Patio Covers and Porches in Brownsville, TX

• —A covered structure usually needs a permit. Brownsville issues its own, so the answer for an address inside the city is not the answer out in the county. Yours gets answered before the quote goes out, and the permit is pulled in our name.
• —Anything bolted to the house falls inside what a windstorm inspection looks at, and in Cameron County that inspection is what keeps a home insurable through TWIA. So the tie-in is detailed on paper before it is built.
• —If your subdivision has an association, it may set rules on roof color and setback. We ask for that in writing before anything is ordered.

From the build site03

Which homes has David Aceves helped build?

Is a screened porch worth it in Brownsville, or is a solid cover enough?

It depends on when you plan to sit out there. A solid cover fixes sun and rain, and that is most of the day. Screen fixes the evening, which is when the resacas send mosquitoes over. Many Brownsville owners start with the cover and frame it so screen can go in later. We build the posts and beams for that from day one if you ask.

Can you rebuild the original front porch on an older Brownsville house?

Often yes, and it is usually the better call. Those porches were framed deeper than anything a builder puts up now. The columns and the rail are part of what the house is. We check the posts at the base, the beam and the decking for rot before quoting. Then we replace the members that are gone and leave the ones that are sound.

What kind of screen holds up on a porch this close to the water?

Not the cheapest roll on the shelf. Fiberglass mesh itself has nothing in it to corrode, but the frame, the spline channel and the screws around it do, so those go coated. Near the resacas we also talk through mesh count with you, because a tighter weave stops smaller insects and slows the breeze at the same time. You decide which of those two your patio needs more.