Watch how Southwest Builders designs, engineers, and installs aluminum pergolas, insulated patio covers, sunrooms, and solar-ready structures across San Diego County. Every video below is a real client project filmed on site, narrated with the build details, engineering decisions, and materials we used. Each transcript is included so you can read exactly how we work.
Watch our crew install a double insulated Elitewood patio cover in San Diego County, with reinforced beams, insulated roof panels, recessed LED lighting, and integrated gutters. Related service: Insulated Patio Covers.
Welcome back to Southwest Builders. Every project begins with a vision. For this backyard, that vision became two custom Elitewood insulated patio covers designed to create comfortable outdoor living spaces while blending beautifully with the home. Finished in beige with wood plank ceilings, this project showcases one of our most popular patio cover designs. The insulated roof panels help reduce heat transfer while providing a clean, finished ceiling and exceptional structural strength. The low-maintenance aluminum system is backed by a limited lifetime manufacturer warranty. And as an Elite Pro dealer, we are proud to install genuine Elitewood building systems with quality craftsmanship built to last.
Construction begins with the first patio cover outside the kitchen. After installing the wall hanger, we set the support posts and use temporary stanchions to hold the structural beam while everything is carefully leveled, squared, and secured. With the framework complete, the insulated roof panels are installed one by one, quickly transforming the structure into a finished patio cover. Next, we install the fascia and integrated rain gutter systems, completing the first patio cover before moving on to the second.
The second patio cover begins the same way, with the wall hanger, support posts, and structural beam carefully positioned and aligned. Once the framework is secure, the insulated roof panels are installed, followed by the fascia, trim, and finishing details. Electrical wiring is concealed within the structure for the recessed LED lights, ceiling fans, and discrete electrical outlets integrated into the support post.
With both patio covers complete, it is time for one final walkthrough. The finished project features two matching Elitewood insulated patio covers that blend naturally with the home's existing architecture while creating comfortable outdoor living spaces for everyday use. The warm beige finish and realistic wood plank ceilings provide the appearance of traditional wood without the maintenance, while the insulated roof system helps keep the space below more comfortable throughout the warmer months here in San Diego. Reinforced structural beams allow for wider post spacing, creating a more open and spacious feel beneath each patio cover. Combined with the integrated rain gutter system and durable aluminum construction, these structures are designed to provide decades of reliable, low-maintenance performance.
The result is a beautiful backyard transformation that expands the home's usable living space while creating a comfortable place to relax, entertain family and friends, and enjoy the outdoors throughout the year. If you are planning a patio cover, sunroom, or outdoor living project, request your free consultation through our contact form.
A custom freestanding Alumawood pergola build in San Diego County, from layout to finished structure. Related service: Elitewood Pergolas.
Today we're at a beautiful estate property here in San Diego County, where our team designed and built three custom outdoor living structures. In this video we're focusing on the larger custom freestanding aluminum pergola installation.
Rather than building a traditional rectangular pergola, the homeowners wanted to recreate the overall footprint and flow of their existing wood pergola while upgrading to a cleaner, more modern, low-maintenance, and fire-resistant aluminum system designed for long-term durability. For this they selected the Elitewood Series pergola by Four Seasons Building Products. We are an Elite Pro Dealer, in the top 5% of dealers for Four Seasons products.
The project begins with demolition of the original freestanding wood pergola. Our crew carefully removes the upper framing sections before transitioning to the larger structural beams below, protecting the surrounding concrete surfaces throughout. Once demolition is complete, we lay out the new pergola footprint and prepare the engineered surface-mount base plates that secure directly to the existing concrete footing locations. We make certain our pergolas are engineered for structural safety.
The new aluminum support posts are installed and carefully aligned before we lay out the custom structural support beams. Because of the non-traditional shape of this pergola, precision layout and spacing is extremely important at every stage. Using our custom tripod stanchion supports, the crew aligns the primary support beams to establish the final footprint and maintain a clean visual flow. We then lay out the rafter spacing across several long-span sections measuring over 27 feet in length, balancing spacing and alignment to create clean architectural lines.
Here is the completed custom freestanding aluminum pergola; we built two on this estate. The open pergola design allows natural light and airflow through the space while still creating comfortable shade coverage for the seating and entertaining areas below. By choosing an Elitewood aluminum pergola system, the homeowners now have a beautiful, low-maintenance outdoor structure designed for long-term durability and fire resistance compared to wood construction. At Southwest Builders, we specialize in custom aluminum pergolas, insulated patio covers, sunrooms, and outdoor living spaces throughout San Diego County.
