# Patio Covering going up



## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I can't do projects like this myself anymore, so I hired this great guy who has done projects for us before to put in a solid patio cover on the third of the patio that was left open. I used to have a shade cloth in a frame up there, but a howling wind came up and blew them out. The thing sailed 50 feet before landing.








This will be a solid cover, ply with roofing. My wife slipped on ice a couple of years ago in the uncovered area and broke her wrist. This new cover will prevent that.

The other end of the patio is wrapped with lattice work so it shades the plants that live out there during the summer. There's a door that leads to the garden area just beyond. That lattice work was the last project I've done myself.

It's a 12x30 concrete patio and is a treat to enjoy of an evening. I'll post another picture when it's done. I've done so many DIY projects over the years, it's kind of hard to turn it over to others, but I'm thankful to be able to afford it.

One thing I really liked is that he pre painted everything. Painting the underside of a patio cover like that is a terrible chore. I built a cover over an 8x10 porch on one of my sheds, and painted it after construction. That was no fun. The shed is a 10x12 office and I wired and finished it myself. Insulation, drywall, AC. It's where I go to hide out for a little alone time.

The background in the picture is the wall of a super cheap sunroom that was almost unusable when we moved in. I built a 2x4 inside frame, insulated, wired and dry walled that, replaced all the cruddy plastic sliding windows with double pane energy efficient models. Then sealed of five openings that didn't get new windows, ripped out the sliding door and framed and installed a nice back door. Put in some wiring and poked a hole for the evaporative cooler. Wired and plumbed it. Then I hired someone who put on another 3 inches of insulated roof, sealed it in. Last, I hired a guy who put a nice skirt around the bottom that keeps the rain off the now concealed cheapo foam sandwich of the original sunroom. It's now the most pleasant room in the house, and it's my wife's painting studio and where the sensitive plants live during winter.

I like doing home improvements, and have done them most of my life. I grew up in an old farmhouse that was built before 1913 and was always in need of repairs. Woodworking is wonderful, but most of my husband points come from DIY home improvements. I'm cashing those points in now as she has to look after me a bit these days as I inch up to 80.

Any of you guys and gals want to share some of your DIY projects?


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

That’s nice Tom, you two will be real happy with it.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

I like those project that gain us "husband points".....


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

bryansong said:


> That’s nice Tom, you two will be real happy with it.


I have to eat and drink through a gastric tube. But I would really love to sit out there together, watch the sun set, sip a beer or something a little stronger.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> I like those project that gain us "husband points".....


Just goes to show you how smart we are James.


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

DesertRatTom said:


> I can't do projects like this myself anymore, so I hired this great guy who has done projects for us before to put in a solid patio cover on the third of the patio that was left open. I used to have a shade cloth in a frame up there, but a howling wind came up and blew them out. The thing sailed 50 feet before landing.
> View attachment 401722
> 
> This will be a solid cover, ply with roofing. My wife slipped on ice a couple of years ago in the uncovered area and broke her wrist. This new cover will prevent that.
> ...


Tom, It's very satisfying when you can get a good honest guy to do a good job. Kudos to you.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

He finished the roof yesterday. He slipped our job in between his other jobs. Fine with us since we weren't in any rush. He still has to finish painting, and there is a bit of missing flashing he will replace. Very solid job. Jean and I sat out there yesterday, really nice. I think it cooled down the area too. You can see we have a lot of trees on our property, and you can see the sunset from out there. You can see the lattice work on the end that I put in last Fall The sheds you see are my office shed and shop shed. I'll be adding another theater style light to illuminate more of the back yard at night. Don't like walking back there in the dark, and that's our dog, Henry's poop place. 

The tree in the background is a very productive Pistachio that produces a huge crop of nuts each year. All of the plants are on automatic watering 3x per week, the property goes back another 200 feet from the back of my shop. It gets occasional soaks and is mostly native species and doesn't require much water. We feed the birds where the pot is so we can watch the little fluttering show they put on. We found 50 lb bags of hulled sunflower seeds cheap, so they're fat and happy little critters.

My daughter's fella is going to have him work on a roof over a planned stage in his back yard. Brad is a really fine musician, a master of the guitar. The stage will be covered with lighting and good audio, and apparently with tiered seating. He's planning lots jam sessions with their circle of other musicians up here in the high desert. Don't think his neighbors will mind, they won't play late, and they perform mainly quieter music.


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

That's nice of Brad to consider the neighbours with the music. You just don't get many folks that have one grain of thought about those around them. Nice patio, Tom. I'd appreciate the shade.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

thomas1389 said:


> That's nice of Brad to consider the neighbours with the music. You just don't get many folks that have one grain of thought about those around them. Nice patio, Tom. I'd appreciate the shade.


Right about thoughtfulness. He put up a concrete block to cut the sound for his neighbors. He is blind, BTW, and still does a lot of yard work. He and my daughter and a friend formed a trio, and they play around the area here and there. He really is a virtuoso guitarist.

I'm looking forward to helping with his gatherings I'll set up lighting for him. He has the audio gear. Unlike most bands, they don't crank the sound up til it distorts. My daughter is a pretty good singer


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

That patio will be a great benefit on a Summer afternoon.....


