Your patio has the capacity to be a unifying space on your property. It’s like the beach, providing the best of two different landscapes. On the one hand, it’s a hard surface that will support chairs, tables and even a full sized grill to help you live your best indoor lifestyle out in your yard. On the other hand, it’s an outdoor space, giving you all the fresh air, warmth and scents that sitting anywhere else in your yard gives you. The proximity to your home makes your patio a perfect “home base” for younger kids to venture from, and a great place for their supervising adults to watch the chaos gently unfold.
However, using your patio in Calgary comes with some problems, especially in the warmer months. The first obvious issue is the eternal wind that seems to blow through the city, which can bring dirt and debris onto your patio. Keeping on top of clearing your patio from this can be a pain, especially when summer feels like it’s over before it begins. The second challenge is the high temperatures in midsummer when you sit out in direct sunlight. Nothing will stop you from using your patio more than overheating, especially when the patio stones store and reflect heat back quicker than grass or a deck. Finally, you have to keep an eye on the weather, as you’ll need to cover up any patio furniture when one of Calgary’s summer storms rolls around.
Enter The Patio Cover
Fortunately, there is a way to protect you and your patio from the worst parts of a Calgary summer: a patio cover. A patio cover is exactly what it sounds like: a permanent structure that provides shade and cover to your patio. It can be a freestanding structure or attached to your home, depending on the size of patio cover that you want/need. It keeps your patio clear from debris and provides protection from the sun and rain, allowing you to use your patio all season long.
How a Patio Cover Increases Your Home’s Value
A patio cover isn’t just for you and your family to use; it’s also a cheap way to get some easy curb appeal if you’re planning to sell your home. Potential buyers will step outside and see the potential for outdoor dining and entertainment under your new patio covers, and while it won’t count towards your official square footage, it’ll be part of the house that they will go away dreaming about. You can add to the feeling of an extra room by installing railing around the edge of your patio and buying high quality outdoor furniture (either a full dining table set or a living room arrangement) to complete the vibe.
Choose Your Coverage Options
Not all patio covers are created equally, and you’ll want to find the balance between a durable patio cover that does the job well and one that fits with the aesthetic of your backyard. Here are some options to help you choose a patio cover in Calgary:
- Full cover – a full patio cover is one made from vinyl or aluminum, and provides complete protection against all the elements. You can add some design elements with the ends and the material, and you’ll always be sure of a strong, sturdy cover. A full cover patio is usually attached to your home because it’s significantly heavier than the lattice or hybrid options, and you can be limited in the overall size because of the cost of the materials. However, with a full cover patio, you know that you’ll be getting complete protection from the elements, and there are plenty of ways to make the modern design match the overall outdoor aesthetic of your home.
- Lattice cover – a lattice cover provides less protection against the sun than a full cover. However, it gives more of a dappled shade effect and feels more like a pergola if that’s the style you’re looking for. Typically, a lattice patio cover is made from vinyl as it’s easy to cut the lattice pattern in that fabric. You can build a lattice out of wooden beams which will give you more of a pergola feel to your patio cover, and in this case, you may want to consider a free standing patio cover design. A free standing lattice design gives you much more flexibility with the shape and space of your patio cover, but it will increase the cost and complexity of your project.
- Hybrid – for the perfect combination, talk to your patio cover contractor about a hybrid design, where part of the patio cover is solid and part of it is lattice. This option tends to cost more because you’re often joining together two different patio cover pieces, but is the perfect marriage of durability and design. A hybrid patio cover design is a perfect way to maximize the space on your patio. For example, you could have a solid cover closer to the home to protect your grill and a dining area, and a lattice fringe around the edges to provide a dappled shade for your informal seating and lounging section.
How to Choose the Right Patio Cover for Your Home
Knowing which patio cover option to choose can be tricky as it comes down to a whole variety of factors, some of which will be out of your control.
Budget Constraints
The first and most obvious driver for picking the right patio cover will be the amount of money that you have available for the project. The more money that you can put toward the project, the more options you’ll have. A custom size hybrid cover will cost considerably more as each section and piece will need to be made bespoke for your project, so make sure you have a clear idea of your budget before you start planning.