Watch how we engineer our Alumawood pergola systems for strength and long-term durability on this San Diego installation. Related service: Pergolas.
We have a big project here: three different patio structures on a beautiful property in sunny San Diego with an orchard and amazing views. Right here we're building a large freestanding pergola in a custom space next to the turf area.
Strong freestanding pergolas start with the foundation. On this build, that means steel posts anchored into concrete footings and countersunk for a clean finish. Footing and attachment methods are always determined by engineering and site conditions; in this case, these footings were purpose-built to support a steel core system designed for this layout.
Once the structure is set, we sleeve the steel posts with Elitewood, an aluminum system that delivers the look of wood without the maintenance, rot, or fire risk. Next comes the header system: these beams are steel-reinforced as well, engineered to handle the span, uplift, and lateral loads, which is crucial on freestanding structures. We then lay out precise rafter spacing, keeping everything measured, squared, and installed to engineering specs. The lattice tubes go on last, locking the structure together and completing the pergola's architectural profile with beautiful shade.
This project didn't require permits, but it was still built to engineering standards, because good construction doesn't depend on inspection; it depends on intent. Aluminum systems like Elitewood are ideal for high fire areas and insurance-sensitive properties: they won't ignite, they won't rot, and they require virtually no maintenance.
An engineered Alumawood pergola and insulated patio cover installation in Clairemont Mesa, built for structural strength and low maintenance. Related service: Patio Covers.
In this video you'll see the process of building three custom Elitewood structures on one home: one insulated patio cover and two pergolas.
Here's the insulated patio cover: a roof-mounted custom design. We removed the old ledger; there were wooden pergolas here before, and at the end of demolition we located the position of our custom roof mount brackets. The roof-mounted design is intended to achieve more height. Without it, the lowest point of that support beam would be approximately 6 feet off the ground; many people would hit their heads. This custom roof mount beam lift design allowed us to gain almost 2 feet of additional height, so even the lowest point of the front beam is nearly 9 feet.
The insulated foam core roof panels lock in on top of those beams. They keep the heat out, they stay sealed in rainstorms, and you can even stand on them: they're structurally sound, stable, and secure, so you have real peace of mind with an insulated solid patio cover. The crew installs the rain gutter trim system on the front and finishes the side fascia trims.
The first pergola allows filtered light through and is also roof-mounted to gain as much height as possible. The rafters are set in place and locked to the support beam with fasteners. There are a lot of technical details in building these custom Elitewood aluminum pergolas and patio covers, and a lot of tricks of the trade to work with the materials correctly. The lattice tubes are laid out on top and dialed in so you get the exact amount of shade you'd like. In this case we went with roughly a 70% shade to 30% sun ratio, so the living room slider still gets some natural light.
The second pergola replaced a termite-ridden wooden structure that was also rotting. The homeowner's insurance didn't like it, so they upgraded to save money on insurance and get a brand new limited-lifetime-warranty pergola. One section runs longer along the house as a walkway cover, and the 8-foot rafter section over the slider creates space for a small breakfast table right off the kitchen, extending the dining room to beautiful outdoor dining.
The finished product: three structures on one home. The insulated patio cover spans the hot tub, with recessed can lighting, a custom switch, and GFCI outlets; we handle all of this electrical work. Beautiful LEDs light up the space in the evenings. The homeowner is very happy, and they're going to enjoy this for many years to come.
Full build time-lapse of a San Diego sunroom, from framing through the finished walkthrough and structural review. Related service: Sunrooms.
Hello, I'm Tom Atkisson, president of Southwest Builders, and today we're going to show you a beautiful custom sunroom addition that we just completed in the Lake Murray area here in sunny San Diego.
This is an Alpha Plus modular sunroom addition. It's manufactured here in California and custom-ordered to fit your home. This particular design is 14 feet by 24 feet in length. We have a beautiful quad sliding door: both of these doors slide left to right, creating a gorgeous wall of glass that allows natural light to pour right into your new sunroom addition. As we open those quad sliding doors, we get a nice 6-foot clear open space with screens that can be closed to keep insects out while letting the breeze through the room.
These are all dual-pane Low-E2 windows with a super spacer system between the glass panes, a 1-inch thick glass system with very high insulating value and high UV protection. This room faces south, so it gets southern sun exposure all day long, yet the room inside is actually cooler than it is in the house. The homeowner himself mentioned this to us, and that's in part due to the insulating value of these windows, plus our wall paneling: with the vinyl wall paneling and thermally insulated EPS foam core system, you get a very high insulation value that keeps heat out and helps retain the cool inside the room.
