After Isaias: Don't Treat a Patio Cover, Screen Room, or Carport Like a Pool Cage
Part of our series on the 10 most common mistakes homeowners make after a hurricane damages their screen enclosure, pool cage, screen room, or patio cover.
Most of what we've covered in this series applies to pool enclosures, and a lot of it carries over. But patio covers, screen rooms, and carports are different in two ways that matter after a storm. They usually have solid roofs, and they're often attached directly to your house.
That means damage to them doesn't always stay with them.
Why these structures are different
A screen roof lets wind and rain pass through. A solid roof doesn't. In a hurricane, a solid patio cover or carport roof catches the wind like a wing, and the force pulls up on everything it's connected to, including your house.
Hurricane researchers have studied this closely. Attached porches, patio covers, and carports are often treated as secondary structures and aren't always built to the same standard as the house, so they're often the first things to fail. Common failure points include the connections at the posts and attachments made to the fascia instead of the home's structural framing. When one connection lets go, the failure can cascade, and after hurricanes like Ian and Michael, detached patio covers and carports caused significant damage to the homes they were attached to.
"When a patio cover is tied into your house, its problems become your house's problems." — Eric Vanheteren, Aluminum Building Systems
Signs of damage that's easy to miss
Some of the most important damage on these structures is subtle. Check from the ground and from inside the house:
Water stains or drips inside the house, on the ceiling or wall near where the structure attaches
Gaps or separation where the roof meets the house, including any spot where you can see daylight
Loose, bent, or missing fasteners along the attachment
Cracked stucco or siding around the attachment point
Roof panels that have lifted, shifted, or sag
Posts that lean, or post bases that have lifted off the slab
Gutters pulled loose, or water standing on the roof after rain
Cracks or gaps in glass, acrylic, or vinyl panels in a screen room
What to do about it
Stop water from getting into the house first. If the attachment is leaking, get it covered right away, from the ground if you can do it safely, or by a professional. Water inside your walls and ceilings is the bigger problem.
Don't climb onto the roof to check it. A damaged roof can give way, and our post on staying out from under damaged structures explains why bent framing is more dangerous than it looks.
Turn off any lights or fans on the structure at the breaker until an electrician checks them.
If your house roof was damaged where the structure attaches, you may need both a roofer and an aluminum contractor, working in the right order.
Plan on a permit for the repair. Structural work on these structures needs one, just like an enclosure.
"Get the water stopped first. Everything else can wait a few days." — Eric Vanheteren, Aluminum Building Systems
