Richard Burbidge LC001 Apex Porch Canopy-1200mm

The quality of the wood is decent, easy to put together for a DIYer. With a bit of effort, you can make a great looking, sturdy canopy for a fraction of professional supply and fit. To minimise weight and ease of installation, I opted to use Tapco Slate (classic) tiles and ridge caps. Some project tips to improve your kerb appeal: Before fixing to the wall, I used 1 coat of wood preserver. Best not to skip this. Then used Cuprinol garden shades in white. Needed 5 coats, unfortunately, to start looking solid white. You won’t need as many coats for their darker colours. Maybe use a primer first, or another outdoor paint! As my walls are very old and crumbly, I used 4 resin bolts (also called anchors/studs/rods), by cutting up Fischer threaded rods into 15cm each. The M10 size were a good fit in the pre-drilled holes of the brackets. Then the Rawlplug R- KEM-II Resin to fix. Make sure the bolts don’t project too far out or you won’t be able to put the brown plastic bolt caps on the brackets! If installing on your own, put the brackets up first, then you can lift on the rest of the canopy and use the 4 screws to fix down. A second pair of hands is obviously safer. Used 24 slate tiles in plum colour. 4 ridge caps in plum. These matched our real slate roof tiles almost perfectly. Note only 20 tiles needed if you don’t opt for the dry verge (see below). The photos don’t show the 2 starter tiles hidden underneath the bottom tiles. 12mm thick plywood boards, you’ll need to cut 2 x 60cm by 90cm. Wish I had used 18mm thick as I then later discovered in the tile instructions. Ended up having to use 20mm (stainless steel) screws to avoid them popping out underneath. Draw a centre line 30cm from the edge so you can at least screw some tiles well into the centre rafter. As I saw some photos here of a black trim being used on the gable, I worked out it was the Tapco slate classic dry verge (2 metre length). I bought this afterwards (supplier had a branch near me ) as I preferred the look, but not necessary if you prefer the look of the tile edges. This does add a couple of inches to the projection of each roof side. The width (projection from wall) is 60cm, each tile is approx. 30cm, hence the need to cut slivers of tile to fill the extra gaps. The roof pitch is 30 degrees, I went slightly past the recommended tile “exposure” to avoid using another 4 tiles, so that the ridge caps would comfortably cover the tiles. Used 10cm wide flashband to seal tiles to wall, none of that lead and wall chasing faff, it’s a canopy…. Costs in addition to the canopy were approx. £130 for tiles, ridge caps and dry verge, Another £80-£90 or so for paint, flashing, fixings, plywood, etc. Will add a fascia to the side to tidy up in future, but I think it looks fine as it is. You can spray paint the brown plastic bolt caps if you don’t like the colour. And add hidden white led strip lights on the inside on a pir sensor, for that extra je ne sais quoi. Good luck!

Bought this, great product, except one of the uprights (the part bolted to the wall so load-bearing) had a dead knot across its width, thus compromising the strength. I sent photos, a new piece arrived in a couple of days, however the design had changed and the piece was different! Emailed again, had an apology and the correct piece was sent through again in a couple of days. No postage charges on my part. Very happy with the product. These days good customer service is so often lacking, when you meet with it it is a breath of fresh air. Based on my dealings with this company I would not hesitate to recommend them, for the product itself but especially for the efficient and friendly way my problems were dealt with.

Really like the quality and woodworking joints on this product. Proper mortise joints and everything fitted together so well. Great instructions gave us step by step guidance and made the whole assembly easy. Would definitely recommend this product and the finish has come out amazing.

Great easy to put together but you do need to buy your own screws/ nails/ bolts/ tiles/ felt etc.

Easily assembled and fitted. Had good compliments from neighbours.

A great canopy for a DIY job. Easy to follow instructions and quite an enjoyable project. Makes a real difference to the front door area. So many neighbours have stopped to complement to canopy. I used a good quality wood stain (prior to assembly)to protect the wood then painted with three coats of Cuprinol garden paint (after assembly) to give extra protection. Topped the roof with OSC board and ordered Tapco plastic roof tiles... All in all a great project.

Excellent product , clear instructions, just as advertised, would recommend.

Really like this Design and it was very easy to put together the only dislike for me was the bolt covers