Canopies, porticos & porte cochères

Railings finish a building. An entry structure re-frames it. Canopies, porticos, and porte cochères are true structures — with foundations, engineering, and a crane on set day — and nothing else we fabricate changes a facade as dramatically. The decorative-truss canopy we built for Clearview Chapel is a good example: it became the front of the building.

First, the vocabulary

An entry canopy is a roofed steel structure over a doorway or storefront — from a crisp cantilevered plate to a full decorative truss. A portico is its columned, residential cousin: posts, a frame, and a roof that gives the front door the prominence builders used to give it by default. A porte cochère (“coach door”) is the big sibling: a drive-through canopy tall and wide enough for a vehicle, sheltering the drop-off. You see them on estates, inns, churches — and increasingly on custom homes that want that arrival moment.

Why steel

• Slender profiles. Steel carries the same roof on a fraction of the column thickness. That's how you get the light, elegant look — thin posts, thin roof edge — that wood physically can't do at span.
• Span. A porte cochère needs to clear a driveway without a forest of posts. Steel makes 16–20 foot clear spans routine.
• Longevity. No rot, no termites, no sagging headers. Galvanized and powder coated, the frame outlasts the roof covering above it.
• Detail. Brackets, curved and trussed profiles, integrated gutters, ornamental infill — all fabrication work. Our home turf.

What drives the cost

• Size and span: a 6×8 ft entry portico and a 16×24 ft drive-through are different animals — the latter means engineered footings and heavier steel.
• Roof style: a simple shed or gable frame costs less than a curved profile, a decorative truss, or a hipped structure with a finished ceiling.
• Attachment: freestanding structures need four-plus footings; building-attached ones need careful tie-in to existing framing and flashing.
• Finish: exposed structural steel outdoors gets galvanizing, a duplex system, or a specified paint system. One-time cost; non-negotiable on structures.
• Permitting and engineering: these are structures, so expect stamped drawings and a building permit. Our in-house detailers produce the drawings package.

How the build goes

1. Site visit & concept. We photograph and measure the facade, talk proportions, and sketch options that fit the building's lines rather than fight them — the Clearview canopy started as an annotated hand elevation.
2. Engineering & drawings. Column loads, footing sizes, uplift and wind — resolved in the model, stamped, and permit-ready.
3. Footings. Concrete goes in and cures while steel is fabricated — the two tracks run in parallel.
4. Fabrication & finish. The frame is built and test-fit on our floor, then finished in-house.
5. Set day. Columns bolt to the footings, the roof frame is craned into place, and the structure is plumbed, bolted, and torqued. Most sets take a day.
6. Roofing & finish trades. Metal roofing, ceilings, lighting — by your trades or ours, coordinated off our drawings.