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

DesertRatTom said:


> Right about thoughtfulness. He put up a concrete block to cut the sound for his neighbors. He is blind, BTW, and still does a lot of yard work. He and my daughter and a friend formed a trio, and they play around the area here and there. He really is a virtuoso guitarist.
> 
> I'm looking forward to helping with his gatherings I'll set up lighting for him. He has the audio gear. Unlike most bands, they don't crank the sound up til it distorts. My daughter is a pretty good singer


Very nice, Tom. It's good to hear of positive things these days. The best to you.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Final result, cleaned up a bit. I love the space. Thinking we might enclose it as a screened in spot, less bugs. But enough for now. BTW, there is one of our lizzards on the ground there. That lizzard is pretty comfortable out there and aside from the dog, he puts up with us. Used the sawhorses to put my wife's delicate plants on next to the lattice. Putting an extra light up to illuminate the other side of the back yard, well, at least 100 feet or so. And a little more clearing out and rearranging the patio furniture.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Very nice, Tom.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Came up nice Tom.


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## ScottyDBQ (Jul 5, 2008)

Looks like a great end to your project. Lots more usable space to enjoy.


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## woodworker47 (Dec 19, 2008)

Tom,

Very nice patio. Looks like quality work which is hard to find. I live in Indiana and have 4 sliding covers on my deck. Last year we started having the yard sprayed for mosquitoes. We can now enjoy the deck in the summer. If there is no breeze we have a floor fan to make our own breeze. Like you I am used to doing things myself, but realizing I can not do the things I used too. I turn 75 in October.


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Looks great, Tom. I'll have to send some of our squirrels down to help take care of those pistachios and sunflower seeds. ;-)


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

TenGees said:


> Looks great, Tom. I'll have to send some of our squirrels down to help take care of those pistachios and sunflower seeds. ;-)


We have a large number of Ravens what arrive when the nuts ripen. The nuts are very tasty, but I can't eat them anymore. And, I have a plentiful supply of chipmonks already, thank you. I better get busy with the trap again soon. I know where they live, but I don't like to kill them,so I move them several miles away where there's plenty of food.


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## Lawseeker (Mar 18, 2013)

Congratulations Tom, the finished project looks great. That is a good sized patio. The view reminds me of my teenage years. I grew up in the Mojave desert in California. Our property was much smaller than yours, but we did have more trees and they were quite large and provided a very good wind break. Of course as a teenager, I didn't pay much attention to property lines and wandered pretty much where I wanted. Thanks for the view I greatly enjoyed it.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Lawseeker said:


> Congratulations Tom, the finished project looks great. That is a good sized patio. The view reminds me of my teenage years. I grew up in the Mojave desert in California. Our property was much smaller than yours, but we did have more trees and they were quite large and provided a very good wind break. Of course as a teenager, I didn't pay much attention to property lines and wandered pretty much where I wanted. Thanks for the view I greatly enjoyed it.


My wife and I really love life here in the high desert. The back yard is entirely my creation. It was a bare lot, about an acre in the back yard, This area is much more developed these days. Parts look like pretty densely settled. The Mojave rive is stilll dry. 

The patio is a wonderful place, and there are three sheds back there, a small garden shed, a 10x12 finished, wired office and a 12x24 wired and finished shop. Every tree, every plant, every rock (except for the pistachio) were dragged in planted or placed by myself, with a little help from my wife. We figure about 45 to 50 tons of rock and boulders. Can't lift many of them anymore. Took several years.

We both spent a lot of years not far from the coast, and when we decided to move, we visited a lot of different places. But every time we came up to the AppleValley, Victorville area, people talked to each other. Still that way, even with all the new people. We live not so far from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans house, and they are buried about 4 miles north of us.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi Tom, we had lunch at Victorville in June 2012.

It looks like a great area to live.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> Hi Tom, we had lunch at Victorville in June 2012.
> 
> It looks like a great area to live.


I live in Apple Valley, just East of Victorville, It is amazing how much it has grown and changed during the last 10 years. It's one of the last affordable places to live in California. Very hot in summer, but dry. It also has some of the cleanest air in all of California. We love it here.

Because it's high 3000 to 4000 feet, we have all four seasons, which change right when the calendar says the new season starts. Used to get snow every winter. Pretty dry now. Those mountains go up to 8,200 feet, and there are several ski areas 45 minutes from here by mountain roads.


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## The Hobbyist (Apr 25, 2015)

DesertRatTom said:


> Final result, cleaned up a bit. I love the space. Thinking we might enclose it as a screened in spot, less bugs. But enough for now. BTW, there is one of our lizzards on the ground there. That lizzard is pretty comfortable out there and aside from the dog, he puts up with us. Used the sawhorses to put my wife's delicate plants on next to the lattice. Putting an extra light up to illuminate the other side of the back yard, well, at least 100 feet or so. And a little more clearing out and rearranging the patio furniture.
> View attachment 401782



I would add a couple of ceiling fans.

Joe


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

The Hobbyist said:


> I would add a couple of ceiling fans.
> 
> Joe


Excellent suggestion. Flys and bugs are annoying out there, and fans would keep them at bay, and cool us off a bit.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I'm very happy with the result. Might cover the lattice with dark window screen to cut the light a little more for my wife's delicate plants.


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