Open the French Doors, Even When it is Raining!

Often in Maine a rain shower will cool off the outdoors when it is really hot out. Those are the days that you want to open your house up and let the nice breeze flow through your home, however if you don't have an overhanging roof above windows and doors, the rain will invade your house. A few years ago my husband and I decided to replace our sliding door with a french door and I also wanted to have an overhang so that I could open up both doors and let the fresh air in any time that I wanted. We enlisted my father for this project. He has built additions onto houses and knew what we would need to do in order to make the overhang structurally sound.

This is what we started out with.

We started off with making the supports for the two rafters that we would later construct. We used 4x4 pressure treated lumber and created a right angle triangle with lag bolts that tied each piece to each other and to our house.

Next we cut into our siding to build the rafter that would be attached to the house. This piece did not need the middle support piece because this was also lag bolted to the home. It was not going anywhere. We used metal plates to attach the pieces of the rafter to each other.

Almost completed!

We then built two more rafters using 2x6 pressure treated lumber and metal plates on both sides of the rafters to attach each piece to each other. Plus we used nails in a few places. This looks like a quick project, but this took us all weekend. You need to make sure to get all of the angles correct. After the two rafters were hoisted onto the support, we hooked them into the support with screws and attached strapping with nails to tie the whole thing together. At this point I should have stained first, but instead we screwed the clear roofing material to the strapping. It made my job much harder when I stained the wood.

The following weekend we switched out the sliding door for french doors. We also purchased
screen doors that roll out and connect with magnets. It is really nice because it tucks the
screens away from damage during harsh weather.

I love how this project adds some much needed angles to the home and breaks up the blandness of the back of the house.
Not only did this project enhance the function of the home, but it also made it more ascetically pleasing.