Do-it-yourself visor (canopy) over the porch

In order not to get wet in the rain and not languish under the sun while you open the front doors, you need some kind of protection. Usually they make a visor above the porch or just above the door. In some cases, the canopy can also cover steps and even a path or part of it. How to make a similar design, from what materials and we’ll talk further. 

Types and types

If we talk about the structure as a whole, the canopy or canopy over the porch consists of a frame and roofing material (cladding). There may also be support posts that support the outer edge of the canopy. They are optional. They are needed when there is no certainty that the structure without additional supports will be able to hold precipitation.

Precipitation mainly means snow. In regions with a lot of snow, you can either make the slope of the visor steep – so that the snow quickly melts, or install additional supports. You can do both, as they usually do – the margin of reliability / strength reassures and inspires confidence.

Frame and stand materials

The frame and supports of the visor above the front door are made of:

• metal:
  • steel corner;
  • strips of metal;
  • round pipe;
  • profiled pipe;
• wood – wooden beam.
  

Recently, the most popular material for the manufacture of a canopy frame over a porch is a profiled pipe. With equal dimensions and wall thickness with a round pipe (if we compare the diagonal and diameter), the profile has greater rigidity. At the same time, it has a variety of sections – a square and a rectangle with different sides, it can be bent into arcs, it is easier to weld and attach to walls, it goes well with elements of traditional or cold forging, the durability is the same as other steel products. In general, it is the profiled pipe that is in favor today.

What is the lining of the canopy over the porch made of?

If we talk about materials for facing the visor above the porch, then the choice is very wide. Very often, the canopy over the entrance to the house is made of the same material as the roof. And rightly so, because in this case, a harmonious design of the house is obtained. With this solution, any roofing material is used:

The second option is to use the material that is used in the fence. In this case, both the design style and the decor elements should be recognizable. This will create a single ensemble with the site. Here the materials can be:

• slate (usually flat, but not a fact);
• corrugated board;
• polycarbonate;
• wooden plank.

And the third design option for the visor above the porch is to put a canopy that is “neutral” in style and material. This may include:

Glass is rarely used. It is necessary to use reinforced types of triplex type, and not only are they expensive, they also weigh solidly, so additional suspensions or powerful support columns are definitely required. And if you consider that sheet polycarbonate or plastic in appearance is not much different from glass, it becomes clear why glass is unpopular.

Forms of canopies

There are more than a dozen forms of visors above the front door. The easiest to manufacture is a shed canopy. Requires a minimum of effort and materials, and can look very good. Its disadvantage is that when the snow melts, the snowdrift will be in front of your door and it will urgently need to be eliminated. The same “disease” affects other models with slopes tilted forward. These are excellent options for regions with little snowy winters, but with a hot sun – not quite for our latitudes. Although, if you are not afraid of the need for urgent snow removal, you can do any of the options.

It is a little more difficult to make a gable visor (which is a house) and a simple arch. They are good because the snow that has come down is on the sides of the entrance and, even with a large amount of it, there is no need to urgently remove it. So for regions with a lot of snow, these are the best models.

How to connect the canopy over the porch and the wall of the house

One of the most difficult moments is to dock the canopy cover over the porch so that water does not flow down the wall. Usually, standard methods of joining the roof are used – with the help of a baffle bar. This method is suitable for any roofing material, as well as sheet metal and wood. You just have to choose the right color. There are two approaches here: in tone with the wall or in tone with the roofing of the visor. The options are equivalent, so it’s up to you to decide / choose.

A strobe is made under the baffle bar in the wall (5-7 mm deep). The edge of the plank is inserted into the recess, fastened, the seam is sealed with a moisture-resistant sealant for outdoor use. The other edge of the plank lies on the roofing material. When water runs down the wall, it flows to the bar, from it, bypassing the junction, to the roofing material and further into the storm drain system or directly to the ground – how is it done for someone.

If you use metal tiles, sellers have a special wall profile. It can also be used with other materials – it is important to choose the color. The regular assembly includes rubber seals, which are placed a couple of centimeters from the outer edge. In this case, with a strong wind, water and debris do not fall under the bar.

If the visor above the front door and porch is made of polycarbonate, glass or sheet plastic, the method described above is unacceptable – it looks too rough. In this case, there are two options:

• Lay a sealing tape made of rubber or polyurethane between the polycarbonate and the wall. The material is pressed against the wall through this gasket, then fixed with self-tapping screws to the frame. Seals should be sought at polycarbonate points of sale.
  

• Place the sheet as close as possible to the wall, and go through the joint with a transparent sealant (not white, because it will quickly become an incomprehensible color).

There are no other good options. You can only combine both proposed for reliability.

