Plan Your Patio: How Big Should Your Patio Cover Be?
Your patio is the heart of your outdoor lifestyle. Whether you’re hosting dinner parties, relaxing with a drink, or watching the kids run wild, it’s your favorite place to unwind. What you don't love is the blistering heat, sunburns, and sweat. You're ready for a patio cover, but you have so many questions, starting with what size of patio cover should I get?
In this guide, I'll break down how to select the perfect patio cover size for your needs.
What Size Patio Cover Fits Your Lifestyle?
When deciding on a patio cover size, I always ask homeowners how they plan to use it. Your answer is the most important aspect of getting an appropriate structure. It might seem obvious, but if you’re planning to host BBQs for all your neighbors, you’d need something larger than if you’re simply looking for a cozy place to read.
| Outdoor Activity | Recommended Size |
|---|---|
| Reading Nook | 10' x 10' (100 sq ft) |
| Dining for 4–6 | 12' x 15' (180 sq ft) |
| Lounge Area with Sectional & Firepit | 16' x 20' (320 sq ft) |
| Bar & Entertainment (Bar, BBQ, Yard Games) | 20' x 32' (640 sq ft) |
Outdoor Dining
Think about how many people you want to invite for outdoor dining. Whether you’re picturing an intimate meal with your partner or a boisterous brunch with your friends, it’s important that your patio cover gives the right ambiance. Too large, and it can feel empty. Too small, and you’ll feel cramped. As a general guide, I recommend 20-30 square feet per person. That means a dining area for 6 would need to be 12’ x 15’ for 180 square feet.
Lounging & Relaxation
A patio cover should be big enough to cover your furniture with room to move around. Adding 3’ to 4’ around tables and sectionals makes the space feel just right. Picture yourself finishing up a meal and moving over to bask in the warmth of a firepit on your outdoor sofa. If that sounds like you, you’d want a 16’x20’ (320 sq ft) patio cover to ensure there’s space between the dining table and the lounge.
Hosting & Entertainment
Think about your outdoor activities. Are you the go-to BBQ host who needs space for a grill and a dining table and a cornhole game on the side? Or is your vision more about a couple of lounge chairs and a good book? Match the cover size to your activities. You might realize you need a larger dual-zone patio cover (dining on one side, lounge on the other), or maybe just enough for a café table and two chairs. It’s all about what makes you comfortable.
Limits on Patio Cover Size
Now that you have a rough idea of size, it’s time to talk about some practical limits. Here in Southern California (and other areas), there’s a few rules and restrictions that influence how big your patio cover can be.
Building Permits
You should always ask “does my patio cover need a permit?” before you get too far into a project. Most cities across Riverside County and Orange County require a building permit for any type of patio cover. Some cities have a minimum size (often 120 sq ft) before a building permit is required (San Diego allows up to 300 square feet without a permit for certain types of patio covers). If you’re not interested in getting a permit, you’ll have to limit the size or come up with a different shade solution.
HOA Restrictions
If you’re in the majority of Southern California homeowners who live in an HOA community, be sure to check your specific guidelines. There are often restrictions on setbacks & height, which means you may have to reduce your patio cover size.
Property Lines & Setbacks
Speaking of setbacks, cities typically have strict rules around how close a structure can be to a property line. Your specific city ordinances can be incredibly confusing to understand. For instance, Palm Desert’s city ordinances say that a covered patio has a “minimum rear setback from property lines” of 3’ with a “Maximum Projection into Required Setbacks” of 8’, and a maximum of 50% coverage of rear yard. And they have this picture for added clarity.
At a glance, the diagram makes it seem like you’re only allowed an 8’ projection for your patio cover. In reality, your house is usually further from your property line than the required setback, so you have some extra wiggle room. I’ll explain this more in the “How to Measure for a Patio Cover” section.
