How to Build a Small Cover Over My Deck for Shade

Decide where you want the small cover over the deck. Measure across this space against the wall of the house and mark the width at the wall’s base.

Measure up from the first mark at the wall’s base to the height where you want to place the deck shade. Mark the wall at this spot. Measure up from the second mark to the height where you want to place the shade and mark the spot again.

Cut a piece of metal flashing and a 2-by-6-inch wood board to the width of the space between the two marks. Put the metal flashing and the wood board back-to-back against the house’s wall with the flashing in the back, so that they line up with the marks on the wall. Drive four bolts through each end of the wood boards though the flashing into the wall.

Measure from the deck’s floor to the top of the board installed on the wall. Cut two 4-by-4-inch wood posts to this length with a circular saw. Measure out from the marks that you originally made at the wall’s base to the width you want the deck shade and mark the deck floor.

Place the 4-by-4-inch wood posts so that the outside edges line up with these marks on the floor. Secure the posts to the deck by driving four 3.5-inch wood screws up through the deck floorboard beneath each post and into the bottom of the post.

Measure from each end of the board on the wall to the post directly across from it. Cut two 2-by-6-inch boards to this size. Measure the distance between the two posts that you placed and cut a 2-by-6-inch board to this length.

Secure one board to each end of the wood board on the house and the post that sits directly out from it with four 3.5-inch screws. Secure the third board between the two posts with screws.

Measure the distance between the front of the wood board on the house and the wood board directly across from it. Cut enough wood boards of this size to place a wood board every 8 to 10 inches between these two perimeter boards. Use joist hangers and 1.5-inch screws securing the new boards to the perimeter boards.

Cut any piece of fabric the size of the frame that you created and secure the fabric to the frame with staples. Alternately, cut plywood or metal sheeting to the frame’s size and secure the solid cover with nails.