How to Install an Entrance Canopy

Move to the inside wall of the door that you're covering with the canopy. Position a stud finder roughly 12 inches above the door's top jamb. Run the stud finder across the area above the door to locate the cripple studs that run from the door's header to the underside of the wall's plate.

Mark the studs' locations on the wall with a pencil. Use a tape measure to gauge the distance between the stud marks. Stud spacing in conventional walls is every 16 inches. Note the side of the door at which the spacing pattern begins; doors are surrounded with king studs that deviate from the standard spacing. Thus, the stud spacing is shorter between the last cripple stud and one of the king studs.

Move to the exterior wall above the door that you'll cover with the canopy. Transcribe the studs' locations onto the wall, beginning with the king studs, which surround the door's header. Use the king stud marks to pinpoint the evenly spaced locations of the cripple studs. Place a level above the entry and against the exterior wall. Horizontally align the level at the desired height of the canopy's mounting bracket.

Run a pencil along the level's edge to lay out a line that represents the mounting bracket's installation location. Flip the level and align one end of the level plumb with a stud mark. Position the opposite end of the level over the mounting bracket's installation line so the level's long edge runs perpendicular to the line. Transcribe the stud mark's location onto the mounting bracket line with a pencil. Use this method to transcribe the remaining stud marks onto the mounting bracket line.

Remove the mounting bracket from the entry canopy kit. Align the bracket with its installation line and position the bracket's screw holes over the installation line's stud marks. Mount a driver bit to the power drill. While holding the bracket in position on the installation line, drive exterior screws through the bracket's screw holes and into the wall's underlying studs.

Assemble the canopy's frame with wrenches and screwdrivers according to your canopy manufacturer's instructions. Most canopies require nut or machine screw connections at the joints between the four sides of the canopy frame. After assembling the frame, slip the fabric or synthetic canopy cover over the frame.

Slide the frame's rear side into the wall-mounted canopy brackets. Slip the frame through the bracket's channel until the ends of the frame align with the ends of the bracket. Secure the frame to the mounting bracket with bolts or machine screws.