Covered Decks & Pergolas in Meridian, ID

Why do Meridian decks need shade so badly?

Because nothing else provides it. Most of Meridian was farm ground until the 1990s, and the subdivisions built since then have small trees that will take years to cast real shade. The Boise Air Terminal normals, the nearest long-record weather station, show a July average high of 92.7°F and about 55 days a year at 90°F or hotter. A west-facing deck with no cover in Lochsa Falls or Spurwing is unusable from mid-afternoon to sunset for most of the summer.

A solid cover or a pergola is the fix, and the choice between them comes down to how much shade you want, what the house can carry, and which permit path you want to take.

Which permit does a cover or pergola need in Meridian?

Meridian sorts shade structures by attachment and size. The city's accessory-structure handout is direct:

• Detached patio cover, pergola, arbor or gazebo of 200 square feet or less: no building permit.
• Detached shade structure over 200 square feet: Residential Patio Cover (R-PATIO) permit, and it must meet the required rear and side setbacks.
• Any structure attached to the house: the Building Official's memo treats it as an addition subject to all of the residential code, so it is permit work at any size.
• Lights, fans or heaters: the city's memo notes that any electrical work needs an electrical permit, separate from the building permit.

A cover built on a new deck usually means the deck and the cover are reviewed together. The Meridian deck permit page explains the deck side of the rules.

Can a detached pergola go anywhere in the back yard?

No, and this is where many Meridian plans change. A small detached pergola, 200 square feet or less, can sit in the required rear yard without a permit; the handout allows one accessory structure there. Once it goes over 200 square feet, it has to stay out of the required rear yard and side yard entirely. Meridian's diagrams show typical required rear yards of 12 or 15 feet and side yards of 5 feet, and the recorded plat for your lot has the exact lines.

On a typical production lot, that means a large freestanding pergola has to sit close to the house anyway, which is often the argument for building it as part of the deck. Easements matter too: typical rear easements are 10 feet, and structures built in them may have to be removed at the owner's expense if a utility needs access.

Attached cover versus freestanding

The house usually decides. On many two-story Meridian plans, the second-floor windows and the floor framing above the back slider leave limited room to attach a ledger and still get enough slope and headroom under the cover. On single-story homes, the eave is often low enough that a cover tied to the wall ends up with a flat pitch or a low front beam.

A freestanding cover with its own posts and beams beside the house avoids both problems and keeps the house wall intact, which matters on homes still under a builder warranty. It needs more footings, and those footings go to the 24-inch frost line and, on some lots, through a cemented hardpan; USDA descriptions of Ada County soils such as Pipeline put that layer 10 to 20 inches down. An attached cover can be the better choice when the wall framing allows a clean ledger and the HOA wants the cover to look like part of the house.

Solid cover, pergola or louvered roof: the trade-offs

• Open pergola: filtered shade, the lightest structure and the simplest HOA approval. It cuts glare but not much heat at 4 p.m. in July.
• Pergola with shade cloth or slats: more shade for little added structure. Wind is the weak point on open Meridian lots, so fabric needs to come down in storms.
• Solid cover: full shade and rain protection, and room for fans and lights. It carries snow load in winter, so posts, beams and footings are sized for it, and it is the most involved permit.
• Louvered aluminum roof: adjustable shade, usually from a manufacturer's engineered system. Costs more, and the HOA will want the color and profile.

For layouts and styles, see the covered deck ideas gallery. For published price ranges by cover type, see the covered deck cost guide.

What do Meridian HOAs want to see for a cover?

A match to the house. Many Meridian committees require a solid cover's roofing to match or complement the house shingles, the posts and beams to be painted or stained to house colors, and the height to stay below a stated limit. Pergolas usually clear review more easily because they read as landscaping. Third-party guidance puts HOA review at one to six weeks, so submit the cover drawings with the deck drawings rather than as a later request.

Wind, snow and the open Meridian lot

A cover is a sail. Open subdivisions with young trees and few windbreaks take the full force of storm gusts, so a cover's posts need hold-downs at the base and connectors at the beam, not just toenails. Snow is light in an average year, about 17.6 inches annually at the Boise station, but covers are designed for the code's ground snow load rather than an average winter. Meridian Building Services confirms the design values for each permit; on a cover over a hot tub or a deck with heavy furniture, the frame below needs to be sized for it too.

Planning a covered deck in Meridian

1. Decide where shade is needed and when: west sun, south sun, or both.
2. Pull the plat and mark the required rear yard, side yards and easements.
3. Choose attached or freestanding based on the wall, the windows and the eave height.
4. Size the deck's beams and footings for the cover, even if the cover comes later.
5. Submit the HOA packet with deck and cover drawings, then the building permit, plus an electrical permit for lights or fans.

If the deck itself is new, our Meridian composite deck page covers the decking. Comparing nearby towns? See covered decks in Boise. For costs specific to Meridian, read the Meridian deck cost guide, then request an estimate.