FAQ’s & Info
The opening and closing of the shutters enables you to choose and control the shade desired.
The patio cover protects your patio and outdoor furniture from rain.
On a sunny winter day, your house can benefit from direct and natural sunlight (enabling energy saving and efficiency when heating and lighting your home).
Protection from humidity
During the summer you can control the amount of light desired (from 98% direct sunlight to 100% shade), enabling energy saving when air conditioning your home.
The patio cover enables circulation of air throughout the year, while during the hot summer you enjoy air circulation and 100% shade at the same time.
No maintenance is necessary.
All the profiles of the patio cover are made of aluminum and therefore may be cleaned with soap and water.
The standard colors are white, cream and wood, however it is possible to paint the patio cover especially for you according to your requirements in any color.
It is also possible to combine colors, such as white posts with light blue shutters.
No, Solara’s exclusive patent and advanced manufacturing methods allow you to construct the patio cover in any size with no limitations.
No. Solara’s Patio Covers are custom made according to the requirements of each project allowing you to fulfill your dream as desired.
Yes, it is possible to adapt the patio cover to any existing structure, whether built of wood, metal, concrete, etc.
The shutters are designed in such a way that the raindrops slide rather than forcefully hit the patio cover. According to our tests, there is less noise from rainfall on our aluminum shutters than on plastic.
Yes we do and yes you can! Our patio covers are easy to install. We will supply you with the installation instructions and the engineering package to do it yourself. No special tools or equipment. For more information on a DIY Kit email us today at diy@patiocover.us.
Solara patio covers are made out of the highest grade premium aluminum that can be RECYCLED for other purposes.
Solara Smart Shading Systems also allow you to reduce your dependency on electricity by helping to heat or cool your home or office. Want to cool your home, simply close the patio cover, open the roof back up to add heat and sunlight.
Watch your lighting, cooling and heating bills drop!!
Snow load refers to the weight of snow measured in pounds per square foot (psf). Building departments determine the snow load area based on the heaviest winter conditions experienced in that location. To ensure safety, we incorporate a cushion of 30% to account for potential variations and also consider the weight of rain.
For instance, if your building codes require a snow load of 30 psf and your patio cover measures 20×15 feet (300 square feet), we would design the louvered roof system to support a load of 9,000 pounds. Solara offers generic engineering solutions that comply with snow loads of up to 30 psf for both roll formed and extruded louvered roof systems. Additionally, we can always provide site-specific engineering calculations to meet your specific requirements. Rest assured, our generic engineering is approved for a range of applications, ensuring your patio cover is able to withstand the designated snow load.
Wind load is how fast the wind is in your area. The building codes will require to design the louvered roof system for the fastest wind load that has ever occurred in your area. They will usually add 30% and calculate wind gusts as well. For example, the slowest wind load that you can design your patio cover is 90 miles per hour and it can go up to 120 miles per hour. Our louvered roof system’s generic engineering will cover up to 115 miles per hour and will be approved for roll formed and extruded louvered roof systems. We can always make site specific engineering for your louvered roof system.
In the same city, different areas may have varying exposures, which are taken into account by building departments when calculating the span for wind and snow loads, even if they fall within the same load area. For instance, a louvered roof system installed in an urban area with a wind speed of 90 mph and a snow load of 10 psf will have less exposure compared to the same patio cover with the same load installed in a rural area. The exposure consideration also extends to the height of the louvered roof system. A ground-floor installation will have a different exposure compared to a penthouse installation located four or five stories high.
Moreover, commercial and residential louvered roof systems, even if situated in the same exact location, may require different exposure considerations. Our louvered roof system’s generic engineering covers exposure A and B, and in most building departments, you only need to increase the loads to permit your louvered roof system in exposure C. This ensures that our system is designed to withstand various exposures and meets the necessary safety standards for different locations and applications.
Solara louvered roof system can be designed and permitted all across the United States with any wind load or snow load. As a matter of fact, Solara louvered roof systems are being permitted not only in the US but they’re being permitted internationally however, a louvered roof system that has been designed for Phoenix Arizona will need less rafters and support beams than a same size louvered roof system in Buffalo New York due to different snow load requirements. A louvered roof system in Miami Florida will be designed differently than the same louvered roof system in Fresno California due to different wind loads. The same goes for different exposures, a louvered roof system designed for a 70th floor sky scraper in Manhattan New York will be a different design than a louvered roof system in a residential backyard in New Jersey. The bigger the load is the less the span will be. This means more material, such as posts, rafters and support beams. At the end of the day, that means it will cost more for the same louvered roof system in a location with lower loads. Also, the loads can affect your design limitations. For the same size louvered roof system in different loads and exposures, you will need more or less posts.
Yes, we offer a gutter system as an optional feature for our louvered roof system. However, due to our cut edge technology, which eliminates the need for edge supports, we do not require you to purchase the gutter system. This approach allows us to keep our louvered roof system affordable for our customers.
Based on our extensive experience of thousands of installed louvered roof systems worldwide, we have found that during rainy weather, most people tend to spend their time indoors or underneath the Solara cover. Since the majority of our louvered roof systems are installed on the first level of the yard, you can simply let the water flow into your garden without the need for an expensive gutter system. Additionally, gutter systems require regular maintenance to keep them clean and functioning properly, which can be a hassle involving ladders, tools, and time-consuming efforts. If a gutter system becomes clogged, it can lead to leaks in your louvered roof system.
In order to provide a system that requires less maintenance and labor, we do not include the gutter system as a standard component. However, we do recommend installing the gutter system on our patio cover when it is being installed on the second level or higher, where water drainage directly affects your downstairs neighbor’s porch. Rest assured, with the Solara louvered roof system, you always have the option to add the gutter system at a later time, if desired.
For more information about Patio Covers, Awnings, Gazebos or Pergolas write to: design@patiocover.us