Baton Rouge Patio Covers Planned With the Slab Underneath

Most people who call about patio covers in Baton Rouge are not asking for something fancy. They have a patio they hardly use because the afternoon sun bakes it and the rain chases everyone back inside. A roof over the slab changes that. Shade makes the space usable through the long hot months, and cover from the rain means the table and chairs can stay put.

Louisiana averages about 60 inches of rain a year, and a lot of it comes as hard, sudden downpours. That rain has to go somewhere. A covered patio collects it on the roof and sends it off one edge, which is good for the people sitting underneath and a planning question for the ground beside it. That question is where most patio cover projects go right or wrong.

A cover and the concrete under it depend on each other. The slab has to slope away from the house. The cover's roof sheds water along its outer edge. The posts have to land on concrete that can carry them. When two companies handle those pieces separately, each one can do its part well and the combination can still fail: posts set where the slab is weakest, or a gutter that dumps water right where the patio already drains.

We plan the patio cover and slab together. If the patio needs to be extended or replaced first, that work is laid out with the cover in mind: sized to the roof, sloped so the slab and the cover both drain away from the house, and planned around where the posts will stand. Our Concrete Patio Installation page covers the slab side of that work, including extensions tied into an existing patio.

Water planning is where our family background helps. Hernandez Lawnscape has handled landscaping and drainage on Baton Rouge area properties since 2013, so we look at where the runoff off the cover's edge will land and whether the yard beyond it can take that water. Sometimes the slope is enough. Sometimes the water needs a better path, and you will hear that before the work starts.

Many homeowners want to put a patio cover over the slab they already have, and sometimes that works. We never assume it. The patio poured with the house was built to be walked on, not necessarily to hold the posts of a roof. Before we plan a cover over existing concrete, Gerardo looks at the slab where the posts would go: its condition, its edges, any cracks, and whether a nearby tree has lifted a section.

If the slab can carry the posts, the estimate says so. If it can't, the estimate says what has to change first, whether that means replacing a section, extending the patio, or pouring new concrete for the cover to stand on. Finding that out at the walk-through costs you nothing. Finding it out after the cover is up costs a lot more.

Trees deserve a look at the same visit. Tree roots lifting one section are among the most common causes of cracked flat concrete Gerardo sees. A post set on a section that a root is still pushing up will move with it, and the roof above will feel it. If a large tree sits close to the patio, we plan the post layout around it before anything is ordered or poured.

The kinds of covers we build include roofs that attach to the back of the house and extend over a concrete patio, and covered patios closed in with screen walls to make a screened patio or screen room. A screened patio keeps bugs out on summer evenings while letting the air move through.

We don't list a menu of materials and styles on this page, because the right cover depends on your house: the roofline it ties into, the size of the patio, the direction the afternoon sun comes from, and how you plan to use the space. Gerardo talks through the options at the estimate, in plain words, with your house in front of him.

Plan on a permit. The East Baton Rouge Parish residential permits page lists patio cover installation among the residential work that needs one. If you live inside the City of St. George, the city has issued its own building permits since October 16, 2024, so the permit runs through St. George instead of the parish.

Who pulls the patio cover permit for your job is settled in the written estimate, so there is no question later about whose name is on it or who schedules the inspection. Get that answer in writing from any contractor you are comparing.

Check the contractor too. Louisiana's contractor licensing board requires a home improvement registration for work on an existing home over $7,500 and up to $50,000, and a Residential license above $50,000. East Baton Rouge Parish also says residential work over $7,500 must be done by a registered or properly credentialed contractor. Looking that up takes a few minutes: ask for the registration number and check it on the board's site.

A patio cover is a different purchase from a concrete slab. A slab is priced on area, base work and access. A cover adds a roof structure, its connection to the house and its water handling. We price the two separately in the estimate so you can see where the money goes, even when we do both.

We don't publish prices because the factors change from house to house. These are the things that move the number:

• Size of the cover and the area it shades
• How the cover attaches to the house and meets the existing roofline
• Roof and gutter tie-in, and where the runoff is sent
• Screen walls, if you want a screened patio
• The slab under it: using the existing patio, extending it, or pouring new
• Access to the backyard and the permit for the job

Most homeowners collect two or three quotes, and they should. When you compare patio cover contractors, look past the bottom line. A cheaper bid usually saves money on labor, prep, or materials. We'll show you exactly where your money goes.

Ask each contractor whether they looked at the slab where the posts will land, where the water off the cover will go, who pulls the permit, and what insurance they carry. We are insured, with general liability and workers' compensation. Ask what the yard will look like when they leave. Gerardo judges any contractor by the cleanup: the job is finished when the debris is hauled off and the property looks better than before.