On this sidewall we installed a custom TV mount built into the wall, with the electrical outlet up behind the television, mounted at the customer's desired location and height. The ceiling is our insulated roof system: a 3-inch thick insulated EPS foam core roof with aluminum facing top and bottom, vacuum-bonded to the foam panels and embossed with a wood grain finish. The wood planking design runs down the panels and creates a natural, comfortable feel that complements the luxury vinyl plank flooring we installed. We added LED flush-mount ceiling lights on a dimmer switch, and ceiling fans the customer picked out.
We installed this sunroom on a brand new reinforced concrete slab foundation, about 6 inches thick and reinforced with steel. We pour these slabs level with the house floor so the transition from inside the house into the room feels natural: you don't step up or down, you step straight across like you're stepping into another room of your home. Our roof incorporates a built-in rain gutter system, so rain runs off the house roof onto the sunroom roof and down into the drainage system. Where there was an elevation difference from the existing concrete, we created a French drain backfilled with decorative rock, with a 3-inch drain below that absorbs any additional water and carries it away.
The white vinyl window system matches beautifully with the home's existing vinyl windows. The panels are paintable, exterior or interior, but most people keep the white color because it stays cool, bright, and airy inside the room. If you're considering adding space to your home, contact us today. We'd be happy to provide a free, thorough design consultation and come up with the perfect sunroom design that fits your family's needs.
A custom Alumawood BBQ arbor in Poway, giving this outdoor kitchen engineered shade and a clean architectural finish. Related service: Pergolas.
What we're building here today is a freestanding two-post arbor, a custom design with a solid insulated roof system. We custom-designed this structure with the manufacturer's engineers, and we're about to build it.
First we take the 10-inch core drill bit and core-drill our footing locations on either side of the barbecue. Then we countersink the steel posts into the footings, let the concrete cure, and build the structure on top. The finished arbor gives this outdoor kitchen engineered shade with a clean architectural finish, in a low-maintenance Alumawood aluminum system designed to withstand Southern California conditions without warping, cracking, or rotting.
A solar-ready Alumawood carport with an insulated roof in North Park, engineered to carry panel loads from day one. Related service: Patio Covers.
We are Southwest Builders, a general contractor located in San Diego, California. We specialize in custom outdoor shade structures, solar patio covers and solar carports like this one, and sunroom additions.
Let's go through this build. This project has enormous footings: 4 feet by 4 feet by 2 feet deep, several yards of concrete each. It was engineered by a structural engineer and permitted here in the City of San Diego, and we handle all of that for our customers. Steel posts are countersunk deep into the footings with through-rods, and they support the double header beams for the structure, which have a steel insert inside as well.
We adjust our beam height using a string line so the beams match up with the roof panels, holding everything in place with custom telescoping tripod stanchions that we designed and built ourselves. They handle the weight of the beams while we get the system level and fastened back to the steel posts. This entire structure is built over the existing driveway.
The roof panels are 6-inch thick EPS foam core structural panels: expanded polystyrene, vacuum-bonded, with structural conduits manufactured inside the panels. Those conduits are what we use to mount the solar racking: we anchor right through the top, and the solar panels mount directly on the racking, two mounting conduits per panel. That's what makes this a custom solar-ready patio cover system. The panels are also insulated, so they keep the space below cool, and they're structural, so they can handle the weight of solar and you can walk on them.
The panels are 21 feet long, tongue-and-groove, and each one is fastened down with large anchors through the top of the panel into the steel beam below, pre-drilled with extra-long bits through the heavy steel. The fascia trims finish off the foam edges. All of this material is zero-maintenance and factory-coated: our product is unique in that it's coated with two coats of paint at the factory, a primer and a color coat, and the manufacturer guarantees the finish for a lifetime against flaking, blistering, pitting, and peeling.
We finish by installing the 2x6 post wraps on the front and back of each support post, trimming out the steel posts so they match the wood grain finished aluminum, looking seamless when complete. The dimensions of this carport are a 21-foot projection by 20 feet wide, with about 10.5 feet of clearance: plenty of room even for a full-size truck with a rack. This beautiful Elitewood solar-ready patio cover was built by Southwest Builders in sunny San Diego, California.
Planning a pergola, patio cover, or sunroom of your own? See our published pricing or request a free consultation.
