Frequently Asked Questions About Our Patio Cover Products
FAQs
Customize or retrofit with durable, non-yellowing acrylic.
Answers to some of our customers' most frequently asked questions are provided below. If you have a question that isn't answered here, please contact us at 1(800) 556-0079 and our support team will be happy to assist.
Most attached Classic-style kits run about $40–45 per square foot delivered in the Puget Sound and Portland areas, so a 16' × 12' cover is typically $8,500–9,000. Cathedral (gable) kits run roughly $55–60 per square foot because of the ridge beam, extra rafters, and king posts. Smaller covers cost more per square foot, since posts, beams, and gutters don't shrink with the roof. Every quote includes delivery; see "How much is shipping?" for how location affects the total.
These are approximate prices for the complete kit, supply only — materials delivered, no installation labor. If you would rather not install it yourself, we can help: in the Pacific Northwest we will connect you with an installer who already knows this product, and elsewhere we will help you find a reputable contractor and walk through the scope with whoever you choose. Start on our installation help page.
Five things: size, style (Cathedral costs more than Classic), rafter spacing (2' on-center framing for heavy snow areas adds about 20% over standard 4' on-center), framework color (black, white, and brown are standard; beige and custom colors add a small premium), and how the cover attaches to your house (roof-mount and raised-roof-mount hardware costs more than a wall or fascia mount). Panel tint doesn't change the price: all five tints cost the same.
Because we cut from stock lengths, dimensions are priced at the next 4-foot increment, so a 15' × 11' cover prices the same as 16' × 12'. You may as well take the extra room.
Yes. Contractors, landscapers, and builders ordering two or more kits receive at least 10% off, and repeat dealers can set up an account with standing pricing. Call (800) 556-0079 or use the estimate form and mention you're in the trade.
Yes. ACRYLITE® sheets, rafters, beams, posts, gutters, and hardware are all available individually for retrofits and repairs. Components are quoted per project rather than from a fixed price list, because sheet sizes and cut lengths vary. Send us your dimensions and we'll quote within 48 business hours.
Everywhere in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, and all of Canada. Kits are manufactured in Arlington, Washington.
Delivery is built into every quote, so the price you see is the price to your door. As a guide: our own trucks deliver to Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Portland, and other Washington and Oregon metro areas, as well as Boise and Salt Lake City. Elsewhere, kits ship by freight carrier; expect roughly $1,000–2,000 in freight west of the Mississippi and around $3,000 east of it, already included in your total.
Yes. Pick up at our Arlington, WA facility, or will-call at our Portland, OR location. Picking up removes the delivery charge from your quote.
Your kit arrives packaged on a skid. Our drivers unload in metro delivery areas; for freight deliveries, you or your contractor are responsible for offloading, so plan for a second set of hands (panels are light but long). Liftgate or special handling can be arranged on request.
Plan on two to four weeks from final order confirmation and payment to delivery. Manufacturing takes about two weeks; the rest depends on your delivery route, with our own trucks in Washington and Oregon generally on the faster end and freight destinations on the longer end.
The fastest way is our online designer: go to Design & Price Your Kit, choose your style, size, frame color and panel tint, enter your delivery ZIP code, and you'll see your delivered kit price instantly. When it looks right, press Request Exact Quote & Consultation and we'll confirm the details, check your snow and wind loads, and send an exact quote. Once you approve, we prepare a cut sheet listing every component in your kit and send it back for a final check before anything is manufactured. Prefer to talk it through? Call (800) 556-0079.
Clear ACRYLITE® panels carry a 30-year non-yellowing warranty. Tinted and colored panels carry a 10-year light-transmission warranty. All aluminum framing components carry a 10-year warranty. Full warranty documents are on our Downloads page.
Because every kit is custom-fabricated, orders are prepaid by major credit card before manufacturing begins.
A Classic cover is a single-slope roof that attaches to your house with a hanging rail and slopes down to a front beam on posts: the simplest and most economical design. A Cathedral cover has a peaked roof with a ridge beam, giving more headroom and a more architectural look; it costs more because of the additional framing.
Polycarbonate is the cheaper plastic you see on big-box patio covers and greenhouse panels, and it shows its age quickly. Its surface is soft, so it scratches and picks up a dull haze within a few years; its UV coating is a thin layer that eventually wears through, after which the sheet yellows and turns brittle; and multiwall polycarbonate traps dirt and algae in its channels. Most polycarbonate warranties run ten years, and the appearance rarely lasts that long.
ACRYLITE® is a cast acrylic that is UV-stable all the way through the sheet, not just on the surface. That's why we can warranty clear panels against yellowing for 30 years, and why a 20-year-old acrylic cover still looks like glass. Acrylic is also harder, so it resists scratching and hail, and every tint filters UV. Heatstop Cool Blue, our most popular tint, blocks 75% of solar heat while still letting daylight through.
Compared with glass, acrylic is about half the weight and far more impact-resistant, which is what makes a one-day, two-person installation realistic and keeps the framing lighter and less expensive. Glass covers look similar but require heavier structure and professional installation.
All five tints filter UV and cost the same; the trade-off is daylight versus heat.
- Clear lets through 86% of light and blocks 18% of heat: maximum brightness for shaded or north-facing patios.
- Light White passes 74% of light and blocks 27% of heat, the brightest of the opaque options.
- Bronze passes 53% and blocks 35%, with a warm amber glow that pairs well with wood decks.
- Solar Cool White passes 37% and blocks 54%, a balance between daylight and cooling.
- Heatstop Cool Blue, our most popular, passes 20% of light and blocks 75% of heat: the pick for west- and south-facing patios that bake in the afternoon.
Most of it is straightforward assembly. Every component arrives cut to length with a cut sheet, and if you are the kind of person who takes on projects around the house — building a deck, hanging a door, running trim — you are very likely up for this. Two people with a ladder, a drill, and a level typically finish an attached Classic cover in a day or two. Installation videos and a written manual walk through every step, and live phone support is available at (800) 556-0079 while you work.
If it sounds intimidating, that is a fair reaction, and you have options. Tell us about your project and we will connect you with a contractor: in the Pacific Northwest, one who has already installed this product; elsewhere, we will help you find a reputable contractor and walk through the scope with whoever you choose. Start on our installation help page.
Rinse with a hose and wash with mild soap and a soft cloth or sponge. Never use ammonia-based cleaners, abrasives, or squeegees with grit on them. Check gutters and downspouts each fall.