauty of this project is that it cost our clients less to build the pavilion than the patio, which cost less than it would have to build a deck. This allowed for good profit margins for us and our subcontractors at a reasonable price for the owners, while adding great resale value to the house. ❖
Photos by Bayn Wood
