Covered Decks & Porch Roofs in Cincinnati

Sometimes, and the answer is decided by the footings and posts rather than by the deck surface. A roof adds permanent dead load plus snow, and it concentrates into the posts carrying it. Usually that means new or enlarged footings under those posts and heavier posts above them. On a deck over about fifteen years old it is often better value to rebuild the deck and the cover together.

A roof is its own structure: engineered framing, roofing, flashing, a finished ceiling and usually electrical, so it carries its own number rather than a percentage on top of the deck. We do not publish figures because the tie-in to your existing roof is what drives it and it differs house to house. What we do is price the deck and the cover as separate lines, so you can see exactly what the roof buys you and decide with the number in front of you. Financing covers covered structures if you would rather spread it.

Yes, everywhere we work, and the review is more involved than for a plain deck because it is a roof structure. Many jurisdictions also want a stamped drawing from an engineer. We handle the submission, arrange the engineering where it is required, and book the inspections.

The existing house usually decides. A shed roof is a single slope off the wall: cheaper, simpler, and the one that fits where there is limited height under a second-floor window. A gable gives more headroom, a better ceiling and the look of something built with the house. We measure the height available at the wall and draw whichever one your house has room for.

Much more easily if the roof is framed for it from the start. Screening needs posts at panel spacing, a header, and usually a knee wall. Adding those to a finished roof structure means re-framing. If screening is even a possibility, say so at design stage. The extra cost then is small. The extra cost later is not.

A roof over a deck shades the glazing behind it, which is what takes the summer heat and the glare out of the room inside. Where the room behind faces north we put skylights in the porch roof and finish the ceiling in a light color, so the winter light still comes through. It is settled on the drawing, with you, before the roof is framed.

Roughly three to five weeks on site for a deck and cover together, depending on the roof tie-in, plus the permit and any engineering in front of it. The roof itself is usually a week to ten days of that. Adding a cover to an existing sound deck is faster, at around two to three weeks, once the footing upgrades are done.