Patio Covers, Screens & Patio Heating in North Vancouver

It depends which North Vancouver. In the District, the deck bulletin states that decks under 600 mm in height and detached decks under 10 square metres do not require a building permit, and that above 600 mm one is required. Adding a roof is a further question again. In the City, residential work goes through the standard building permit process. Assume review is needed and confirm your specific structure with your own municipality.

No, and this is the thing most worth knowing before you start. They are separate local governments with separate documents. For commercial patios the City caps how enclosed a structure may be at 50 percent, while the District caps how large a patio may be at 50 percent of the principal use's floor area or seats. Both say 50 percent and neither means the same thing. Residential thresholds and the District's hazard development permit areas differ too.

Structurally yes, and attached covers usually need fewer posts and tie into the roofline more cleanly. Two things to know in the District: a permit is required for an attached deck above 600 mm, and attached decks above 600 mm count toward Building Coverage while those above 1,981 mm count toward Floor Space Ratio. On a constrained lot that can matter as much as the permit. What the connection looks like depends on what is behind the wall, which we check on site.

A freestanding structure needs its own foundations, and what they look like depends on soil, ground fall and frost depth. An attached cover transfers load into the building instead. On a North Shore lot with real slope, the District's own questionnaire flags a geotechnical engineer when you are building within 30 feet of a slope steeper than 18 percent, so the ground can become a professional question early.

Whether you want the sky back is the deciding question. A permanent glass or aluminum roof gives uninterrupted protection and suits a space you want usable in December. An adjustable louvered roof opens when the sun appears and closes when it does not, and on a treed lot it lets you drop debris through rather than sweeping it off. A retractable awning suits a deck that is fine most of the time and needs occasional cover.

Size first, then system and roof type, then whether it is attached or freestanding. After that come the site conditions that bite hardest here: drainage capacity for North Shore rainfall, structure for a 3.0 kPa design snow load, footings on a slope, and access. We do not publish a figure because the spread across those variables would mislead more people than it helped.

On a North Shore property they often do more than the roof does, because the weather arrives sideways as much as from above and the overlooking problem is not solved by anything overhead. A track guided screen closes a flank in seconds against driven rain and wind, gives privacy on a close lot, and retracts fully when conditions allow.

Bay count and drop height set the base, track guiding and sensors move it, and an exposed North Shore flank usually needs both. We measure the openings and quote those, rather than publishing a range that would not survive contact with your property.

Radiant infrared, mounted into the structure. Warm air on a covered North Shore patio leaves as fast as you make it, so anything relying on convection is heating the neighbourhood. Radiant output lands on people and surfaces instead. On commercial patios there is a second reason to go fixed and electric: the City requires Fire Department consultation before purchasing heating equipment, requires affixed devices to be installed under permit, and does not permit portable fuel fired appliances in any enclosed or semi enclosed space.

A properly specified system closes to a sealed roof and drains through the frame, so under normal conditions it does not. Where problems appear it is usually capacity rather than the seal: an undersized gutter or downpipe on a roof taking North Shore rainfall intensity. That is a sizing question at design stage, which is why we work out the drainage against the actual roof area rather than assuming.

The frame is powder coated extruded aluminum, which does not rot, warp or feed insects, and the structural life is measured in decades rather than years. What actually determines how it looks and works in year fifteen is the motor and control gear, the finish quality and whether the drainage was sized properly. Manufacturer warranty terms vary by brand and are set out on our warranty page.

One product family, two quite different jobs. On houses here the draw is usually a combination of securing a property that is empty in stretches and shutting west-facing glass down completely on the days the heat does arrive. On commercial premises it is protecting the glazing overnight. Either way the shutters run off the same controller as the screens and the roof, so nothing needs a separate remote.