I currently have a patio cover that I would like to turn into a solid deck that can be used to entertain on (walk on) and provide rain cover on the patio. Does any one have any suggestions?
Yeah. Provide a lot more detail. Is it made of wood? If so, what size are the joists? What span? How is the header attached to the house? How are the joists attached to the header and the beam? What joist spacing? What size beam do they rest on? What size posts carry the beam? What do the posts rest on? What is the spacing between the posts? If it was designed as a roof, there's a good chance it lacks the structural elements needed to reach the square foot loading for a walk on deck. In short it sounds like you need a professional to evaluate the situation.
Posts: 216 | Location: Annville, PA | Registered: 03 July 2006
Most likely the cover is not structural at all. You will either need to remove the entire roof and rebuild a structure over with water proofing below so the patio does not get wet, or build another deck over the existing patio. The first may be the best option as you will need footings that most likly are not existing under the current patio design.
Posts: 1039 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 31 January 2006
Thanks for your replays. The current will support a deck with 2 changes, I need to add lag bolts every 8 inches and one of the spans either needs to be changed to 12’ vs 16’ or add an additional support to the header in the middle to shorten the 14’ span in half. The footings, ledger and joist size and span already meet city code.
The current cover is wood and instead of just putting of 1X3 for shade I would like to convert it to a deck, there is already a cement floor for the patio on the ground under the cover. Making the deck with wood or composite I can do however when it rains the floor under the cover gets wet and I want to eliminate this be making the deck sealed and yet allowing people to walk on it.
Sorry for the late response but I just saw this system while reading about the blog cabin on DIY. It looks pretty cool and should suit your needs if it works as advertised. http://www.rainescape.com/
Posts: 174 | Location: VA, AL, GA | Registered: 23 October 2007
I have had experiance with a product like that. I was not to impressed with its performance and it was a pain to maintain. Leaves and debris collect below the floor level and are very difficult to remove once trapped. The system I used had a track that was fastend between the beeams then a plastic insert was slid into the track. creating the trough in which the water was sent down into another gutter mounted below. Good concept but maintenance nightmare.
Posts: 1039 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 31 January 2006