Our DIY Patio Cover

****EDIT: I've updated the patio cover with shade screen HERE****


A couple weeks ago my dad came into town and helped build us a patio cover. I helped as much as I could while trying to keep my boys happy. Andrew was pretty easy, he loved getting to play outside in the dirt and grandpa even got him a sandbox! He sure loves it!

So I wanted to share with you how we did ours. Now keep in mind that neither my dad nor I are professionals, my dad is just super handy and knows the basics of building so be sure to consult an expert for advice before you start your own project.

First we came up with a design idea and measured things out. We made a list of supplies and went to Home Depot to get them. It was amazing because both boys fell asleep on the way home and took long naps for us to work!

 We started by painting the wood to weather proof it and to match the house.

 Amazingly, my mom found this bucket of house paint for free on the curb in her neighborhood. Even more amazing is that it is very close to the color of the house!!

I <3 Free!

 Next up we figured out where to put our holes for the uprights and dug. This was a huge task! The soil around here is junk, all rocky. It took a lot of work to dig those three holes.

After the holes were dug and the forms were sunk in them, we made sure everything was level before pouring cement. 

The cement cured for a little bit and then we sank the post holders into the cement.

Here was another fun step. We had to find the studs on the exterior of the house to hang the board on the fascia. Normally that would be cake once you find the first one, but everything was off, some studs were 10 inches apart others 17 or more! So by the time we found enough studs it looked like someone shot up our house with a machine gun. Ok that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. 

Finally we drove the anchoring bolts into the studs to hang that board and were able to move on.

After the cement cured for long enough, we got the uprights in and started with the structure.

Bracing to keep the uprights level as we put the rest together.

And finally the finished product...I hung some shade screen we had on hand for the time being. I plan on getting some heavy duty shade cloth to cover the whole structure before summer hits. And in case you're curious, it cost about $150 if I remember right (we made a couple trips to Home Depot after forgetting a few things).

Again, this post isn't meant as a tutorial to guide you through building your own patio structure, just as a general overview of how we did ours. There are lots of steps I didn't get pictures of and quite frankly forgot or didn't know we did - my dad did a majority of the work since I had to step away to take care of my littlest one. Thank you dad!!

Linking Up To:

Blue Cricket Design