Making a Bare Concrete Slab Usable in the Summer
A newly poured concrete pad is a solid foundation for an outdoor seating area, but on its own, it has a few practical limitations. Concrete absorbs a massive amount of heat throughout the day and tends to bounce harsh glare straight back through the adjacent windows.
Ashok had a large, completely exposed concrete patio right outside his sliding glass doors. To make the area comfortable enough to actually use during the day, he needed a substantial block of shade. However, attaching a heavy roof structure to a traditional brick exterior can often be complicated and invasive.
The workaround for this space was a 5 x 4 m Tasman Motorised Freestanding Louvre Roof.
Avoiding the brickwork
By choosing a freestanding frame, Ashok bypassed the need to drill structural brackets into the home's masonry. The four corner posts simply anchor directly down into the concrete slab. The back edge of the pergola is positioned completely flush against the brick wall, providing the exact same weather coverage over the doorway as a wall-mounted extension, but with a much more straightforward installation process.
Managing light over a deep patio
A 5 x 4 m footprint casts a massive shadow, which is exactly what a hot concrete patio needs. But a solid dark roof of that size sits right outside the main living area, which can sometimes make the interior of the house feel dim.
To balance the light, this setup uses a two-tone finish. The heavy outer frame is powder-coated black to match the home's window trims and sliding doors, grounding the structure visually. The motorised louvres, however, are finished in white. When they are angled open, the white blades reflect natural sunlight down onto the concrete and back into the house, keeping the deep patio feeling bright. When the weather turns, the motor seals the roof tight, keeping the zone outside the doors completely dry.
Have a concrete patio that gets too hot?
If you have a bare slab outside your back doors that sees too much sun, a freestanding louvre roof is a highly practical way to claim that space back from the weather.
Send us a photo of your patio and a few rough dimensions. We can help map out a size that covers the concrete without requiring complicated attachments to your house cladding.