Patio Cover Concepts for Rainy Conditions
Do drizzle or rainstorms often put a damper on enjoying your patio? Investing in an overhead cover can help protect your outdoor living space from the elements. With the right design and materials, you can extend the use of your patio for cookouts, parties, and relaxation even when the weather turns.
Read on for tips, material suggestions, and ways to customize your cover to get the most benefit rain or shine.
Why Add a Patio Cover for Wet Weather Protection
Outdoor patio covers offer many advantages beyond just keeping you dry:
- Keep patio usable more months of the year. Adding a waterproof barrier allows you to enjoy your space despite spring rains or summer heatwaves.
- Stay dry while entertaining guests. Provide needed shelter from sudden rainstorms so the party can go on.
- Protect patio furniture from getting wet. Safeguard your investment in nice outdoor seating and decor.
- Create an outdoor living space for all weather. With the right enclosure choices, make your patio usable even on marginal weather days.
Maximize Enjoyment of Your Backyard With Overhead Coverage Choices
The right cover opens up backyard spaces for more hours in the day and days in the year. You can comfortably occupy areas that might otherwise get too hot in direct sun or wet when rains come. Well-designed covers blend into surroundings with plants, flowers, screens to control airflow.
With creative options like curtains, strings of lights, and portable umbrellas, your covered spot can meet patio needs morning, noon, and night. Retractable awning-roofs allow adjusting protection as the weather shifts. When skies turn stormy, ensure everyone stays nice and dry to keep the fun going.
Finding the Best Fit Structure for Your Specific Patio
Measure the footprint of your current slab or deck before selecting materials. Factor some additional clearance so interior furnishings have maneuvering room. For non-square contours, look into custom fabrication. Or choose modular connecting pieces to flexibly meet your exact specifications.
If maximizing year-round backyard use is important, insulated panels maintain comfortable temperatures. Opening screens circulate breezes on milder days. You can always add supplemental lighting, fans, and heating for seasonal comfort too. With possibilities for semi-open and enclosed structures, tailor for full functionality.
Planning Your Cover Design for Optimal Rain Protection
Take careful stock of your existing space before building overhead. Identify sun angles, prevailing wind directions, views to accentuate or obscure. Use observations of storms to locate potential leaks and drainage issues.
Sketch sight-lines, measure traffic flows through and around. Mark electrical outlets or installed lighting that may impact placement. Note impediments - awkward branches, pipes, wires that limit overhead space.
With hats on, envision how your patio feels on cloudy days or during downpours. Then form ideas to transform its weak spots while expanding areas that shine through whatever the skies may bring.
Key Choices to Waterproof Your Retreat as Desired
Freestanding or attached to the home's roofline, position support beams for optimal rainwater runoff. Select durable building materials that shrug off extreme weathering from sun, wind, seasonal temperature swings.
Outfit with appropriate gutters, downspouts, and drainage for the projected coverage area footprint. Check applicable codes for storm water containment rules. Don't create trouble shedding precipitation that could damage the structure or seep under doors.
Mesh screening modulates sunlight, ventilation as needed. Clear acrylic, polycarbonate or plexiglass panels admit light when closed up. Water-resistant curtains provide flexible adjustable protection from passing showers.
Creative Touches to Fully Weatherproof the Setting
Consider installing waterproof shades that roll down with the push of a button if dark clouds blow in. Integrate weather-resistant sound systems or TV's for uninterrupted atmosphere. Store soft cushions/throw blankets away in covered bins after use.
For cooking areas underneath, water-safe outlets and switches stand up to humidity and grease splatters. Durable wicker, teak or moisture-resistant padded furniture hold up over time. Anti-mold treatments on susceptible ceilings deter mildew risk.
Heated tiles warmed by solar panels keep rain-soaked feet comfortable on cooler days. Hygienic bleaches or peroxide solutions tackle occasional mold outbreaks from repeated downpours if ventilation gets blocked.
Useful Tips for Building a DIY Patio Rain Cover
Ambitious DIY-ers can create customized covers matching their desired style. Follow essential steps for a stable, properly integrated structure.
- Check local building codes for requirements regarding footings, load tolerances, allowable roofing materials, tie-ins to electrical systems, setbacks from property lines, allowances for natural light/ventilation, etc.
- Measure carefully to customize the cover footprint to your specific patio's shape and traffic flows. Account for sloping areas that could affect drainage.
- Use appropriately angled posts and support beams with integrated rafters spaced to allow optimal rainwater runoff without pooled pockets.
- Install gutters and downspouts to direct rain accumulation off the cover area to appropriate drainage locales - rain gardens, sewer connections etc.
Achieving Professional Results on a DIY Budget
While permitting and regulations vary, most neighborhoods allow weatherproofing covers meeting codes and aesthetic standards. Modular aluminum systems offer durability at reasonable cost if you have the tools and skills.
For wood-framed structures, use decay-resistant cedar or redwood. Allow natural silvering or apply protective stains. Open-rafter designs lined with polycarbonate sheets shed weather yet admit diffused light to prevent a cave-like feeling.
Metal roofing comes in attractive neutral colors or simulate trendy tin tiles. Affordable corrugated plexiglass with UV inhibitors diffuses sunlight without detracting views. Carefully seal any seams and edges to prevent leakage over time.
Achieving a Customized Look Within Set Parameters
Research options compatible with your home's architecture before designing a rain cover annex. Farmhouse inspired spaces love durable galvanized metal roofing or tongue and groove planks evoking old-fashioned porches.
Contemporary homes favor aluminium beams or sleek steel cables suspending modular polycarbonate panels. Spanish or Tuscan motifs incorporate clay tiles or concrete pavers in harmonious earth tones. Screen inserts, curtains and operational louvers allow adjusting protection, visibility and airflow.
Just be sure underlying structures meet codes and divert all rainfall safely away. Integrate downspouts, gutters and drip edges to protect vulnerable doorways and siding. Select durable, weatherproof flooring and furnishings to hold up over time.
Ideal Materials for Rainproof Patio Covers
Choosing the right building materials ensures your cover withstands all types of inclement weather. Prioritize durability, strength and waterproofing abilities over looks alone.
Use mold-inhibiting treatments and opt for high-quality construction where structural elements join. Avoid porous materials prone to rapid deterioration when exposed continually to moisture, humidity and UV rays.
- Clear polycarbonate and plexiglass panels
- Aluminum and galvanized steel roofing
- Wood tongue and groove decking
- Canvas cloth with water-repellent treatment
Polycarbonate gains appreciation for extreme durability that warrants long warranties against yellowing, cracking or leaking. Pricier polycarbonate sheets offer excellent insulation properties retaining interior heat in winter and cooling during hot sunny days.
More affordable plexiglass scratches easier over time which can become visually distracting. But smaller panels make for easy replacement as needed. New formulations better resist UV damage and thermoforming capabilities allow attractive three-dimensional shaping.