Mr. Deck is offering do-it-yourself California style prefabricated shade arbors that may be custom tailored for your particular situation. Photos here show actual attached and detached patio-covers that have been erected by local customers by themselves. They are prefabricated from pressure-treated Douglas fir that has been pre-primed and pre-painted white. The canopy's top lath is made up of 3x3s spaced closely to cut out 50% to 60% of the sunlight, depending on the time of day. That's a very comfortable overhead shading. But if you want more shade, we can provide you with canopy lath of 2x4s instead of the 3x3s. However, we caution you that 3x3s are more robust than 2x4s and will be less affected by the sun and rain. The joists are all carved 4x6s, the beams are carved 6x8s and the posts are all 6x6s -- all hefty robust materials. The one thing that I found out early in this business is that when something is put overhead, the size of material seems to shrink! I can tell when a patio-cover was built by inexperienced people because it just looks wimpy -- the materials are all undersized. Not so with our arbors. The wood is pressure-treated Douglas fir. It comes pre-painted: It is painted once with a premium titanium-based white primer and then again a day later with a premium white exterior acrylic-latex semi-gloss top-coat. All this is applied with a roller for thick coats.
The price for precut arbors of this style are listed in the table below for standard sizes. You have a choice of adding PVC capping for every skyward-exposed flat piece. PVC capping will not only keep the wood from cracking on top but will also mitigate wood's natural tendency to warp and bow in the hot summer's sun. PVC capping will minimize future maintenance by keeping these arbors in pristine condition and is highly recommended. And one big side benefit is that you can attach each lath piece with a fastener directly through the top which then gets covered permanently by the PVC capping, never to be seen again or be exposed to moisture. And that eliminates the need for unsightly post-cap brackets for attaching posts to the beams.
The cost of freight is additional and depends on the receiving location. To minimize shipping weight and therefore freight costs, you will need to purchase the post-base brackets and galvanized bolts and washers from your local hardware store.
The photos shown above depict patio-covers that lack post-bases. To my eye, they just look unfinished with the post-base bracket visible. Here's a photo of one of my designer arbors with post bases like the ones that you can order with our prefab patio covers.
In 20 years of using such post-bases myself, I have never had a call-back. All you do is slip the prefab bases over the posts and then caulk the tops and bottoms of them with our furnished polyurethane caulking. This protects the post- bases from ever getting water inside them. The special polyurethane caulking is furnished along with detailed step-by-step instructions for you to install these post-bases yourself. If you need drawings for procuring a permit or getting a local contractor to erect the arbor for you, all standard structures include structural drawings at no additional fee. For special shape canopies, sizes or special situations, the fee for plans revised to reflect your circumstance is $300 per distinctly designed structure. Each structure comes completely prefabricated; that is, the pieces are all cut to exact length, and the post bases and collars are all preassembled. The holes have to be drilled on site because there are always variables that we cannot accommodate in the blind. All you do is put it all together on-site with minimal effort and tools. For the post bases you just slip them over the installed posts. You get a complete down-to-earth list of practical step-by-step instructions personally written by me. Provided you also
purchase the PVC capping, you can have a one-time project for your house or
yard and never have to apply major maintenance to it again. You may have to
hose off the bird droppings occasionally because of our scarcity of rain
during the summer in California. If you have to locate the patio-cover under
a eucalyptus or pine tree, you'll have to occasionally wipe down the
PVC capping with acetone to remove the sap, but that's the extent of your
maintenance. You'll not have to replace anything. Now, here's another application that Mr. Deck has done that may apply to your situation -- attaching an arbor to a low-overhang roof-eave. We have our own specially-engineered hot-dipped galvanized bracket produced for Mr. Deck by Simpson Strong-Tie that will allow you to put the ledger board above the roof instead of below it! See picture at right. You'll need to mount one every 6 feet and at most 3 feet in from each end. Cost is $197.55 each plus 8% tax if in California. These arbors are fabricated in two locations: San Jose, California and Chattanooga, Tennessee, so we can better mitigate the freight costs. If you want a quote on a custom-sized patio-cover click here and send me an email about your situation. I need a zip code for calculating the freight. You might attach some "jpg" photos too so I can better understand your text. Copyright © Mr. Deck 2008 Design Work | Decks | Arbors | Fences | Projects | General Info |
Our
post bases are prefabricated so that they will not come apart at the seams.
The corners are glued together with a water-proof strongly-adhesive flexible
polyurethane glue. That is then reinforced with 2-inch galvanized brads shot
in at 90º angles. 