Patio cover.

[csziggy]

17. Here is a pretty good guide to how to create a patio cover with Tuftex panels

http://www.westmansteel.ca/public/File/products/tuftexInstallGuide.pdf

Note - it does NOT discuss the structural issues with building the structure to hold the panels, just the installation.

On our old barn we used similar panels alternating with corrugated steel panels for our roof. The vinyl panels made great skylights but they only lasted 15-20 years. That was 1979 technology - newer panels may be more resistant to UV damage.

The barn was a pole building - poles set into the ground on 12' centers, roof sloped from "top" to "bottom" with a 1' drop over the 12',doubled 1" x 8" at the top and bottom where there was no need to carry weight above (the barn had a loft in the middle and there were doubled 2" x 12" beams to carry the weight of the hay loft ), 1" x 6" rafters 2' on center running from top to bottom, held by rafter ties and end nailed. Then we ran " x 4" purlins at 16" centers horizontally across the top of the rafters - the roofing panels were nailed to those.

I wish we had used heavier purlins since it's hairy sending people up on that roof to work. But the barn is still standing after 35+ years and other than the vinyl panels that disintegrated, the rest of the roof is still there.

Sort of like this:

The discussion at this site with the image above is about building a patio cover:
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/14420569