Spring always feels magical in Calgary. The joy of feeling warm again after the long months of freezing temperatures is always incredible, and the sight of green growth coming up through the snow piles truly feels like the world is being reborn. There is no better place to experience the new season than on your patio, and a patio cover helps you to make the most of the spring warmth without being blinded by the sunshine. It’s not hard to find creative hybrid patio cover designs that make it easy to spend time outside on your patio as soon as the temperatures move above freezing.
What is a Hybrid Patio Cover?
A usual patio cover comes in two main formats. The most common type of patio cover is a solid roof design. This typically attaches to your home and stretches out across your patio giving you full shade as the spring days get longer and warmer. The roof can be made of a variety of materials from vinyl to cloth to suit your aesthetic and your budget. The other type of patio cover is a lattice design. Think of a pergola effect here. The goal of a lattice design patio cover is to allow light and air to circulate under your patio cover. A hybrid patio cover provides you with a mixture of both full cover and lattice design so you can get the best of both worlds.
Innovative Hybrid Designs
There are a wide variety of ways that you can combine solid and lattice patio cover designs to get the most out of your patio this spring. Here are some creative options to get you started:
- Pergola canopy combo – a wooden pergola is an iconic patio cover and works well with any type of siding or house design. It has a naturally latticed roof, so you can turn it into a hybrid patio cover with fabric canopy strips fastened between each beam. Make these fabric canopy panels retractable on a string so that you can control the amount of sunlight that comes onto your patio.
- Solid panels with skylight strips – for a more permanent hybrid concept, work with your patio cover contractor to create a design that incorporates solid panels with latticed sections of skylights. You can put the lattice next to the house and put your grill underneath it to act as a natural chimney, or put the lattice at the edge of the patio to provide a visual transition out to the garden.
- Translucent panels with side drapes – finally, you can choose translucent panels (etched glass or acrylic work well here) that will soften the spring Calgary sunlight. Add some fabric drapes or bamboo shades down the sides of your patio cover to create a sense of privacy and shelter as well as more control over the amount of shade you get on the patio. This gives you the flexibility to deal with the vagaries of Calgary’s spring time weather and gets you ready for a summer on your patio.
