What drives the price of a patio cover in Las Vegas

A patio cover is priced largely by its footprint. Every foot of width adds material in the beam and the roof, and past a certain span it adds a post and a footing. Two covers of the same style on the same street can differ in price because one runs the full width of the back wall and the other shades the seating area by the pool.

Measure the slab you actually use, not the one you have. On a valley tract lot that is often the width of the slider plus a table.

Lattice is the most economical: rafters and slats, no roof panel. Solid adds a continuous roof pan, which costs more in material and a little in labor. Insulated uses a foam-core panel that costs more again but spans further, so on a wide patio it can save a post, and it is the one that keeps August off you.

A combo, solid over the table and lattice over the rest, lands between the two and is the most common answer here.

The valley's wind load is higher than most places, and it is higher again in the northwest and on the edges of the city. The engineering for your address sets post spacing, footing depth and beam size, and that is on the permit drawings. Two identical covers in Henderson and Centennial Hills can carry different footings, and different prices, for that reason.

An attached cover ties into the house at the fascia and borrows its strength from the wall, so it needs fewer posts. A freestanding cover carries itself on four or more posts with footings under each. Freestanding costs more for the same size, but it can go where an attached cover cannot: over a pool deck, in the middle of a yard, or on a house with a low eave.

A fan, lights, a heater for the short winter or misters for the long summer need a circuit run inside the beam and roof, which is easiest and cheapest during the build. None of them is large on its own; together they can be the difference between two estimates that look the same on the first line.

An attached cover normally needs a permit from the county or the city, and nearly every valley tract needs an association approval. We include the drawings and the submissions in the price, and we say so on the estimate so you can compare like with like. A quote that leaves them out is not cheaper; it is incomplete.