2x2 Insulated Hardtop Enclosure Installation

Determine the area in which you are going to mount the C channel. The channel can be installed on a wall or fascia, with or without a ledger board as shown in illustrations #1 to #3 below. The construction of your house will determine which option is best to ensure you can anchor the roof to structural elements. 

• If you are installing on your fascia board make sure you are catching rafter ends in order to make a secure installation. 
• If you are installing on your house wall or under the small gutter of your trailer / mobile home, it is suggested you install a ledger board by lagging it to your house wall studs on the inside of the exterior veneer. By doing this you can easily secure the C channel in as many locations as is necessary without worrying about finding house wall studs for each screw.

Once the wall or fascia is ready to mount the rear header, snap a level chalk line along the surface at which the bottom of your channel will be installed. Cut your C channel to the exact length of the finished size of your unit. Please note, this is the total width of all of your panels connected together minus the male lock of the last panel which you will trim off to install the side fascia extrusions. 

Tip: The provided side fascia will cap the c-channel and the front extruded gutter. This will be the final step of the roof installation, but keep in mind that the fascia should be cut to the length of the panels + the width of the gutter and c-channel.

Prior to securing your C channel we suggest running two beads of caulking on the back surface where it will meet the building or fascia board. We suggest two screws (one above and one below the thermal break) every 12” . 16”. If you are installing on a fascia or wall without overhang protection (as in illustration #3 above), it is advised to flash over the channel and run a bead of caulk on the top of the C channel once installed so as to ensure a watertight seal.

The rear c channel is pre-pitched at 1/4" per foot. When determining your final post height or the front height of the screen enclosure, you will need to take this drop into consideration. 

Tip: Though it is not “imperative” it is advisable that the C channel be installed with enough room to be able to use the supplied 1/2” hex head Tek screws on both the top and bottom lips in order to firmly hold the roof panels in the C channel at the house wall. If you cannot put the screws through the top lip, be sure to at least use the screws on the bottom lip.

You will be responsible for the purchase of the hardware (screws/lag bolts) required to secure the rear header to your existing surface. 

Take the measurement from the deck / patio to the bottom flange of the installed C Channel. For the purpose of this illustration, call it 8 feet. With a pitch of 1/4” per foot of projection, the total height of the post & beam assembly will be 8’ minus 2 3/4” (11 x 1/4”) = 7’ 9 1/4”. This means the total height of all your verticals (including H 120 corners) will be 7’ 9 1/4”.

Cut a piece of your 1" X 2" U channel running the full width of your front wall for both the top and the bottom. Attach it to the floor, making sure you are square to the backwall C channel installation per previous note. If your front wall includes a door placement, measure and mark where your door is to be placed. You will leave an opening that is exactly 36” wide (inside-inside measurement between verticals) in the bottom U channel installation for the door installation. 

If you are mounting the U channel to concrete or brick, we would suggest using either Tapcon screws or drive anchors to secure the U channel to those surfaces. For all wood surface installation you can punch or drill a starter hole in the aluminum and use an appropriate size wood screw to secured the U channel. Though it is not necessary, you can, in order to waterproof the seal between U channel and floor surface, apply a bead of high quality silicone (screws and silicone purchased locally) to the underside of the U channel prior to securing it to the cement or wood surface.

NOTE: Since there are many different types and styles of house walls, or cement pads or wood decks you will need to supply your own screws/fasteners to attach the uchannel to your existing surfaces.

It is likely that you have been provided with 1.5" X 2" for your top U channel. Check and make sure you have enough to run on top of both side walls and the front wall. If not, save them for the side walls as they make installing verticals on the sloped sides a bit easier. Use the standard 1" x 2" U channel in its place in this case. Cut a piece the full width of the room and set it on top of your two corner posts and screw it into place just as you did on the bottom. If the width of the room exceeds 20', it will be necessary to butt splice uchannel together to cover the full width.  

The custom drawing provided during the quotation stage and available in the customer portal will identify the number of verticals you are to use on the front wall, which may even include a door placement.  Cut the number of verticals you need and install them in the same manner as the corner posts screwing through the U channel lips, two tek screws each both top and bottom, inside and outside. 

