Recently I covered my deck with clear corrugated plastic so our family can enjoy our deck during Seattle’s “Rainy Season”. Huge shout out to Rain and Pine! Their guide to constructing a DIY covered deck was excellent. They are also in the Seattle area and built a beautiful covered deck. I haven’t painted mine yet like they did…
Our Deck was quite a bit longer than the one on Rain and Pine. Ours is about 23′ and theirs was 16′. This required us to add a post in the middle of the deck.
It was amazing how sturdy the roof was and how much sturdier it made the deck railing. Before it wiggled a little bit if you tried shaking it. Now with the roof secured to the railing it is rock solid. The covering should also extend the life of our deck since the deck flooring will remain dry.
We deviated from their plan when it came to locking into place the 4×4 posts to the 4×6. We had several more posts than they did and did not want to hassle with securing multiple 2×4’s to each junction point of a post and the 4×6. Instead we opted for a bracket that secures the two together. This made the 4×4 post and the 4×6 rock solid. The downside to this is that the bracket cost $18! We needed 5 of the brackets so that was another $100 bucks added to the project right there, but in the end it was worth it.
In total, it cost us about $950 to build a 23′ x 8′ roof for our deck. This did not include the tools which I already had or borrowed from my Dad. This is an awesome deal considering a 12’x10′ covered pergola on Wayfair costs $1500-$3800+
We built the deck in two days, with about 10 hours of labor total to get the job with two people.
Here is a link to our list of materials and costs of materials:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CAesT7CdHfs-HgNK861iL-qNsqbqZwpU16f-NiVLSO8/edit#gid=0
