December 20, 2011

It's been a while since my last post, so much to do!  So many fences to build, only 24 hours in a day! 

So here's a good one!  Patio cover ledgers!  Yes I build patio covers too.  The fancy people use the fancy name of pergolas.  "Why yes, I certainly do construct pergolas!"

If the patio cover is attached to the house you've got to tie in with a ledger board and go from there.  It's not the prettiest or the strongest way and I've known this for some time.  But the status quo often remains when few are up to the challenge to make it better. 

I've had a great new concept for patio cover ledgers for some time.  A wonderful customer over in Pasadena tells me her neighbor's patio cover is about to fall down.  Therefore won't I build them a new one and paint it to match hers and the nice condo complex there?  Built it better than the rest of course and painted to match!

So getting back to ledger boards, the ugly and not as strong as possible status quo way to attach and hang wood beams just would not do for me.  Before we go any further here's a shot as we're wrapping up!



I had to place the two beams on the outside edges to match everybody else's patio covers there.  But wait!  What's that ledger configuration up against the house?  Nice, brief and clean right?  Those ugly joist hangers or beam hangers on a big board are too much mess for not enough strength in my opinion.  Status quo, there you go, bye-bye!  I was going to build the best patio cover in the complex, or forget it!

Another WoodFenceExpert.com first I suppose!  My design if you have the patience to keep reading, seemed too obvious.  But I cannot remember ever seeing it before!  What am I going to call it?  Call it what it is-angle iron ledger, with a 1"x cushion up against the stucco!

3"x3"x1/4" thick angle iron (steel in other words), primed three times, yeah we can't have any rust streaks.  It does rain sometimes here in Southern California, just not too often!  We primed it twice with spray can primer "formulated for rusty steel".  Then the whole project got got primed and then painted to match the theme of the complex after we let the wood dry out a few weeks! 

Please excuse the over-paint on the stucco before the touch-ups.  But there it is!  SPAX brand massive heavy duty lags bolting to the frame of the house.  And 1/2" diameter hex bolts going all the way through each beam and through the steel, bolted together under pressure!  There are three washers on top of each beam for the hex bolts to grab as much of the beam as possible: biggest on the wood (on the bottom), middle in the middle, and smallest at the top.  Didn't get a photo of that, sorry.  And by positioning the steel angle in that position plus having the 1"x cushion up against the stucco, we've got more beam to bite and hold onto with the 1/2" hex bolt since we slid the beam right up to the stucco!  Now that's my kind of patio cover ledger!  It's nice and strong and simple! 



So forget ledger boards and beam hangers.  Isn't this stronger and easier to admire?  That ugly mess of a big ledger board, beam hangers with all the little joist hanger nails are gone!  Status quo, there you go, bye-bye!  This is a much better patio cover ledger board concept!  Simple and strong! 

So if you're in or near Los Angeles and need a patio cover that requires a ledger board attachment to the house, or a free standing patio cover or pergola: call, text or email me for a quote!  I will build it right!