How a Sun-Baked Pad Became the Most-Used Room in the House
Some of the best outdoor spaces aren’t outdoors at all anymore. They’re somewhere in between — covered, finished, and built to work year-round. This project took an oblong stamped concrete pad the homeowners had given up on and turned it into exactly that kind of space.
The Problem With the Original Pad
The pad itself was fine. Stamped, well-kept, in great condition. The problem was the sun. The pad sat on a side of the house where the sun beat down relentlessly, and even the after-market canopy the homeowners had installed couldn’t block enough of it or move enough air to make grilling or sitting outside comfortable. The result was a beautiful piece of concrete that no one wanted to spend time on.
What Got Added
We left the pad in place and built up from there. The work included:
- A new roof over the pad to block the direct sun that had made the space unusable.
- Beefed-up columns supporting the roof, sized and detailed as an architectural feature of the space rather than minimal structural pieces.
- A tongue-and-groove ceiling installed to finish the framing overhead, giving the underside of the roof a clean, warm surface instead of exposed structure.
- Electrical run to the covered space, opening up lighting, fans, and powered equipment for the homeowners to add as they see fit.
A Room That Works in Any Season
What had been a too-hot pad next to the house is now a space the family uses year-round. The roof handles the sun in the summer. The covered structure makes the space usable through the in-between seasons that the original pad couldn’t bridge. The electrical gives the homeowners control over how the space gets used as the day and the weather change.
Interested In a Project Like This?
If there’s a piece of your home or yard that should be working harder for you, BEC Innovations can help you figure out what it would take. The complete scope and final cost of this project are documented in full, in case you’re weighing a similar build for your own home. Reach out when you’re ready to talk through what you have in mind.