If your door installation is on the front wall at a corner you will want to set your H120 corner post in the side wall bottom U channel per below. 

Insulated panels come in both 4' wide and 2' (23" wide, technically) wide configurations. Generally, 4' wide panels are sent where possible; however, depending on the dimensions, you may receive a combination of both to fill the order. If panels are the same size and there are no fan beams, there is no special consideration. If one or more 2' wide panels are sent, you may want to consider the symmetry of the panels (and seams) into account. For example, and 18' wide cover would have (4) x 4' panels and (1) @ 2' wide panels. The optimal layout for most, would put the 2' wide panel in the middle and then two 4' wide panels on each side of it. 

For covers that include one or more fan beam panels, additional planning is important. On panels purchased with this upgrade, a reinforced conduit runs the full length of the panel to supply power and mount a light or fan while concealing the wiring. These beams are located in the center of a panel and may take some additional work to be centered within the enclosure (or symmetrically placed in the case of multiple fan beams). For odd quantities of panels, its normally easier as the fan beam panel can be centered by nature of the design (ie. a cover with 5 panels can have the fan beam centered with 2 panels on either side). 

For a cover with an even number of panels, you can either decide to have the fan beam off center or you will need to rip one of the non fan beam panels in half and then use the two halves as the first and last panels, respectively. For example, on a 16' wide cover, the only way to center the fan beam would be to take one of the 4' panels and rip it down the middle - one 2' piece becomes the first panel (with the cut edge into the fascia) and the 2nd half is the last panel, again with the cut edge into the fascia. For cover installations starting from the left, the half with the male lock should be used as the first panel. 

Be sure to mark the location of the fan beam before capping the end with the fascia gutter so it is easily located when you get to installing the fan or light fixture.  

NOTE: At the discretion of the manufacturer, they may send one or more panels that are longer than the projection requested for the room. This is normally done to fulfill orders faster since the panels can quickly and easily be cut back on site using the tools listed above. Simply cut the aluminum on each side of the panel with  

With the female lock on the left, lift your panel into place. We recommend putting a bead of caulking on the underside of the top lip of the backwall C channel prior to pushing the panel into place.

TIP: In order to avoid scratching the underside face of the roof panel use cardboard or a soft fluffy cloth on top of the beam or screen wall until you are ready to secure the panel in place.

Once the panel is in place, flush with the left edge of the backwall C channel, secure the panel to the C channel using the 3/4” hex head self tapping Tek screws on both top and bottom flanges, roughly every 8”.

Out front where the panel sits on the screen wall, you will be supplied with large self sealing hex head lag screws with neoprene back metal washers, 1” longer than the thickness of the roof you are installing. We suggest installing (1) lag screw on the Right Hand Side (RHS) of the panel 5” in from the seam. DO NOT TIGHTEN ALL THE WAY DOWN SO THAT THE NEXT PANEL HAS ROOM TO SNAP ONTO THIS PANEL. This will hold the panel in place while you assemble the remainder of the roof.

TIP: As you install the rest of the roof tighten the lag screw/bolts so as to create a slight dimple in the top of the roof metal. It does not need to be tightened any more than that! We also recommend a large bead of caulking on top of each lag screw so as to prevent a water build up in the “dimple.” 

With the first panel in place, put a bead of caulk on the underside of the top lip of the C channel, put your cloth or cardboard on the beam or front screen wall and put a bead of caulking (supplied) in the top channel of the male lock making sure it is a consistent thickness and with no air pockets. Then take your second panel, position it just outside the C channel, raise it up and gently but firmly, snap it down. Pushing from the front of the cover to toward the house, slide it into place in the C channel. Be sure to do this before the caulking begins to set! Wipe off any excess caulking on the seam. You may secure the panel to the C channel using the 1/2” hex head self tapping Tek screws on both top and bottom flanges, roughly every 8”.

Your last panel will have a male lock protruding past the edge of the roof line. Prior to putting into place, carefully trim off the male lock back to the seam edge. The seam edge should line up with the right hand edge (OLI) of the C channel installed on the house wall. This will also allow you to attach the extruded side fascia, capping the edge of the insulated panel.