Patio Position
Another key factor for the type of patio cover you choose is the placement of your patio in relation to the sun’s movements throughout the day and the rest of your house. If you’ve got a south facing patio with no other options for shade, you might find a full patio cover to be best to keep you covered all summer long. If your patio doesn’t get full sun, either through its position or from nearby trees, then a lattice or hybrid might be a better call.
How You Use Your Patio
What you choose to do on your patio during the summer months will also have an impact on the type of patio cover you choose. If you like to grill (or you would like to grill!) on your patio, then a hybrid option gives you the opportunity to put a lattice frame over the top of your grill to allow for smoke and steam to leave your outdoor area easily while keeping everyone in shade. On the other hand, if you just like to eat out there, a solid cover might work better to keep the direct sun off your food and provide protection from any sudden summer storms.
Other factors to include are your own personal aesthetic preferences, any additional addons you want to include such as privacy screens, mood lighting or a ceiling fan, and of course any local or HOA restrictions and guidelines. It’s important to share all of these with your patio cover contractor to make sure you choose the right patio cover option for your project.
Durable Patio Cover Options
When it comes to durability, you have a few different options to make your patio cover last for a long time. The most durable patio cover material is vinyl which will withstand the worst of each of Calgary’s seasons and comes with the added benefit that you won’t need to worry about ongoing maintenance or repair. Vinyl patio covers also have the benefit of being able to be painted in just about any colour that you need to be able to match your home, and they can be easily tailored to fit any size of patio cover design.
Aluminum patio covers are also up there in terms of their durability. As they sit above most people, it is very rare that they get scratched and need very little maintenance. Since our Desert Sun Patio covers come with baked-on paint, adding another layer is not recommended, as chips are more likely to occur.
Finally, if one buys a patio cover made from wood, there is a high likelihood of needing regular maintenance, which is why we at Desert Sun Patios do not sell this type. Even with the right stain, a wood patio cover will need regular maintenance, and you will be limited on your colour choices depending on the type of stain that you need. A wooden patio cover is also more blocky, meaning that you won’t get the same type of flexibility of design as you would with the other patio cover materials.
Looking After Your Patio Cover
It’s clear to see why patio covers made from wood aren’t very common, and why Desert Sun Patios always recommends aluminum patio covers, and only stocks these types. While these patio cover materials are incredibly durable and won’t require touch up maintenance, you’ll still need to look after them given all that each Calgary season puts them through. Here are some simple ways to keep your patio cover looking its finest all year long:
- Invest in a snow brush – winter in Calgary seems to be never ending, and there are some years where it feels like your whole house has always been covered in snow and ice. While your patio cover is designed for strength and durability, you also know how quickly snow and ice can become incredibly heavy, so having a long handled snow brush will be an essential purchase. After each snowstorm, you’ll want to pull the worst of the snow and ice from your patio cover, and you’ll probably want to repeat the process if there’s a sudden warm up as the snow from the main roof of your home will come down on your patio cover. You don’t have to worry about getting all of the winter weather off, but make sure you get enough off to take the strain off your patio cover.
- Clear the debris – When fall is in full swing, you’ll see the effects of Calgary’s eternal wind on the top of your patio cover. Whether it’s small branches from nearby trees, or leaves and pine needles that get blown on top of your patio cover, you’ll want to take care of any debris that starts to build up on top of your new patio cover. Left alone, it can start to block water from draining effectively, and invites mould and moss, both of which are a pain to get rid of once they’ve established themselves. You can use the same long handled brush that you use in winter, or you can make the most of the warmer weather and get up on a ladder so you can see what you’re dealing with.
- Wash it down – when it comes to looking after your patio cover, the biggest way to keep it looking at its best is to periodically wash it down, making sure to get in all the grooves and dips. Keeping it clear of all the debris will make this job a lot easier, and it will keep any mould and mildew at bay if you keep to a regular schedule. It may be time to invest in a power washer as this will be the easiest and quickest way to keep your patio cover clean, but you can also get reasonable results with the jet setting on a regular garden hose. In either case, choose a warm sunny day so the water either runs off or evaporates quickly, and plan on spending enough time on it so that your patio cover lasts for years to come.
