Outdoor living

Pavilions: the outdoor room with a real roof

A pavilion is the difference between "we eat outside when the weather's nice" and "we eat outside." Real posts, real timber, a real roof: an outdoor room that keeps its appointments regardless of the forecast.

The premium outdoor room

Shade cloth and umbrellas are furniture; a pavilion is architecture. Ours are stick-built with exposed timber framing (posts, beams, and rafters you're meant to look at), sized to your patio or the one we pour with it, and roofed like a house: underlayment, drip edge, shingles or metal matched to your home. It's the structure the backyard organizes itself around from the day it goes up.

What we build into pavilions

  • Custom sizing: from a 10x12 dining cover to 20x24 gathering spaces; sized to the table, the grill, and the crowd
  • Roof styles: gable, hip, or single-slope, in shingles matched to the house or standing-seam metal
  • Exposed timber framing with sized spans and honest joinery, stained or painted; the good bones are the aesthetic
  • Ceiling fans and lighting on circuits run during the build: fans for August, dimmable light for evenings
  • Outdoor kitchen and grill-station integration: counters, utilities, and clearances planned in, not squeezed under later
  • Patio and deck integration: anchored to sound existing concrete, engineered onto decks, or built with new hardscape as one project
  • Pool-side placement with the wet-area electrical codes handled correctly (pairs naturally with a pool house)

Typical uses

Outdoor dining rooms that laugh at pop-up storms. Grill stations and full outdoor kitchens where the cook finally gets shade. Pool-side lounges. Hot-tub covers. The backyard TV room for football season. Big-family gathering space that the house can't hold and the weather can't cancel.

What drives the price

Footprint and roof complexity lead: a hip roof costs more than a gable of the same size, and metal roofing more than shingles. Then the electrical package (fans, lights, kitchen circuits) and whatever hardscape we're building or building on. Timber grade and stain are visible line items. Itemized quote, free, and we'll flag which upgrades earn their keep for how you'll actually use it.

Build process

Site visit first: sun path, drainage, sight lines from the kitchen window, and what the pavilion should anchor to. Then design and permits where required, footings and posts, timber framing, roof, electrical, and finish stain. Most pavilions are hosting dinner within a few weeks of the first post hole.

Common questions

Pavilion or pergola: which do I want?

A pergola filters sun through open slats; a pavilion stops rain and hail with a real roof. If the goal is dappled shade and vines over a patio, pergola. If the goal is dinner outside during a storm, a TV that survives the weather, or an outdoor kitchen that works in any forecast, pavilion. They're both on our menu as separate builds, and plenty of yards eventually want both.

What roof styles do you build?

Gable is the classic: open, airy, great with exposed timber. Hip roofs read more formal and shed wind well. A single-slope (lean-to) pavilion suits modern homes and tight placements against a fence line. Shingles matched to your house or a metal roof for the pavilion-in-the-trees look; both done with real underlayment and drip edge.

Can a pavilion hold ceiling fans, lights, and a TV?

Yes, and it should: framing gets blocked for fan boxes and mounts, circuits get run during the build, and everything is specced wet/damp-rated for outdoor life. An outdoor room without a fan in a Tennessee August is a design mistake we won't let you make.

Do you build over existing patios and decks?

Frequently. Existing concrete in good shape can take anchored post bases; decks need the framing below verified (and usually reinforced) to carry roof loads. We assess both honestly at the site visit, and building pavilion-plus-deck together is easier and cheaper than sequencing them.

Ready to talk about your project?

Tell us what you're picturing and we'll send a same-day quote. No pressure, no sales script, just a builder's honest answer.