There’s nothing like summer in park model homes, but how to keep cool this summer in a park model house is a question on every owner’s lips. The Calgary heat can often be overbearing, and even the best insulation in a tiny house won’t stop you from overheating. This is when you need to start thinking about using your outside space, but this too comes with its own drawbacks. Sitting outside in the middle of the heat will feel unbearable at times, which is why you need to think about investing in a park model patio and a cover to make the most of your outdoor space and keep cool at the same time.
Park Model And Trailer Patios
Trailer patios come in all shapes and sizes and you’ll have to work hard to find the one that matches your available space and budget. Here are three things to consider when picking your park model patio:
- How much room do you have? If you’re in a crowded trailer park like many on the outskirts of Calgary, you’ll be thinking more of a short patio, while as you leave the city behind, you may be able to dream of a larger deck. The size of your patio will also be dictated by whether you’re choosing to build on the long or short side of your park model trailer. You also need to decide whether you want your patio on just one side or to have it spread round multiple sides of your property.
- What is your budget? Many people choose to invest the money that they saved on park model homes by buying trailer patios that are made of more durable materials such as cedar wood. These cost more than cheaper patio woods such as pine, but they will last longer and require less yearly maintenance.
- How do you want to use your patio? Your park model patio has many different uses, from being a simple entertainment space for your friends and families, to being a cosy dining space for the summer months. If it’s more of an entertaining space, you’ll need to consider the shape and orientation of the seating you have available (or that you’ve got your eye on buying!). If you want a dining space, you’ll need to think about how to fit a table and chairs (with space to push chairs back) which often requires a larger patio size.
Park Model Patio Covers
Once you’ve decided on the size and orientation of your patio, you’re going to need to think about patio covers. Patio covers are the key to keep you cool this summer in a park model. The range is wide and your choices will be affected by the size of your patio, your budget and your personal choices. The most common options include:
- Awning – an awning is the cheapest and most basic patio cover for your park model patio. It’s a piece of fabric that screws on to the outside wall of your home and you pull it out when you need shade. It’s cheap, and you’ll have the choice of just about any fabric colour and pattern to match your outdoor aesthetic. However, the fact that it’s fabric means that it’s not weather resistant, and it’s susceptible to rips and damage due to the high Calgary winds.
- Solid patio cover – a solid patio cover gives you much more protection than an awning, but the materials drive up the cost. Typically, solid park model patio covers are made from aluminium or vinyl, meaning that they’ll keep your patio furniture dry. They are permanent structures, meaning that you’ll have to keep them clean of snow, ice and debris outside of the winter months. Solid patio covers can be free standing (i.e. they’re supported by posts drilled into your patio) or attached to your home depending on how you want your patio cover to look.
- Pergola style – if the idea of aluminium or vinyl on the outside of your home doesn’t fit your outdoor design plans, a pergola style patio cover may be your best option. Pergolas are typically made from treated wood, which means that they only require some annual touch up in terms of maintenance. They are normally free standing post and beam structures which provide a lattice cover over your patio. This is perfect for growing climbing plants like roses or clematis, but it also means that they’re not rain or snow proof.
One final patio cover option for your park model is to opt for a hybrid model. This is where you work with patio cover contractor to combine different designs of patio cover to best meet the needs of your space. Often this takes the form of having part of your patio cover be a solid covering and other parts being a lattice design. The benefit of having a hybrid patio cover is that it gives you the opportunity to have multiple uses for your patio, all while keeping you and your guests cool all summer. For example, having a solid park model patio cover next to the house gives you the space to set up an outdoor cooking area that will be protected from the sun and wind (and the occasional Calgary rainstorm!), which can then be combined with a lattice style patio cover further out from your house where you can put your chairs and dining table for a dappled shade while you’re eating.
Think About Shade
Choosing the best option from all of the patio covers available is key to keeping cool outside this summer. Most important to consider will be the amount of shade in the heat of the day; typically this tends to be in the early afternoon. You will want to work out where the sun is over your park model patio at this time and plan to have the maximum amount of coverage there. If you’re fortunate enough to be working with a larger space, you may want to choose several smaller patio covers and have multiple seating options for you and your summer guests.
Keep Cool With A Patio Cover Ceiling Fan
Finally, patio covers offer one unique option to help keep you cool in the hot Calgary summers: ceiling fans. Even on the most stifling of days, a ceiling fan can keep trailer patios feeling cool and fresh, allowing you to stay outside for longer. A ceiling fan will require a more expensive patio cover, however, as it will need to be able to support the heavyweight and motion of the fan. You’ll need either a solid patio cover or a pergola type design if you want this option. Fortunately, as you’ll need to run electrical wires to the top of your patio cover, a ceiling fan is often combined with a light fixture of some sort, which will allow you to be out later on your patio all summer long.
Invest in a park model patio complete with a cover and ceiling fan and you’ll be out enjoying the Calgary sunshine all summer long! Our team of expert contractors are waiting for your call to help map out every part of your park model patio process, from design consultation to planning regulation paperwork and the finishing touches to help bring your patio dreams to life.
Park Model Screen Rooms: A Bigger Project To Keep You Cool!
If a park model patio combined with a cover and even a ceiling fan doesn’t feel like it’s going to be enough to keep you cool, then you want to think about investing in a park model screen room. This is a permanent addition to your home, so be ready to increase the size of your budget significantly compared to some of the cool ideas above. However, because screen rooms are a lightweight construction, you can build one directly on top of your existing patio or deck, meaning that your overall budget won’t be as large as if you had to pay to dig deeper foundations.
How A Screen Room Keeps You Cool
A park model screen room is a simple construction. They tend to be based on a post and beam model, with a solid roof and a combination of wood side panels and large mesh screens. The roof gives you the same sort of protection from the worst of the summer heat as a solid patio cover, and it’s stronger than an awning and gives better all-weather protection than a pergola patio cover design. The real cooling magic of a screen room comes in the large mesh windows. Even though they’ll be big enough to let plenty of light and air through, the mesh acts like a block to UV rays, as well as the interminable dust and bugs that seem to accompany every Calgary summer. You’ll also find that the screens help provide more shade during the heat of the day which in turn will make your screen into a cool summer sanctuary. You can even hang a ceiling fan from the roof of your park model screen to keep things even cooler!
