Patio cover structural concerns

Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
823
Location
TX
I bought this house last year. The previous owner had this covered patio added Oct 2018. It’s a 15’ x 23’ patio with an asphalt shingle roof. When I bought the house, the patio cover was supported one side only by the house. After doing some investing(tearing into a wall), I discovered that the beams going into the house were simply hanging on the sheathing/siding. I had a structural engineer come out and look at it and he recommended having some posts installed under the beams where they go into the house. I had that done, but I’m still not satisfied its strong enough. The engineer estimated that the patio cover weighs #7000. Is it safe for the house to support that much or half that much weight? The house was built in 2011. It’s conventional 2x4 framing on a concrete slab. I’m not in an area where snow is a concern, but hurricanes and strong winds definitely are. For now, all my doors and windows open and close smoothly and there’s no cracks in my drywall. You can see the un-painted posts I had added. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

4879AFF4-D8E8-4439-8EED-E46DACE22277.jpeg


1CFD90C7-836A-4D8F-BE67-73922D15979B.jpeg


3E832B9C-436D-4B8D-AAEC-BF3488090F27.jpeg


F89242F0-BB34-4D73-964E-5E5C8F529CFC.jpeg
 
So you're concerned with.....? It folding up or toppling over I guess? I mean you've got plenty if loaded straight down I'd say but you said snow loads are not the issue. In deference to PBB I guess I could say "needs more triangulation" (not the worst idea here, actually -- some gusseting that is)

Are you concerned the portion furthest from the house will lift under high winds? Proper strapping and anchoring to the concrete should allay such fears..
 
I'm worried its imposing too much load on that back wall of the house. Are the studs in the lower wall overstressed or is the majority of the load on the exterior posts?
 
Normally there should be a ledger board attached to the house framing and the roof attached to that. Putting in the exterior posts was a good idea. What kind of footing are under those posts and how deep?
 
Concrete I think 3' feet deep under the new posts. They sectioned out the back corners of the patio and poured concrete footings. Unfortunately, I wasn't there when the new posts were added. The 3 original posts are just sitting on the patio.
 
With adding those posts up against the house, that should make the structure safe and secure. That was the engineer's recommendation anyway correct?

It seems they did a hip style roof on it so the roof line doesn't touch all the window sills but just the one. Given that design, I hate to see water run right down the side of the house instead of away.
 
The supports sound fine.

Regarding the roof line as it butts up to the house, I have to assume they installed flashing that goes under the siding? It’s hard to tell in the picture.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JTK
How large are the new posts and what is the dimension from the slab to the bottom of the beam they are supporting??
 
6x6 posts, 7'4" from slab to beam. I know the posts are plenty strong, but what about the portion of the roof the house is supporting? Am I overthinking it?
 
That's a long span on the side to be unsupported. Also using the patio to support the outside posts probably isn't a good idea. I'd also check to see if a permit was even pulled to do that because you might (obviously, local rules and practices apply) have an unpermitted structure. I'd put as many supports as I could on it, but that's me. I don't know any better.
 
I'm fairly certain no permit was pulled or one was even required. I'm in an unincorporated area. There's no record of the addition according to the tax office.
That just gives me a bad feeling.
 
Looks ok to me. If the posts are carrying a lot of the load you’ll end up cracking that concrete unless it was poured thick where the posts are.
 
If you are worried about wind lifting that cover then the entire structure should be tied together with tie plates and nails in shear. Rafter to collar ties to posts to slab. Up here, building codes up sized wall studs to 2x6 back in the 70s . I ball park guestimated the weight to be closer to 5000 lbs too
 
Are the new posts treated lumber? If not, be careful about rain running behind and down the post, collecting under the post and bottom trim to cause rot.

You have insurance to cover any high wind damage. Just keep an eye on movement at the house attachment points and possible leaks developing. The area where the gutters touch the house are o.k. and won't retain moisture?

@ RhondaHonda - above he stated that they cut out the slab and installed proper footings under the new posts. There is a lot of surface to ground area on the outside posts to distribute the load. Up north, there would have been footers there also due to frost heaving movement. Hopefully, they did really good work prepping before the slab was poured to eliminate settling.

It looks like a quality install to me.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone for the replies.

New posts are treated and covered w/ hardieboard. I'll just leave it be, then.
 
Back
Top