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Dom The Handyman

Pittsburgh Timber-Frame Patio Cover

Project · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Timber-Frame Patio Shade Cover

A custom hemlock timber-frame shade structure built over an existing concrete patio beside the home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Three builders on and beside a hemlock timber-frame patio cover under construction, with Dom seated on the top beams in an orange hood.
Hemlock timber-frame patio cover, Pittsburgh, PA. Dom is seated on the frame.

Scope of work

Hand-cut hemlock, raised in a day.

The completed open-rafter frame was approximately 20 feet wide, based on the original project dimension as remembered. The exact projection/depth is not currently documented. The frame was built from hemlock timbers milled off-site.

  • Cut and prepared the hemlock structural timbers

  • Laid out and hand-cut nail-free mortise-and-tenon joinery

  • Hand-chiseled joints and assembled them with hardwood dowels and pegs rather than nails

  • Worked through the structural assembly over the existing patio

  • Helped erect and raise the completed timber frame

  • Erected the completed frame in a single day after fabrication and fitting

Open-rafter configuration was the finished design, not an unfinished roof.

Finished structure

Hand-cut hemlock frame, open-rafter final design.

Wide views, joinery details and the completed frame show the scale and traditional timber-frame character of the project.

  • Finished open-rafter hemlock timber frame over a concrete patio beside a house with a green metal roof.
    Finished hemlock frame, about 20 feet wide, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Front view of the open-rafter hemlock timber-frame patio structure.
    Open-rafter final design, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Angled view of the hemlock timber-frame patio structure showing posts, beams and braces.
    Post, beam, brace and rafter layout, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Close detail of pegged mortise-and-tenon joinery on the hemlock frame.
    Pegged mortise-and-tenon joinery, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Open timber rafters and traditional joinery against the sky.
    Open-rafter detail, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Dom in a tan work jacket and orange hood, seated on the beams of a timber frame.
    Dom on the Pittsburgh frame during construction.

Raising day

Erected in one day.

After the timbers were milled, laid out, cut, chiseled, fitted and prepared, the frame itself was raised and erected in a single day. Estimated total effort: about 100 to 140 combined man-hours.

This is a planning estimate for fabrication, fitting and raising based on the size and traditional hand-cut joinery, not a recorded project timesheet. Custom builds are still quoted from the actual plans, site and scope.

Start Your Project

Request a similar build quote.

Standard appointments run 8 AM to 5 PM. Same-day work may be available when the schedule allows and carries the standard $100 rush fee. Work before 8 AM or after 5 PM is after-hours service at 1.5x the applicable hourly rate with a two-hour minimum.

Dom The Handyman can manage similar timber-frame patio covers, pergolas, pavilions and custom outdoor structures. These custom builds are quoted by project rather than at the standard handyman rate.

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