An advantage of patio umbrellas is that you can include them as part of an outdoor furniture set to complete your patio decor.
Get a tarp or canvas that already has grommets in the corners to easily tie it to the poles. Use a sturdy cord to tie everything together. You can use ropes and stakes, or buckets weighed down with sand or water, to secure the canopy in place. Stakes anchor the ropes that support the canopy’s poles in place, or buckets act as weights to hold the rope and poles in place.
If you do attach the sail shade to trees, this should be for temporary use only so you don’t damage the trees. If you choose to install wood or steel posts, you will have to dig holes to set them in. Concrete can provide a more secure foundation as well.
Retractable awnings can either be solar-powered, remote control powered or hand-operated. Retractable awnings that are hand-operated are a slightly more affordable option than the motorized versions. Some models of retractable awnings have automatic sensors that deploy the awning when it is sunny out, and make them retract during bad weather that could damage them. Retractable awnings are usually attached to the side of your home over a patio, so you don’t need any kind of existing patio cover to install them.
A wooden pergola is essentially the base for any other patio cover. It is a structure over your patio that consists of wooden poles, beams, and rafters. It’s up to you whether to leave it open, or have it roofed over to provide more shelter or turn it into an extra outdoor room.
You can also add some trellises to the sides of the pergola if you want to enclose it to add privacy and make it into more of a gazebo for your garden.
Keep in mind that synthetic thatch will be more expensive to install than natural thatch and usually doesn’t look as natural. Have your wooden patio base constructed out of natural looking logs instead of square lumber to go with the island vibe.
The patio cover can be any height you want if you are going to make a free-standing structure, but at least 7 ft (2. 1 m) is a good standard height. If you are going to attach it to the edge of the roof of your home, then it will need to be lower than the gutters of the home’s roof.
Depending how big your patio cover will be, you can use smaller or larger posts. Ask at your local lumber yard what size of posts you should be using based on your patio dimensions to support the load of the cover.
You can also cut a notch for the cross-beams you are going to install at this point. You will want to use a cross beam that is smaller than your posts. For example, if you are using 6x6 corner posts, then use a 4x6 crossbeam so that you can create a notch that it fits into. The notch should be at the top of the corner posts and the same dimensions as the crossbeam.
You should have 4 corner posts if you are making a free-standing patio cover, and only 2 if you are attaching one side of the cover to your home.
You will only need 1 cross-beam if the patio cover will be attached to the side of your home.
Screw a 2x4 or 2x6 along the whole length of the side of your home if you plan to attach the patio cover here. Screw joist hangers into this piece of wood opposite the cross-beam. You will need 2 joist hangers and 1 rafter for every 16 in (41 cm) of length of the patio cover.
You can get all of your lumber pre-cut at a home improvement center or lumber yard to the lengths you need, or cut it at home if you have the experience and tools to do it.
You can match the roofing to the roofing on your home, if you attached the patio cover to the side of it, in order to make it appear as just an extension of the home’s roof.
