Document review, no site visit

Sealed Carport and Patio Cover Plans for Texas Permits

A small plan set that passes plan review: footing schedule, post and beam sizes, and the uplift connections that matter more than anything else on a structure this light.

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Opening soon

Sealed Engineering is not yet accepting orders. Firm registration is pending with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and no engineering services are being offered or performed under this brand until it is granted. Founding customers on the waitlist are contacted first when ordering opens.

Why a light structure needs more engineering, not less

A patio cover is the most uplift sensitive residential structure there is. It is a large flat surface, it weighs almost nothing, and there is nothing on top of it to hold it down. The governing load case is almost never gravity. It is wind trying to lift the roof off and take the posts with it.

That is why the connections carry the design. The roof panel to purlin connection, the purlin to beam connection, the beam to post connection, and the post to footing anchorage all have to develop net uplift, and the footing has to have enough mass and embedment to resist it. Undersized footings on patio covers are the single most common thing a plan reviewer catches, because the intuition that a light structure needs a light footing is exactly backwards.

Attached versus freestanding

Attached covers are simpler to build and harder to detail. The ledger connection into the existing house has to transfer both gravity and uplift into framing that was not designed for it, and on a Texas home that frequently means fastening through brick veneer or into a band joist whose condition nobody has looked at. The plan has to specify what the ledger fastens to and what fastener develops the load, not just that a ledger exists.

Freestanding covers avoid the house entirely, which is often the better answer where the connection is questionable. The trade is a fourth line of posts and footings, and a lateral system that has to stand on its own rather than leaning on the building.

What the plan set includes

This is a small plan set rather than a letter, because a reviewer needs to see the geometry. It stays deliberately compact: enough sheets to build from and no more.

Cover sheet with the design criteria: code edition, wind speed, exposure category, and risk category.
Foundation plan with a footing schedule: size, depth, reinforcement, and anchorage.
Framing plan with post locations, beam sizes, purlin sizing, and spans.
Connection details at every transition, sized for uplift.
Sections showing heights, slope, and clearances.
Notes covering material grades, fasteners, and inspection points.

What arrives

A sealed and signed plan set sized for a residential permit submittal.
Design criteria stated for the actual site: wind speed, exposure, and adopted code edition.
Footing schedule with embedment and reinforcement.
Post, beam, and purlin sizing with spans.
Uplift connection details at ledger, beam, post, and footing.
Digital PDF ready for the permit portal.

Built from documents. No site visit unless an existing slab or attachment condition has to be verified.

What has to exist first

An engineer seals what the evidence supports, so this list is the work rather than the paperwork around it. Anything missing is named rather than assumed.

Property address and jurisdiction.
Dimensions wanted: length, width, and height at the low point.
Attached or freestanding, and where it sits relative to the house.
Material: wood, steel, or aluminum, and the panel or roof product intended.
Photographs of the area, including the wall the cover would attach to.
Existing slab information if the posts land on one, including thickness if known.
Any HOA or setback constraint that fixes the footprint.

Carport and Patio Cover Plans: common questions

Can the posts sit on my existing patio slab?

Sometimes, and it has to be checked rather than assumed. A typical residential patio slab is four inches with no thickened edge, which is not a footing and will not resist the uplift a cover generates. The usual answer is to core the slab and pour a pier beneath each post, which the plan will detail if that is what the conditions require.

Do I really need a permit for a patio cover?

In most Texas jurisdictions, yes, for anything attached and for most freestanding structures over a modest area. Some cities exempt very small covers. The permit office is the authority on it, and building without one on a structure that gets seen from the street is a hard thing to unwind later.

The supplier gave me plans already. Are those enough?

Only if they are sealed by a Texas engineer and carry the design criteria for your address. Stock plans drawn for a different state or a lower wind speed are the most common rejection in this category. Send what you have at intake and the answer is usually clear immediately.

Can it be designed to have a fan, lights, or a TV mounted?

Yes, and it should be said at intake rather than added later. A ceiling fan introduces a dynamic load and a mounting requirement, and a heavy mounted item changes the framing local to it. Both are easy to design for at the start and awkward to retrofit.

Will this work for a carport that is also a garage later?

That has to be designed for at the start. Enclosing a carport changes the wind load case completely, because an enclosed structure sees different internal pressures than an open one, and the lateral system has to change with it. Say so at intake and the plan can be developed for the eventual condition.

Where this is ordered most in Texas

Wind speed, soil, and the permit office all change by market, and so does what this document has to address. These pages are written for the market rather than templated across it.

Often needed alongside this

Need a carport and patio cover plan set?

Start with the property address and we will tell you exactly what else is needed.

Join the waitlist

Opening soon. Founding customers get first turnaround slots.