Anyone ever build a Pergola for their patio?

[Vigilant]

We built a pergola over our patio. We also put lattice on the top, which gives it a little more shade, but still lets some light creep through.

Or you get sun burnt in a diamond pattern?

 

[Ballistix]

I've built several and now with the cnc, I can do much more decorative stuff. If you are wanting shade, a pergola is open on top, just like an arbor.
I had someone that wanted more shade than a typical design offered, but also wanted the air flow. I designed a top that operated like blinds. Depending on the position of the sun, the slates could be tilted to block the direct sunlight, and still give the air flow and the outside feeling, rather than being under an awning feeling.

 

[Leo]

We have a couple dozen people with pergola's in my neighborhood. They are the open top variety, and at certain times of the day do not make shade. I have sipped lemonade under a few of them. Pretty nice. Unlike a canvas shade cover, they are easy to maintain.The only down side I can see is that they do not stop the deck furniture from getting covered with dew and rain.

The moving top design like ballistix describes sounds interesting.

 

[churchmouse]

if I tell you I'm allergic to cutting grass, will you come carpet my yard? If not, send your daughter to mow?

I asked her and she said %$#+*%$#@!*)(^ you.....

 

[KLB]

I was already drooling over that kitchen, and now you post this! My outdoor kitchen is a grill under an awning! That firepit area is similar to what i want to do, if i can ever get hubby on board.

I found a picture of the deck that was replaced with that. I thought, damn! Our deck looked like

 

[Bennettjh]

We tried it at my folks house... Went terrible. There may or may not have been a winch involved to "straighten" it up.

Long story short, cut it down with a chainsaw, traded some work with a professional builder. He did an excellent job. It's beautiful.

I've seen lovemachine's wood skills, I would bet you could do it.

 

[littletommy]

I built a pergola with one of the companies I work for. We used steel I beams mounted on top of 6x6 treated posts, then treated 2x10s for the actual structure. If you have some good woodworking machines, such as a nice bandsaw, cutting the scrolled ends of the 2x10s would be pretty easy, all we had was a handheld jigsaw, and it took two full days of nothing but cutting. We tried a wide variety of blades, but new treated lumber proved to be extremely hard to cut with the type of saw we had! All in all, the thing turned out great, the customer loved it, and they weren't expecting to get full shade from the thing. If it's full shade you want, take a look at Mason corporation, they make a very nice w pan, aluminum patio cover, I like em so much, I have two of them over the decks on the back of my house.

 

[amboy49]

Built two pergolas -one over the deck in front of my house and one over the back deck. I used treated lumber followed with stain in year two. Put lattice work over the top. There is a difference in lattice work thickness and the closeness of the lattice work density. The most dense latticework will not provide complete shade nor protection from rain but it will do a pretty good job of keeping the sun off you.

The back of our house faces west and the sun would not only make it uncomfortable to sit on our deck in the afternoon during hot summer days, it would also heat up the brick exterior and add to our air conditioning bill. The lattice work over the top of the pergola helped alleviate this issue. We also were able to use the pergola to hang retractable outdoor blinds which also makes it much more comfortable and provides privacy from our neighbors.

I have reasonable but not exceptional woodworking/carpentry skills. I do have a better than average woodworking shop - but mostly just used my mitre saw and jig saw. I rented a power post hole digger to dig the holes for the pole uprights. Construction was pretty much a large jig saw puzzle. Make certain that you check the plumb and squareness as you go along. A 4 foot spirit level is a big help. If you don't know how to check for squareness, do a quick interweb search on how to do that. (Hint - right triangle)

Wish that I could post a pic or two, but I've never mastered that talent on this site. You tube is your friend for ideas. I'd recommend putting up a pergola. They are a visual breakup of the outline of the house for a very reasonable cost. Additionally, I'm not certain why another poster questioned the longevity of a pergola. I've found mine to be relatively maintenance free and long lasting.

 

[lovemachine]

We tried it at my folks house... Went terrible. There may or may not have been a winch involved to "straighten" it up.

Long story short, cut it down with a chainsaw, traded some work with a professional builder. He did an excellent job. It's beautiful.

I've seen lovemachine's wood skills, I would bet you could do it.

Lovemachine's wood skills mostly involve covering up mistakes

 

[JettaKnight]

Lovemachine's wood skills mostly involve covering up mistakes

I see that yet again, we are similar.

To cover up my mistakes I had a massive wisteria climbing up and through my pergola. If you go that route, remember to seriously over-engineer it - those plants are heavy and strong.

 

[LongRangeBushy]

Sams Club in Kokomo has a kit for $895 Looked Pretty Nice All treated Cedar no cutting or measuring -- just bolt together or $1395 delivered and assembled.. Wife almost bought it but changed her mind at the last moment -- last weekend....

 

[amboy49]

Cedar is not a very strong building material - not sure of the size offered but I would think buying the wood and building yourself would be cheaper and more well constructed. I would question any pergola construction that just sets on the ground instead of having the upright poles set in concrete subsurface.

 

[stony]

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[Ballistix]

The irony... you are close enough that, at one time, I might have considered offering some assistance.

 

[chezuki]

 

[littletommy]

Yep. And in a pergola thread, no less.

 

[chezuki]

Yep. And in a pergola thread, no less.

Lol, classic INGO.

 

[Vigilant]

I asked her and she said %$#+*%$#@!*)(^ you.....

Tell her, "NOT NICE", I now need an INGO sanctioned Safe Space! Bonus points if said Safe Space has a pergola!