Bob's Blog

Wind Loads

What can I do to “beef up” the design of an Alumawood Shade Structure to strengthen it against higher winds? 

Do you already have a cover you are wanting to improve or is this a new project?

A new project can simply be ordered for a 90 mph to a 110 mph wind load and will come with all necessary components.  The upgrade from  90 mph to 110 mph or higher includes some or all of the following, usually in this order:

1. decreased post spacing

2. increased roof pan gauge (thicker roof pans)

3. Doubling the header

4. concrete footings

5. steel or aluminum cloverleaf post inserts

6. steel C-beam header inserts

Along with these steps additional screws are also used and that’s about it!

Trying to “retro-fit” an existing cover would be difficult but not impossible.  Additional posts and screws is the first step.  Any further steps would involve disassembling the cover and replacing or adding parts.

Our engineering, available to download on our “Resources” page , has all the information for these spans, gauges and connections.  Anything out of the scope of our engineering will require “Site Specific” engineering, a free service for customers buying new Alumawood shade structures from us.

I trust this answers your question, please feel free to email or call us anytime.Regards, Bob

Eave Attachments

Here is a chart with engineering for eave attachments (bottom) and roof attachments (top).  Notice that the rafter size and rafter overhang of the house may limit your patio cover projection, this applies to both roof and eave attachments.    

Alumawood Lighting

We offer “Permatrax” lighting systems. This is a “strip” lighting system and looks great on the Alumawood covers. They are very simple to install, no special wiring is needed, just a common 10v outlet to plug the lights into.You may order them at alumawood.com along with your Alumawood cover. Just note it in the comments section Check out diypatio.com for more information or ordering them separately.                                                                                

Fan Beams

We are often asked if a ceiling fan can be mounted to the Alumawood cover. We do have a “fan Beam” that can be ordered separately as an option.  We also have  engineering for this.  Be sure to check your projection and weight of the fan to determine if it will work for your particular cover.                                                                      

Low height at house attachment

PROBLEM:
The roof eaves are very low on my house.  With a 12ft projection and  ½” drop per foot I will need 6″ of fall. This will make the header at the edge of the concrete slab  too low.
what other options are there?
SOLUTION:

There are a few options available and a few things to consider when you are faced with a low attachment height at the house.
You will need a minimum of 6′-8″ clearance under the header, 6′-6″ is allowed with some building authorities, usually you just have to ask.

Laguna Lattice covers are easiest to work with when you have a low mounting height at the house for two reasons:
1. You do not need 1/2″ per foot of fall for rain runoff
2. You may “reverse mount” the header, putting it on top of the rafters and “hanging” them from the header.

The Newport Solid covers must have fall for the rain to run off and the header must be placed under the roof pans.

When calculating the fall for the solid roof at 1/2″ per foot you need to take into account the fall of the concrete, usually 1/4″ per foot, but this slope may vary greatly from job to job.  This can be added into the equation to gain your minimum slope of 1/2″ per foot.
You can simply use one of the side rafters, place it perpendicular to the house with one end touching the house (for an eave attachment place the rafter at the appropriate distance from the wall).  Place a level on top of the rafter and lift the rafter until it is level.  Measure your slabs “fall” at the post location.  Subtract this number from the total fall needed.

ex.  If you have an 7′-6′ high wall attachment (bottom of Alumawood roof) and a cover with a 15′ projection then your posts will be somewhere between 14′-6″ and 13′.  For this example we will mount the posts at 14′. We will need 7″ of fall from the attachment at the house to the posts and header.  If we have 1/4″ of fall on our concrete slab then we have 3-1/2″ of fall in the slab and we will only need an additional 3-1/2″ of fall for the cover itself.  We also need to deduct 8″ for the header.  8″ + 3-1/2″ = 11-1/2″.
Our height at the wall of 7′-6″ – 11-1/2″ = 6′-6-1/2″ which is a bit low.
We can substitute a double 2×6 header for the 3×8 header which will give us more headroom under the header.  6-1/2″ + 3-1/2″ = 10″.  7′-6″ – 10″ = 6′-8″ and this will work for our headroom.

The final option available its to roof mount the patio cover.

