Aluminium Verandas: 10 Things to Know Before You Buy

Buying an aluminium veranda is a structural decision, not a shopping one. Backed by more than a century of British metal fabrication, this guide walks South Wales homeowners through what actually matters, from permitted development limits and concealed post-drainage to the CAD survey checks that catch problems like boiler flues and patio falls before they cost you.

Aluminium verandas have become the go-to for that, permanent, sharp-looking, and they don't rot. We've added them to our range alongside the gates and railings we've always made. But before you sign anything, there are a few things worth knowing. We've worked with metal since 1919, so we've seen what lasts and what doesn't.

1. Aluminium is for life, not just for summer

Timber pergolas look lovely for the first year. Then the Welsh rain gets to work, wood warps, rots, and wants repainting every other spring. Steel's strong, but unless it's galvanised like our external staircases, it'll rust in time if it isn't looked after.

Aluminium doesn't rust. It shrugs off corrosion, which makes it about right for the British weather. The grade we use stays structurally sound for forty years and more. Fit it and forget it.

2. Planning permission, the reality

Most of the time you won't need it. Verandas usually sit under permitted development. But there are rules on height (generally under 3 metres) and how much of the garden you're covering.

If you're in a listed building or a conservation area, parts of Llandaff or Bristol, say, the rules shift. Have a quick word with your council, or check the Planning Portal for the permitted development rules. We'll give you the CAD drawings if they want detail. Don't skip it: fixing a planning mistake costs a lot more than a phone call.

3. Glass or polycarbonate, choose the roof carefully

This is where people try to save money, and it's usually the wrong place to do it.

• Polycarbonate is cheaper and lighter, but it's loud in the rain, really loud, and it clouds over the years.
• Glass (we use 8mm or 10mm toughened safety glass, and laminated 8.8mm or 10.8mm where extra strength or overhead safety calls for it) is quiet. You hear the rain, but you can still hold a conversation under it. It also lets far more light into the house, which matters when the veranda's off your kitchen or living room.

If you want something that feels premium and stays that way, go glass.

4. Drainage that actually works

A veranda is basically a big rain collector. If the drainage isn't built in, you get water sheeting off the front like a waterfall.

Ours has the guttering integrated, water runs into the front profile and down inside the support posts. Invisible, and it works. No ugly plastic downpipe bolted to the side, your patio stays dry, and the whole thing looks clean.

5. Why "in-house" matters

Plenty of companies sell verandas but don't fit them, they sub it out to whoever's free that week. We don't. We design it in the Newport workshop and our own fitters install it. That means if something's not right, you ring us and we sort it. Five generations in, we're not going anywhere.

6. The design stage earns its keep

You shouldn't have to imagine how it'll look. Lewys works it up in CAD so you can see exactly how the structure sits against the house before anything's made.

It's not just for show. It's how we get the measurements millimetre-right. We check the height of your doors, where the boiler flue comes out, the fall of the patio. Sort the problems on the screen and they don't turn up on your property.

7. Powder coating and colours

The aluminium is powder-coated, not painted. Dry powder is baked onto the metal at high heat, typically to a Qualicoat standard, which gives a hard finish that won't flake or peel. Anthracite grey (RAL 7016) is the popular one; it suits modern and traditional houses alike. But we can do almost any RAL colour, including matching it to your aluminium gates so it all looks of a piece.

8. Built for South Wales weather

We know the wind off the hills in Monmouthshire and the rain in Cardiff. Our verandas are engineered for UK wind and snow loads to the relevant BS EN structural standards, this isn't a flat-pack kit from a DIY shed. It's a structural installation. The wall fixings are heavy-duty and the post footings are solid, whether you're on an exposed slope or a sheltered suburban plot.

9. Site visits aren't optional

We don't give ballpark quotes down the phone and hope. Every house is different, patios aren't level, walls aren't always straight. We come out and take our own measurements, free, right across the patch from Cardiff to Bristol and up to Abergavenny. If a measurement's wrong, that's on us, and that takes the risk off you.

10. Built to last

We started in 1919, fifth generation now, and we've stayed in business by doing things properly. Verandas are a modern addition, but we treat them like everything else that leaves the yard, the same attention to the joints, the fixings and the finish we put into our security gates and structural balconies. Built to last a lifetime, not a few seasons.