To install the remaining lag screws, snap a chalk line on top of the roof that is centered over your screen wall. Be sure that it runs over top of the center of the first lag screw you installed in the first panel. Using the chalk line as a guide, install the remain lag screws/ bolts. We suggest putting a bead of caulking down around the lag screw/bolt prior to finally tightening it down on the roof.

You will use (3) three lag screws/bolts on every 4’ wide panel and (2) on every 2’ wide panel. Always be sure the outside lag bolts/screws are at least 5” in from the seam edges.

NOTE: It is normal for the lag screw to extend down through the uchannel on the underside of the roof. There is no need to cut them off as they will be covered by the 1x2 mainframe that will be installed in the uchannel in a later step. 

Wipe off any excess caulking. The top leg of the fascia is installed under the front lip of the gutter and then secured with a 3/4" tek screw and then the joint caulked to prevent leaking.

White Peel and Seal tar tape is supplied with all orders to finish off each of the seams on the top of your unit. Because the caulking you have applied thus far is likely still setting to some degree, we strongly suggest, before you get up on your roof, that you temporarily support your roof from underneath, at the half way mark of the projection, with padded 2x4 bracing. This will minimize the flexing at the seams as you apply the tar tape. Apply the tape to every seam on the top of your roof. This will include the seams between panels as well as all the seams where the backwall C channel, side fascia and front gutter sit on the roof top.

If not performed in the previous step, put a large bead of caulking on top of each lag screw so as to prevent a water build up in the dimple.

Lastly, due to the design of the panel and the patented snap lock design, it is almost impossible for the panel to leak at the seams. In any patio  cover installation, the most critical leak point is where the unit meets the existing structure. We would strongly suggest you use your local supplier to talk about which type of flashing best suits your application. Naturally, if your installation is under an existing soffit, it is already more protected and may not need any additional protective measures. 

If you do not have a chair rail, install 1 "X 2" mainframe as the door header,  80" from floor.  If your unit will have a chair rail and or has a kickplate that uses a 2x2 mainframe over the top, install 2" X 2"  as the door header. Again, the opening will need to be 80" from the floor to the underside of the door header.  

For rooms with multiple chair rails, repeat the step above in each opening with the other chair rail(s). 

Rooms with openings larger than 42" and without a kickplate are recommended to have a chair rail for strength. The material used for the chair rail is the same 2x2 mainframe used for the vertical members.  

Cut and install the 2" X 2" mainframe to fit between vertical mainframe you have installed in a previous step. You may install the horizontal chair rail at any height you wish unless local building code has a specific requirement. Otherwise, we would recommend sitting in your favorite outdoor chair, and install the 2” x 2” horizontal at a height that does not interfere with your sightline into your backyard.

In general, kickplate is installed with 1x2 mainframe securing the kickplate which is shown in this section. For rooms that have openings greater than 54", 2x2 mainframe would be provided and would follow the same general process. 

Temporarily set 1x2 mainframe over kickplate and make sure the kickplate slides completely into the designed groove (see the first illustration on the right). 

Once it is firmly seated, take a mullion clip and slide it up under the 1x2 mainframe where it meets each vertical framing member. With a pen, lightly mark the 2" X 2" vertical framing member where the clip ends with a line. Then remove the 1x2 mainframe and screw the mullion clips (one per side) to the vertical framing members using your mark as a guide for the bottom of the clip. As another reference, the top of the clip should be about 1/4” above the top of the kickplate.

To accommodate the slope of the ceiling , floor or both, you must keep the top of the kick plates even from one opening to the next. You can use a string, running the full width of the opening, to accomplish this.

The bottom of each kickplate section can be trimmed according to the slope of your application.

Still using the ‘single slope B’ example above, if you install the 1x2 mainframe on top of the kickplate to run parallel to your roof line, your kickplate will get slightly larger on the “outside” vertical measurement, as you move away from the house wall to the front of your installation. The alternative is to run the kickplate perfectly parallel to the mounting surface (deck or patio) and the top screen section “outside” vertical measurement, will increase slightly as you move away from the house wall to the front of your installation.

Place the 1x2 mainframe on the mullion clips you have just installed and screw down (from the top of the H121) into the clips with the supplied self tapping hex head Tek screws.

NOTE: In cases where a room is ordered with double height kickplate, the above process is performed a 2nd time. to achieve the full height.