Enjoy versatile outdoor living with patio covers

Fifteen years ago, when Tom Matthew came to the Northwest, he noticed a trend: People didn’t seem to really live in their homes during their free time.

They went away on summer weekends to the mountains, the San Juan Islands and tourist attractions in Oregon and Canada.

But in recent years, thanks in part to a down economy, that’s changed dramatically, lucky for him as owner of American Patio Covers of Marysville.

“With the cost of gas, the cost of traveling, the cost of insurance, people are holding on to what they’ve got, and they’re taking better care of their actual home,” Matthew said. “We don’t want to drive anymore. We want to travel to our back yard and get away from life’s little ups and downs.”

This weekend, Matthew will be marketing his patio covers and aluminum and glass deck railings at the Everett Home & Garden Show to scores of homeowners looking to make their outdoor living spaces more versatile.

Outdoor cooking and home cooks looking to make dinner more of an event are bringing people onto their patios and decks more often, Matthew said.

“We do better, the lousier the economy,” Matthew said of his company. “The economy is pulling families, maybe, a little closer together.”

Matthew’s patio covers are permanently installed covers of acrylic and corrosion-resistant extruded aluminum. He said the average price for a unit to cover a 20-by-12-foot deck, including installation, would be about $5,000.

Acrylic panels come in bronze, solar cool white, heatstop white and, new this year, cool blue, available for no extra charge.

“Whether it’s a sunny day or a cloudy day, it’s always nice and blue underneath,” he said. “People always ask, ‘Will it fade?’ My answer to that is: the red tail-light lens on a car is also made of an acrylic. And you’ve never seen a faded red tail-light lens.”

Installing a patio cover, Matthew said, is a low-cost alternative to building a four-season solarium.

His covers are attached to the house, complete with gutter systems to channel water away from the structure.

Customers are increasingly taking their patio covers a step further by enclosing them with glass or screening, also provided by American Patio Covers.

“You end up with a covered space that you can use a lot more,” Matthew said. “You’ll go out there in the weather we’ve had and nestle in the corner, read your book, have a smoke, enjoy it, have a coffee.”

Adding just one wall can be enough for improved outdoor living, Matthew said.

“The problem we have up and down the coast is we all seem to get a cool breeze off the water,” he said. “If you glass just one side of it in, it stops that wind from blowing across.”

Matthew said his covers block harmful ultraviolet rays, but don’t darken the space or hinder the growth of plants.

“All my patio covers are actually built from commercial greenhouse roof products, designed and patented for growing roses and orchids,” he said. “They’re excellent for plants.”

Matthew’s railings are made of low-maintenance aluminum and glass and are often used to replace wooden deck railings. They run about $30 per linear foot.

“We actually have some very affordable aluminum railing for the do-it-yourselfer and the contractor,” Matthew said.

Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.

American Patio Covers

14219 Smokey Point Blvd., Building No. 4 south

Marysville

360-658-7281

www.americanpatiocovers.com