Home / AlumaWood Patio Covers
AlumaWood Patio Covers
Licensed General Contractor · Bonded & Insured · CSLB #1033958
Nothing to eat, nothing to rot
Aluminum
Termite proof and rot proof by construction
The finish
No repainting
Aluma-Shield baked on, with TEFLON
Permits
City by city
We check the rule for your address
Framing classification
C-5 licensed
Lic. #1033958 — family-owned since 2017
AlumaWood patio covers in San Diego County
Built once, then ignored
That is the entire appeal, and it is a good one. AlumaWood is extruded aluminum with a cedar-embossed texture and a baked-on Aluma-Shield finish. There is nothing in it for termites to eat and nothing to rot, the finish does not peel the way a brushed-on coat does, because it was baked into the aluminum instead, and a solid AlumaWood roof is waterproof without anyone adding a roofing membrane over it. You wash it occasionally. That is the maintenance schedule.
The honest part: from across the yard it reads as a wood structure, and from two feet away it reads as aluminum. The grain is embossed. If what you want is the weight and shadow of real timber, you want a wood cover and you should accept the refinishing that comes with it. If what you want is shade you barely have to think about, this is the better structure — and it is not a close call.
GC Framing is a licensed California framing and rough carpentry contractor (CA Lic. #1033958, B and C-5), family-owned in Chula Vista since 2017. AlumaWood arrives pre-cut with its hardware, which makes it faster and less labour-intensive than building a timber cover from scratch — but the footings, the attachment to your house and the spans are still structural carpentry, and that is the part we are here for.
Before anything else
The rules change at the city line
This catches almost everybody. Two identical covers, two neighbouring cities, completely different requirements — and it is worth knowing before you settle on a size.
What actually varies
We are deliberately not printing a square-footage figure here. Thresholds change, and a number that was right when this page was written is exactly how people end up paying a penalty.
What we do about it
If you would rather pull the permit yourself, that is fine — we will hand you the drawings and the specification for it.
Solid or lattice
How much sky you keep
The single decision that changes how the space feels — and how much light reaches the room behind it.
Fully covered
Worth remembering that full shade also means a darker room behind the cover. Stand in the space before you commit to solid.
Partially covered — lattice
Spacing and member size together decide how much shade you actually get, so this is a conversation rather than a checkbox.
How it is made
Six details that separate it from a carport kit
Aluminum patio covers are not all the same thing. These are the specifics worth asking any other bidder about.
Heavy header-beam construction
The beam carrying the front edge is the part that decides whether the structure looks substantial or flimsy, and whether it sags in ten years. AlumaWood’s header beam is built for real spans.
Aluma-Shield with TEFLON
A baked-on paint system containing TEFLON for long-term gloss retention. It resists scratches, corrosion and fading — and because it is baked on rather than brushed on, there is nothing to peel.
Cedar embossed texture
A genuine texture pressed into the aluminum, not a printed pattern, available in standard or plank appearance. It is what makes the structure read as a wood cover from any normal viewing distance.
Four end-cut styles
Beam and rafter ends can be finished four different ways. A small thing that does more than anything else to make the cover look designed for your house rather than ordered from a catalogue.
Patented Gutter Guard
Built into the system to stop debris building up in the structure’s gutters — which matters under a tree, and matters more when the gutter is fifteen feet up and nobody is going to clean it.
Matching-colour fasteners
Fasteners supplied in the colour of the cover. Unglamorous, and the difference between a finished structure and one with a grid of silver dots across every surface.
Colours & options
Seven colours, and the things worth adding
Pick the colour against your actual stucco or siding, in daylight — not on a screen.
Designer colours
Swatches above are approximations for screen only. We bring real samples to the walkthrough and hold them against the house, because beige is a surprisingly dangerous colour to choose from a monitor.
Options we add
Electrical is roughed in by us and wired by a licensed electrician. All of it is easier before the structure goes up than after.
