i30 Builders · Published Pricing
Patio Cover and Pavilion Cost in DFW
Four phases, four numbers, added up.
A covered structure is not one price. It is engineering, concrete, the structure, and power, and each is a real cost with a real scope behind it.
Quotes that fold all four into one number are impossible to compare, and the cheapest one is usually missing a phase. Nine times out of ten it is the engineering, which is also the one that stops the project at permit review.
Price them separately and you can see what you are buying, drop a phase you do not need, and defer one to next year without renegotiating the rest.
Published Rates
Patio Covers and Cedar Pavilions
| Scope | Rate | Project minimum | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design, engineering and permits | $2,200 | None | Engineered plan set, structural detail on post anchorage and roof framing, city fees. |
| Reinforced concrete flatwork | $19/SF | $6,000 minimum | Base prep, forming, reinforcement, expansion joints, 4 in pour, broom finish. |
| Cedar post-and-beam structure | $119/SF | $20,000 minimum | Cedar frame on engineered piers, exposed rafters, corbels, standing seam roof, stained. |
| Exterior electrical | $1,450 | None | Dedicated GFCI circuit trenched in conduit to two weather-rated exterior outlets. |
Worked Examples
Which number wins, and why.
A 20 by 10 free-standing cover on new concrete, with a connecting walk and power
Design and permits, plus 328 square feet of flatwork at $19, plus 200 square feet of structure at $119, plus the electrical phase
The structure is roughly three quarters of it. That is the normal split on a job like this and it is the phase worth understanding before you compare quotes.
The same structure, built over a sound existing patio
Design and permits, plus 200 square feet of structure at $119, no flatwork phase
Dropping the concrete takes a significant share off. We core or excavate to confirm the slab will take a pier rather than assume it.
A 12 by 12 cover, 144 square feet
144 square feet at $119 per square foot, against the $20,000 project minimum
The minimum wins. Below roughly 170 square feet the engineering, the crane-less setting of heavy timber and the roof detailing cost what they cost regardless of footprint.
Concrete only: a 16 by 20 patio pad, no structure
320 square feet at $19 per square foot, against a $6,000 minimum
The rate wins. Flatwork on its own is the one phase here that does not need engineering or a permit in most jurisdictions.
In the price
All i30 Builders full-project prices include normal mobilization, ordinary protection of adjacent areas, labor, standard materials listed in the scope, project coordination, normal cleanup, and a one-year workmanship warranty on the listed scope.
Not in the price
- Permits and engineering (excluded unless specifically included; quoted as an allowance or actual-cost line item when required)
- Utility upgrades (excluded; trade-quoted when needed)
- Hidden conditions, rot, mold, termite damage, asbestos, lead, water-compromised framing (excluded; change-order priced after discovery)
- Drainage correction (excluded unless drainage scope is listed in the contract)
- Code corrections unrelated to the scope (excluded; separately quoted after inspection)
- Moving owner contents (excluded except minor normal clearing)
- Manufacturer defects on owner-supplied materials (excluded from warranty)
Common Questions
Can I skip the engineering to save money?
Not on a roofed structure, and not because we insist. A roof is a load path, and the reviewer wants a stamped plan showing where that load goes and how the posts are anchored. Without it there is no permit, and without a permit there is an unpermitted structure attached to your house when you go to sell it.
Why is the minimum so high?
Because a small cover is not a small job. The plan set, the permit, the piers, the beam setting and the roof detailing are all the same work at 144 square feet as at 200. Below roughly 170 square feet the footprint stops driving the price and the process does.
Can I run the electrical later?
Yes, and that is exactly why it is its own phase. The cheapest time to do it is during the concrete phase, when the conduit goes in before the pour instead of being trenched across a finished yard afterward. If the budget is tight this year, tell us now and we will sleeve for it so next year is cheap.
What is the difference between this and a kit from a big box store?
Engineering, anchorage and the roof. A kit is sized by a catalog rather than by your wind exposure and soil, it usually anchors to the slab surface instead of to a pier, and the roof is most often a corrugated panel rather than standing seam. Some of them are fine. None of them are what the $119 per square foot rate is describing.
Get a Written Scope
You have the rate. Tell us the run and we will put a real number in writing.
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