Done with the cover

Well, we finally finished up with the metalworker’s part of our back patio. My son has a welding outfit, and he put together the cover for the rear of our house.

It's up at about ten feet. I wanted the shade, but not the feeling of being in a room. You can't even see the cover from inside unless you are right at the windows. Now I just have to get the fans up and see about some more lights. I’m looking forward to the shade this summer. This side of the house faces west, and the windows along here really let the sun and heat into the house. When it’s 115 and sunny it really transfers to the house. Our house is built pretty well, it’s got 2x6 walls full of insulation, and a pretty good layer in the attic.

This is the area by the kitchen. You can see the door that we cut in (used to be a window) and we already have our table out here. We’ve been having breakfast and morning coffee here, reading the paper. It’s been around 80 in the morning, and we are used to it. The cover is lower here, so it feels more intimate and more like an addition than being outside.
Besides shade, there are some other things that you need to survive in Las Vegas.

Didn’t need them in San Diego, there was always moisture in the air that cut down on glare. Here it’s always dry and shadows are always sharp. You need sunglasses even early in the morning.
We had some supervision while working on the patio.

This was one afternoon when it was around 101. Both of them were laying in the sunshine – they would stay there for a while, until panting too much, then move inside to the shade, and after cooling off move back out to the sun. Too much for me, but they like it.