About the service
With twelve years dedicated to outdoor structures, I design and build custom backyard pergolas fitted with retractable fabric canopies — giving you a shaded patio that opens to full sun in minutes. Every project starts with a site walk: I check soil drainage, frost depth for footings, and sun path across the seasons before a single post goes in.
Footing and post placement is where cheap installations fail first. I set concrete footings below frost line, use post bases rated for wind uplift, and brace every corner post plumb before the beam goes up — no racking, no sag five years later.
Frame material is a real decision, not a default. Western red cedar and pressure-treated fir give a warm, traditional look and can be stained to match your deck; powder-coated aluminum costs more up front but needs zero refinishing and won't warp near a pool or hot tub. I walk you through the tradeoffs against your climate and budget before ordering lumber.
The retractable canopy itself is the craft piece: solution-dyed acrylic fabric on a tensioned track system, manually cranked or motorized with a wall switch and optional wind sensor that retracts the canopy automatically before a gust damages it. I've wired and commissioned dozens of motorized units and know which drive gears fail under coastal humidity.
Weatherproofing and drainage matter as much as the frame: beam caps, flashing where posts meet a ledger board, and a slight canopy pitch so rainwater sheds instead of pooling in the fabric. Typical turnaround is one to two weeks from final measurements to finished install, including permit drawings where your municipality requires them. I bring my own crew, insurance, and cleanup — you get a finished shade structure, not a job site.
Footing and post placement is where cheap installations fail first. I set concrete footings below frost line, use post bases rated for wind uplift, and brace every corner post plumb before the beam goes up — no racking, no sag five years later.
Frame material is a real decision, not a default. Western red cedar and pressure-treated fir give a warm, traditional look and can be stained to match your deck; powder-coated aluminum costs more up front but needs zero refinishing and won't warp near a pool or hot tub. I walk you through the tradeoffs against your climate and budget before ordering lumber.
The retractable canopy itself is the craft piece: solution-dyed acrylic fabric on a tensioned track system, manually cranked or motorized with a wall switch and optional wind sensor that retracts the canopy automatically before a gust damages it. I've wired and commissioned dozens of motorized units and know which drive gears fail under coastal humidity.
Weatherproofing and drainage matter as much as the frame: beam caps, flashing where posts meet a ledger board, and a slight canopy pitch so rainwater sheds instead of pooling in the fabric. Typical turnaround is one to two weeks from final measurements to finished install, including permit drawings where your municipality requires them. I bring my own crew, insurance, and cleanup — you get a finished shade structure, not a job site.