How it goes in
Five steps, and it is quicker than timber
The system arrives pre-cut with its hardware, so the build is short. Where a permit is required, plan review is what sets the calendar.
Walk it & check the rules
Sun through the day, roofline, doors, setbacks and drainage — then the current permit requirement for your address and HOA, before any size is settled.
Configure & quote
Solid or lattice, insulated or not, colour, end-cut style, columns, lighting and fans. Written and itemized, with the system named, so you can compare it to anything else you are quoted.
Permit, if needed
Plans drawn, submitted, and carried through plan review and inspections. Where no permit is required we go straight to scheduling the build.
Footings & posts
Installs on a concrete slab or on dirt with footings poured as needed. Posts set plumb, ledger bolted and flashed into the house where it attaches — the structural part.
Assemble & finish
Header beam, rafters or panels, end cuts, fascia and gutters. Fans and lighting wired by a licensed electrician, site cleared, and a walk with you before the final invoice.
In every AlumaWood cover we install
Manufacturer system, structural install
AlumaWood vs a timber cover
Where it genuinely wins
Termite proof and rot proof, because there is nothing organic in it. Longer lasting, with a finish that is baked on rather than painted, so repainting is not part of owning it. Installs on a concrete slab or on dirt. More energy efficient, particularly with the insulated roof. And a solid roof that is waterproof without anyone adding a membrane. A manufacturer warranty is available on the system — ask us for the current terms. Where wood still wins is character: real grain, real depth, and large timbers that change the architecture. We build both, so we have no reason to talk you out of either.
Read the manufacturer’s brochure
Worth a look before the walkthrough — it shows the profiles, end cuts and configurations far better than any description does, and it covers carports as well as patio covers.
Common questions
What people ask before they call
Do I need a permit?
It depends on your city, more than you would think. San Diego applies a size exemption; Chula Vista and Coronado require one at any size. Your HOA may want its own approval. We check the current rule for your address rather than quoting a number that may have moved.
Will it keep rain off?
A solid roof will, and without a separate membrane. Add Maxx Panel and it cuts heat as well. A lattice cover is a shade structure — it breaks the sun but you will still get wet under it.
Does it really look like wood?
From across the yard, yes — the cedar texture is embossed into the aluminum, not printed on. From two feet away it looks like aluminum. That is the trade, and we would rather say it now.
What about a warranty?
A manufacturer warranty is available on the AlumaWood system. Terms change, so ask us for the current ones and we will get you the specifics rather than quoting something off an old page.
What will it cost?
Size, roof type, insulation, colour, columns, lighting, spans and how hard the site is to work in all move it. The walkthrough and written itemized quote are free, and the quote shows what each option adds.
Can you do a carport too?
Yes — the same system, doing a different job, and it is covered in the manufacturer’s brochure linked above. Same conversation about permits, spans and posts.
Where we work
The whole county, plus the mountain
Based in Chula Vista and installing AlumaWood covers across San Diego County — South Bay, the city, East County, and North County coastal and inland — plus Big Bear, where snow load changes the spans and the footings. Being local matters here: the permit rules genuinely differ between the cities on this list, and we work in all of them.
South Bay
Chula Vista · Bonita · National City · Imperial Beach · San Ysidro · Otay Mesa
City of San Diego
San Diego · Clairemont · Mira Mesa · Miramar
East County
La Mesa · Lemon Grove · El Cajon · Santee · Alpine · Poway
North County
Del Mar · Rancho Santa Fe · Encinitas · Cardiff by the Sea · Carlsbad · Oceanside · Vista · San Marcos · Escondido
Get a free estimate
Give us the address and the area
The address tells us the permit position, which sometimes changes the design before anything else does. Roughly how big an area, which direction it faces, and whether you want solid or lattice. We walk it, check the sun and the setbacks, bring real colour samples, and put it in writing at no cost.
Comparing AlumaWood against a timber cover, or against EliteWood? Say so and we will quote both, because that is a decision you should make on real numbers.