Roof advice needed

[TheAmazingJohnJ]

Need some help or ideas...

We have a pretty big patio with a wood pergola over it. Problem is, in mid afternoon the sun drops enough so that it comes right in the side and makes the space crazy hot.

Our neighbor is a contractor and offered to replace the pergola with a solid roof by building more of a pavilion.

I love the idea of the solid roof to block more of the sun while also offering rain protection. It would also be awesome to be able to put up some fans and eventually a TV. The area is big enough for multiple grills and seating for 15-20.

But... I am concerned smoke from the grills might end up damaging the underside of a wood roof. Or, worse yet, smoke will collect under it and choke out guests eating under the cover.

I know some of you have covered spaces similar to what I'm describing. What has your experience been? Are you able to keep the smoke to a minimum? Has the wood been damaged by the smoke? Should I ask him to do a metal roof of some kind instead?

Thanks in advance.

[barelfly]

I cook in a covered patio area, I have my gasser, griddle and my Smokin-It smoker that I use all under the cover. The gasser is on the edge of the patio, so all flows out but my smoker is usually halfway and the smoke still finds it’s way out from underneath. There might be some smoke but nothing overwhelming. And my patio is only open on one side with two small openings another side. At first I thought having a tape/textured/painted ceiling, this wouldn’t be ideal, but living here for 13 years there’s no sign.

If you are open on all four sides, I’d imagine the smoke will find a way out from underneath, just my thinking. How high will the cover be?

Hope that helps, but I’m sure you will get some other great info here as well.

[TheAmazingJohnJ]

Thanks! It's coming off the garage, so we'll probably match the gable garage roof, so I suppose it'll be around 8 feet at the low ends and maybe 12-14 feet in the middle, at the peak.

[johnec00]

We cook on a covered patio that is 30' long by 12' wide and open only on one of the 30' sides. The ceiling is painted rough hewn plywood, and over 15-20 years no problem. Except on Christmas morning several years ago, I started smoking a turkey about 6:00 am. The smoke billowed out of the area so much that a neighbor called the Fire Department. Fortunately she called them off before they got very far. I've attached a picture taken 7 or 8 years ago in reply to a "Show us your outdoor kitchen" thread. The cooker is usually placed about where the covered PBC is in the pic.

[58limited]

Will the roof be flat? Peaked? Ridged? My guess is that the smoke will dissipate just fine but you can have a vent at the peak or a ridge vent installed.

[HawkerXP]

+1

[TheAmazingJohnJ]

Good idea! It will basically be an extension of the garage with the open sides so a ridge vent could be a great option!

[DavidNorcross]

I cook undercover. I have all cookers placed at the edge, with fans overhead if needed. Have not had any issues at all.

[Donw]

See if your contractor could add cupola for natural ventilation

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

That's my long term plan, a screened in porch/patio with a vented roof so I can smoke fly and skeeter free. Just sucks with a crawl space, all my options are quite expensive.

[Jim White]

No worries. This space is a little over a year old now. I use a small fan to suck air out if running the large grill at the back, but have run the pellet grill in the foreground five or six times in the couple of months I've had it and no staining at all on the varnished pine ceiling.

[Kevin Fuess]

I have the same issue. Putting on a solid roof did not change a thing. The angle the sun enters from around 4 till 7 still makes the area unbearable. I finally put a roll up shade on that side and it has helped a lot.

[STEbbq]

This is a very good point. I’d be 100% sure the roof will fix the sun issue or consider a roll up shade. Maybe do the shade first?

[Kevin Fuess]

Solid roof did not work because at that time of day the sun comes in through the side.

[CaptainMike]

I installed operable skylights on my previous home and intend to do so on the latest iteration. I also install sun/wind/snow screens similar to this where appropriate: https://www.coversandall.com/solar-s...roller-shade-p. Mine are fixed panels, but I get them from the same company.

[Kevin Fuess]

Those screens are exactly what I used.

[WayneT]

Covers and All rocks! The stuff is fabricated in India but shipping is super fast.

[CaptainMike]

WayneT when I did my first order and got the tracking email I was astonished by how many countries it went through and how quickly!

[Mosca]

Not the answer to your question, but along the lines of Kevin Fuess’s response….

We didn’t have any problems until PP&L decided that they didn’t want a particular tree, that was right where it looks like it was:




So I rearranged some stuff, and added an umbrella to help.




And this is fine, except from about 5PM until 7PM, from mid June until late July (the rest of the season the sun stays behind the trees to the far left). An awning would be impractical in this application; we are just going to have to wait a few years for that little tree closer to the house and farther from the power lines to fill the space.

So I’d say, get with your contractor friend at a time when the sun is at its worst, and have him roof the space and address the sun issue. He could add an awning, or maybe a roll down shade would work, or adjustable outdoor blinds maybe.

[Bkhuna]

I have an enclosed patio. I bought a small barrel fan and a small work table that I can move to whichever cooker I'm using to blow the smoke out and away from the patio. I also installed ceiling fans.

[Hulagn1971]

We have a pergola on the upper level of the deck which is where all the cookers are. The sun sets on the back side of the house right where all the decking is. Bought a couple Coolaroo manual crank down shades 2-3 years ago and never looked back. Bought them from Home Depot and have held up very well and made a world of difference. I'll see if I can find a picture or two.

https://www.coolaroousa.com/product/outdoor-roller-shade-heatshield

[TheAmazingJohnJ]

I like these. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

[jfmorris]

I have a pavilion by my pool, where I used metal roofing, and sometimes roll my kamado or griddle up under the roof to grill, if rain is expected. No worries so far, and it's been.... 6+ years of use.

You can see in this photo from a couple of years ago how much smoke can be pouring out of that roof sometimes!



Yet from this recent photo on the 4th, there is no staining of the white bottom side of the metal roofing.



The only issue I have observer is that the ceiling fan at the end where the grills have been has had dust building on the leading edge of the fan blades, from accumulating grease and smoke if running while I was grilling under cover.

This past year the wife insisted she needed the ENTIRE area for covered seating, so I added more concrete, pushing the grills both out. BUT over the winter I moved the kamado back to the edge of the roofed area, since no one but me was sitting out there smoking stuff, haha.

[Attjack]

My outdoor kitchen roof is metal and a strait slant so there's no peak. The roof is also pretty high. Any smoke just rolls right out.

[Oak Smoke]

We have a covered patio that we screened in last year. I was amazed at how much the screening slowed down air flow. Smoke was slow to leave the porch and left an odor I didn’t care for. I needed a simple solution so I bought one of the industrial pedestal fans from harbor freight. I’m very please with it. It moves a lot of air. I use it facing outward about 6 feet from the cookers blowing through the screens. With it on medium it will keep the area smoke free on a still day. I like that it gives me the versatility to move it and use it in other places. The only complaint I have is that it sounds like a Cessna on the runway if you put it on high. I have two kamados, a PK 360 and a Chuds press-Blackstone on the porch and can detect no smoke staining at all.

[Mosca]

Ha! We got one of those fans, too. “Cessna on the runway” describes it perfectly!

[jfmorris]

Do you notice any grease accumulation on the screen where the fan blows the smoke through? Grease and sunsequent dust build up on the ceiling fan is the one think I noticed from grilling in my pavilion.

[Oak Smoke]

jfmorris I haven’t noticed it yet but it makes sense it would happen. The screens have proved to be pollen magnets. I was out getting spider webs off of them and noticed that if the broom touched a screen that pollen fogged off it. Looks like a job for the power washer soon.