Self-Help: How to Make a Patio Roof

Set Roof Support Posts

• 1

  Place a wood stake at the beginning and end of each section of the patio perimeter. Pull a string tightly from one stake to the other to serve as a guide string to keep the posts in a straight line. Measure every 8 feet along the guide string around the perimeter of your square or rectangular patio. Mark each spot with a wood stake hammered into the ground along the inside of the string.

• 2

  Dig a hole straight down into the ground at the location of each wood stake to a depth of 5 feet and a width of 12 inches using a two-man post hole digger.

• 3

  Shovel gravel into each hole to a depth of 6-inches and use a post to tamp it level. Set 4-by-4-inch roof support posts into the middle of the holes on top of the gravel.

• 4

  Mix ready-to-use cement according to package directions and shovel it into the hole on top of the gravel around the posts. Place a carpenter’s level against the side of each post and adjust until it is vertically level. Make certain the posts are an equal distance from the guide string with the string running along a flat side of each post. Brace the posts in the upright position overnight so the cement has time to set up.

Build Roof

• 5

  Place a 4-by-6-inch-by-8-foot cross-board against the outside at the top of one of the posts. Hammer one size 5d nail through the top corner of the cross-board into the post.

• 6

  Level the cross-board by setting the carpenter’s level on top and, using the nailed corner as a hinge, adjusting the cross-board as necessary against the next support post. Drill four 1/4-inch holes in a straight line, spaced 1 inch apart, through the cross-board and into the roof support posts.

• 7

  Place washers on ¼-by-8-inch bolts and push them through the holes from the outside. Slip another washer on the ends of the bolts and thread the nuts and tighten them securely.

• 8

  Saw off the top of the roof support posts and any cross-board overlap that extends past the support posts with a power saw.

• 9

  Repeat the process of installing cross-boards between each span of posts around the perimeter of the patio.

• 10

  Make a mark every 24-inch center across the inside of the back cross-beam. Repeat the same process on the front cross-beam. Attach joist hangers on these marks with size 5d stainless steel nails.

• 11

  Cut roof joists from 2-by-4-inch boards to fit into the roof joists' hangers from front to back. Use stainless steel screws to attach the roof joists to the roof joist hangers.

• 12

  Start at the top left-hand corner of the roof and nail sheets of 5/8-inch treated plywood onto the roof cross-beams and roof joists. Continue until the roof is covered.

• 13

  Lay down tarpaper over the plywood according to manufacturer instructions.

• 14

  Shingle your roof with your choice of roof covering according to manufacturer instructions for that particular type.