How to fix if the wall is multilayer

Recently, more and more buildings have multilayer outer walls – ventilated facades, insulation … The bearing part of the wall turns out to be closed by a couple of layers of materials, the bearing capacity of which is only enough to hold its own weight. Nothing can be attached to them. The entire load must fall on the load-bearing wall.

Even if the outer layer is a finishing brick, it costs nothing to attach to it. Masonry is usually carried out in half a brick. So it only looks solid on the outside. The mass of even the smallest and lightest canopy will not withstand, and the supporting columns do not help either.

Therefore, with any multilayer wall, holes are made in all finishing / insulating layers, structural elements are attached to the load-bearing wall.

Single-sided visor: design features

An inclined or straight single-sided visor is the simplest thing that can be. Straight lines are rare in our country – they are not very functional, but there are a lot of sloping inclined ones.

At the heart of an inclined single-pitched visor is a right-angled triangle. The right angle is adjacent to the wall, and the length of the sides depends on the desired slope.

In the simplest case, it is possible to weld three identical triangles from a profiled pipe (as in the figure above), make holes for fasteners in them (at least three). These three elements can be connected into a single whole with the help of a crate for roofing material – as in the figure. And you can weld the crossbars from the same pipe (but of a smaller section) or a strip, a corner. This option – with metal jumpers – is more suitable for a canopy over a porch made of polycarbonate or plastic. It is also good for a metal sheet – it will be convenient to weld it or screw in self-tapping screws.

There is also an option with a variable angle of inclination. This is a rectangular frame with lathing lintels, to which light roofing material is attached. This frame, with the help of a wall beam fixed on the wall, is attached above the entrance (we described how to make the connection above).

Depending on the required angle of inclination, struts are made. They can be made of metal or wood. Fixed to the frame.

If desired, this option can be made with an adjustable tilt angle. Make the fastening of the frame and struts to the wall movable (on hinges, for example), make several holes in the frame. By rearranging the struts in different holes, you can get a different angle of inclination. For doors, this possibility is not very relevant – except for glass ones – in order to close the too bright sun, but for windows it can come in handy.

Double canopy frame

There are at least two ways to assemble a canopy with two slopes: from two or more (depending on the length of the canopy) triangular rafters or from two rectangular frames with a crate, fixed with crossbars. The second option is shown in the figure below, and the first will be a little further.

Method one

Two quadrangles are assembled from a bar or thick board, which are combined with a ridge board. The angle of inclination of the slopes is set by saws on the ridge, fixed by crossbars – a spacer bar. Since the roofing material is laid from the ridge down, the battens of the batten are stuffed in the opposite direction. Under a soft tile the continuous flooring is required. It can be moisture resistant plywood or OSB.

Brackets are also assembled on the ground – stops that will transfer the load from the visor to a large area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe wall. It is better to assemble the structure on the ground (without fixing the roofing material). In order to raise and secure the canopy, assistants or the services of a manipulator will be required.

Method two

The second option is the assembly of individual truss structures. Maybe this option will seem easier to you – all gable roofs are assembled according to this principle.

Here, too, a frame is assembled from a bar and brackets are needed. But the frame lies in a horizontal plane, supported by brackets. Two or three triangles are assembled from rafters, which rest on a ridge beam, and it rests on a rack, which is fixed to the frame with its second end. It turns out a mini-model of the usual truss system.

To improve the appearance, mowing is placed near the rack. In the photo above, they are curved, but this is far from necessary. You can simply make it from a bar, sawing it at the right angle. It is also better to assemble the system on the ground – it will not work to connect exactly at a height.

Of metal

If the visor frame is made of a metal pipe, everything is much simpler. The pipe has a large bearing capacity, so there are much fewer supporting and auxiliary elements.

Two identical triangles are brewed – according to the size of the future canopy. They are connected by jumpers, the length of which is determined by the “depth” of the visor. To prevent the lining from bending, additional crossbars are welded.

The finished structure of the canopy is complemented by brackets – stops. In the picture above, the canopy above the porch has only a stop without slopes. For regions with little snow in winter, this is enough, and in order to keep a solid mass of snow, you will need a mowing or stand. Or maybe both (as in the diagram below).

Decorative elements are an optional part. There may be a regular triangle.

Arched canopy over the porch: manufacturing features

A canopy over the front door in the form of an arch cannot be called difficult to manufacture. It is more convenient to make this form from a steel pipe, and from a profile, rectangular section. With the help of a pipe bender (it is also possible manually, but this is more difficult), several arches of the same size are made. They are connected by jumpers, the length of which is determined by the desired size of the roofing part.

The first and last arches are connected by horizontal jumpers, brackets are welded to the last or, as in the figure above, ordinary stops.

Often you can see double arches with decorative and not very filling. They are typical for large structures. Still, the windage and snow load turns out to be large and it is better to play it safe by making a margin of safety than to do everything all over again.

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