This is much easier on a composition shingle roof as opposed to a concrete or clay tile roof.  On a comp roof you simply mount 8″ L-brackets with lag bolts through the roofing into the house rafters.  The bolts will need to be sealed with roof mastic or similar. You then need to bend the leg of the L-bracket that is sticking up to a vertical position.  Your ledger board can then be mounted to these L-brackets and your patio cover attached to this.
On a tile roof we recommend have a roofing contractor install the L-brackets.
As always check the engineering, available at www.alumawood.com on the resources page.  There are limitations to all applications as specified in the engineering.
You may always email questions to info@alumawood.com

or call us at 1-888-alumawood (258-6296)

To Ledger Board or not?

Question: Is it better to attach to a ledger board or direct to the wood siding wall?    Answer: The cover should be attached to SOLID wood (as in a header or rim joist inside the wall). Wood siding or plywood sheer panel is not sufficient. If solid wood is not available in the wall and you only have 2x studs @ 16″ o.c. then you should use a 2×8 wood ledger board, lag that into the studs every 16″, then attach your Alumawood rafters to the ledger board every 24″ o.c. or as engineering dictates. You should always check the engineering and instructions for your project prior to ordering.  The instructions and engineering are available for download on the “Resources” page at alumawood.com.Thank you, Bob

Does Alumawood look like real wood?

Often Alumawood™ shade structures are mistaken for real wood covers.  Here is a excerpt from a recent email we received.                                                                                                                                                                                                                ” my wife discovered your product some time ago.   I confess initial skepticism for the look but did the research for her anyway.  at a relative’s home recently i commented about the posts for the patio cover touching the ground and the problem with termites. He corrected me that termites don’t eat aluminum.  the look was not what I expected.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Alumawood™ has an embossed wood grain texture stamped into the aluminum.  The paint finish is a weather-resistant, anticorrosive Aluma-Shield silicon polyester paint finish that withstands the harshest conditions, including sun, rain, wind, and extreme temperatures. This paint system was formulated for Amerimax.   

Paint codes

Here is a copy of the paint codes,  it may help those trying to match our colors.                                                                       

Connecting Columns

Question on decorative columns

“the directions provided with the columns appear to be for a load bearing application, without internal posts.”

Correct, These columns are designed to be load bearing, but our engineering does not allow connecting direct to the column.  You will have a 3″ post in the center of the column to carry the load of the cover.  Basically the cover will be attached to the 3″ posts just like a standard post application and the column will be slipped over the post to be an architectural element of the design.

When we design columns with a cover we always include a “double header” design.  This looks better than using the standard single header and matches up with the column cap much better. 

We also don’t like the connecting instructions that come with the columns. The suggest using small “L” brackets and screwing into the column and into the concrete.  This is not a good connection and I have seen many columns crack when attached like this.

I like to drill 1/4″ hole, four sides of the column (low enough so the base will cover it) and use four long sheet metal screws screwed into the 3″ post to hold the column in place.  At the top, four screws in the cap, each corner, to the header holds it there. I will also add expanding foam at the top and bottom of the column, this really locks it in. Be careful not to use too much, once I came back the next day after “foaming” the column and it had raised it 2″!!

Below is a page out of the engineering. 

Cleaning Alumawood

Amerimax aluminum products are easy to maintain. Generally, normal rainfall is sufficient to keep its appearance clean. If cleaning is required, we recommend the following steps. Particular attention should be given to areas under eaves, porches, awnings, and other overhangs that have limited exposure to the natural cleansing effect of rainfall.1) For moderate dirt – An occasional washing with clear water using a garden hose and soft-bristled brush is recommended (a long-handled, car-washing brush is ideal for this purpose).2) For a heavier dirt accumulation – Wash in the manner indicated above, but use the following solution:1/3 cup detergent (e.g. Tide®)2/3 cup trisodium phosphate (e.g. Soilax®)1 gallon water3) Mildew accumulation – Mildew can collect on surfaces of all types of building products and is often evident on surfaces that have not been properly maintained. Normally, mildew will appear as black spots. Mildew is easy to remove by using the following cleaning solution:1/3 cup detergent (e.g. Tide®)2/3 cup trisodium phosphate (e.g. Soilax®)1 quart sodium hypochloride 5% solution (e.g. Clorox®)3 quarts water4) Environmental black streaking – Black streaking can also collect on the surface of a structure. Black streaking can be removed by using Gutter Zap 4, which can be purchased from Alumawood.com5) Caulking compounds, tar, etc. – Use mineral spirits in reasonable amounts, apply directly to foreign substance. Rinse the area thoroughly with water immediately after cleaning.