A Brief Digression
A few years back, I built an aluminum patio cover for a land use attorney in Palm Desert, CA. The building department denied the original plans due to a perceived setback issue. I was pretty confident that our design met all requirements, so I had a conversation with the homeowner. They confirmed everything was good (pro bono) and straightened out the confusion at the building department. The cover turned out great, and I’ve had a lot fewer setback conversations with the building department since then!
How Much Shade Do You Want?
Size and shade go hand in hand. Most of the homeowners I talk to in Southern California say they want their patio cover to get relief from the sun. What differs is how much relief. I’ve had people with south-facing yards ask for a custom aluminum pergola so they can enjoy natural light while still blocking 60-95% of the sun. I’ve also built insulated patio covers in north-facing yards, with an added retractable screen on the side. It really just boils down to how you plan to use your patio.
How to Measure for a Patio Cover
Hopefully by now, you’ve got an idea of what you want. Time to break out your tape measure! Here’s a simple guide that you can use to measure and visualize your space.
1. Identify the Area You Want to Cover
Place a stake, rock, chair, or anything else handy on the ground where you’d like the corners of the patio cover to be. If you don’t currently have a patio or furniture, use string or tape to mark out your imagined patio layout.
If you plan to attach to your house, find the spot on your house that’s roughly aligned with the corner that you previously placed.
2. Double Check the Setbacks
This Alumawood patio cover in Irvine, CA is directly on the side setback. There is room to extend toward the rear setback, but this size works great for the existing patio area.
Now is the time to ensure your patio cover will be within the setbacks. Measure the distance from your house to your property line. If the distance is greater than the required setback, then you have extra space that you can build! If your home’s footprint is already on your required setback, then you can only build up to the max projection into setback, or up to the minimum required setback, whichever is smaller.
For example. Let’s say you’re trying to build a patio cover in Palm Desert, and your property has a required rear setback of 15’. You measure from your rear property line to the back of your house, and find that it’s currently at 21’. You’ve looked up the city ordinances, and know that you can have a maximum of 8’ projection into the required rear setback, and must be at least 3’ away from the property line. In this case, you have 21’ minus 15’ (6’) of free building space before considering the setback. Since the 8’ maximum projection into the rear setback would leave 7’ to the property line, you can use the full 8’ projection plus the 6’ of free building space, for a total projection of 14’. This means that as long as your corners are within 14’ of your home, you’ll be meeting the city (or HOA) requirements.
3. Measure the Width
Run your tape measure along your house starting at one of your corner markers, ending at the far one (still along the house side). Write down that number as the width.
4. Measure the Projection (Away From House)
Start your tape at one of the house-side markers and measure straight toward the back corner of your planned cover. Write down the distance to that corner marker. This measurement is the projection, or how far out from the house the cover should extend. A common projection is anywhere from 8’ to 20’
Note that if your patio cover will be attached to an eave, roof, or overhang, you should measure from that distance rather than from your house’s wall.
5. Test Out the Shade Coverage!
You can get a great idea of how much shade will be provided by standing at each corner and holding up an object like a broom to your intended patio cover height (usually 8-10 feet). Pay attention to where the shadow falls, and walk toward your other corner. If you try this at various times of the day, you’ll get a great idea of how much shade coverage you can expect with the design you laid out.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, how big your patio cover should be boils down to balancing your wants and constraints. You want a cover that’s large enough to make your outdoor living dreams come true, but small enough to be in your budget & meet any building codes. From my experience with homeowners across Southern California, if you take the time to truly consider your needs, you’ll be thrilled with the final result.
In over 20 years building shade, one thing I’ve never heard someone say, “I wish I had a smaller patio cover”.
Ready for an Estimate?
If you’re ready to talk to someone about getting shade for your patio, give us a call! We install Alumawood, Duralum, Equinox, and 4K Aluminum products from San Diego to the Coachella Valley, and everywhere in between. If you live outside of Southern California and want to tackle a great DIY project, we’re happy to help you get started with a DIY patio cover kit. Find contact info and learn more about getting shade in Southern California from our main page.