Alumawood Patio Covers in Bakersfield, CA
Alumawood is embossed aluminium made to read as painted wood. It is the default patio cover in the San Joaquin Valley for one reason: it does not rot, warp or need refinishing in a climate that runs 100 degrees from the end of May to the middle of September.
Attached aluminium-style coverThe material argument is settled here. What is not settled is the span and the insulation.
Covered outdoor roomAluminium sheds heat rather than storing it, which matters when the average July high is 98.3 degrees. It also does not check or split the way timber does after a decade of 3,320.8 hours of annual sunshine.
The trade-off is stiffness. Aluminium pans span less than a timber beam of the same depth, so wide covers need more posts or a heavier beam. That is where the price moves, not in the colour.
Bakersfield plan check applies a 10 psf live load and an 85 mph design wind to patio covers, from the City's own patio cover handout. An Alumawood system has to be specified to meet that, not simply ordered by the square foot.
Three things worth asking about
Why it wins here
No refinishing, no rot, and it stays cooler underfoot than a dark timber structure.
Where it costs more
Clear span. Removing a post is the single biggest driver on an aluminium system.
What plan check wants
A system specified to 10 psf live load and 85 mph wind, not a generic catalogue page.
Alumawood patio cover pricing
Installed planning range for the Bakersfield market. The calculator separates the structure from the extras and shows the permit as its own line.
The permit is a separate charge set by the City of Bakersfield or Kern County. No current fee schedule for this work is published here, because the only schedule that could be verified was a proposed one. Ask the department for the figure that applies today.
Before the material, settle the permit
Whichever cover you choose, the same rules apply: Bakersfield adopted the 2025 California Building Code including Appendix I, which is the patio cover appendix, and the 2025 California Residential Code, the structure is designed to a 10 psf live load and an 85 mph design wind, and the openness threshold decides whether you have built a patio cover or an enclosure.
Alumawood Patio Covers in Bakersfield
Does an Alumawood patio cover need a permit in Bakersfield?
Yes. Bakersfield adopted the 2025 California Building Code including Appendix I, which is the patio cover appendix, and the 2025 California Residential Code including Appendix I, the patio cover appendix, under Bakersfield Municipal Code 15.05.010. The 120 square foot exemption in the state code applies only to detached accessory structures, and Kern County reads it as covering tool sheds and playhouses rather than patio covers. Confirm with the Building Division at 1715 Chester Avenue on (661) 326-3720.
Is Alumawood actually cooler than wood?
It reflects more than it absorbs and it does not hold heat the way a dark timber beam does. An insulated panel is cooler again, because it puts foam between you and the sun rather than a single skin of metal.
How wide can it span without a post?
That depends on the pan or beam specified, and it is the question worth asking first. The City applies a 10 psf live load and an 85 mph design wind, so the span has to be justified rather than assumed.
Does it fade?
Factory finishes are durable but nothing is permanent under 3,320.8 hours of sun a year. Ask what the finish warranty actually covers and for how long.
What does it cost in Bakersfield?
Planning ranges run about $28 to $48 per square foot installed, with most work near $38. Span and whether the roof is insulated move it more than anything else.
The other cover types
Lattice Patio Covers
Lattice gives partial shade. In Bakersfield that distinction is not academic.
$22 to $40 per sq ft →03Solid Patio Covers
Solid covers turn a shade question into a drainage question.
$30 to $52 per sq ft →04Insulated Patio Covers
Shade is not the same as cool. A single-skin roof shades you and then radiates at you.
$38 to $68 per sq ft →05Louvered & Motorised Pergolas
You are buying a mechanism, and mechanisms are the part that fails.
$75 to $150 per sq ft →