Your SelfBuild patio will be delivered on one of our crane trucks to the kerbside/front of property. To ensure a smooth and safe delivery, make sure to advise us if any of these conditions are relevant to your property:

• Narrow streets, busy main roads, or areas with parking restrictions.
• Low hanging power lines, trees, dirt roads or tight roads that may limit truck access.

If any of these apply, we will need to make alternative delivery arrangements.

When determining the size of your outdoor space, you’ll need to take into account boundary restrictions set by local council.  Typically, you are not able to build within 900mm of your property boundary or encroach on any easements such as sewer or stormwater.  Your local council can advise on their specific requirements.

Your SelfBuild kit will be supplied with engineering drawings and certifications to support any development application.

We recommend a minimum head height of 2.4 metres from the finished floor level to the underside of the roof panels. If the ground where you plan to position your patio is sloped or uneven, you may need to cut into the ground or cut and fill to create a level surface, which can require retaining walls and should be considered early to understand cost and time implications.

In some cases, a raised deck may be needed. Once you establish your finished floor level, you’ll need to confirm that attaching the patio roof to your home will allow for sufficient head height. Keep in mind that the roof panels must have at least a 1-degree fall to ensure rainwater flows away from the house, which may add another 100–150mm (depending on panel length) to the required height near the home.

SelfBuild roof panels attach to your home with lengths of our custom-designed aluminium section called a Receiver Channel. The location and material the receiver channel attaches to will vary from house to house.  Below is a guide for fixing the most common:

• Bricks – if fixing to bricks or other types of masonry, there must be at least 3 rows of bricks above the intended position of the receiver.
• Cladding – The receiver channel must fix through the cladding and into the wall studs behind it – not the cladding itself or battens.  The wall studs must be at least 90mm x 45mm to ensure adequate strength and enable sufficient embedment of the fixing screws.
• Fascia – If you plan to attach the patio to the fascia, keep in mind that the house roofing (steel or tiles) will need to be temporarily removed so stiffening brackets can be fixed to the timber roof trusses or rafters.  Fascias are not structural and cannot support the load of a patio on their own. When fixing below a gutter, you’ll also need to allow around 100mm of clearance to ensure two fixings can pass through the receiver and into each stiffening bracket behind the fascia, securing it properly to the trusses.

Note: The Receiver channel cannot be attached to a wall framed with light gauge steel framing as the frame does not offer enough thickness for secure fixing of screws. 

There are 2 ways your post will be fixed to the ground, either in a concrete footing or attached to an existing concrete slab.

• If the posts are to be connected to an existing concrete slab, it should be of sufficient thickness (typically minimum 100mm) and in good condition.
• If the posts are to be set into a concrete footing, then holes of sufficient size will need to be dug accordingly.  The engineering provided with your SelfBuild kit will specify the size of the hole, which varies based on the size of patio and wind classification.
• You’ll need to check the area is free of underground services such as electrical, water etc.  if these are present, careful consideration of the post place is required.  Make sure to seek professional advice if in doubt.
• If your area has rock beneath the surface then this will need boring with specialist equipment to create the post footings.

Confirm that there are no existing rainwater drainage issues from the house, as adding a patio can add to the stormwater load on the system and make any problems worse.

• Make sure to check there is a stormwater access point which the downpipe can connect to.  Downpipes should dispel water at stormwater points to avoid damage to your property and neighbouring properties
• Posts should not block stormwater drainage or be placed in water-prone areas.
• Posts should not be positioned in low points that could collect water around footings.