Do they make real shade or just make you wish you had paid extra for a real awning?

They look "cute" but what happens when it rains or it's 105 at high noon?

Pergolas are nice, but they don’t stop rain. Run your slats north/south for optimum shade. If you want to stop rain, install polygal on top of pergola.

I will go inside

Roller22 has joined the conversation

Don’t get them. Do a roof so you have shade and can cook in the rain or whatever else. If you have a covered porch/cooking area and want to waste money on pergola then go ahead! Lol

Most of us are men, we "fix things"! ;/)

I cover them with steel or shaded polycarbonate sheets.

I think they're dumb and will never have one!

If you decide to install one would you please blog it.

They are dumb

I think they are dumb and will never have one.

But I might buy an inflatable hot tub, so take that for what it's worth.

My parents had one and they put a large plant pot next to each leg and planted some kind of climbing vine. Pretty quickly it was completely covered, so it provided good shade and from the outside you couldn't see much of the structure. A lot of lizards lived in it.

They look good but not a great shade structure. Also need to be stained (mine does) every 3-5 years which is a pain

There sole purpose is for Hot Chicks to sunbath under. So, if you have access to the aforementioned then no they are not stupid.

Dumb

I carved mine out of a single piece of driftwood.

I bought a pergola kit, modified it for the slope, and added a roof.

Looks good, chickenman. If anybody needs one built, Roller22 is your man. He does mighty fine work.

Palatial

Look's nice, but man, that's a lot of wood to maintain.

Blue tarps are my go to.

Better than nothing, not as good as a real patio cover.

They are like the incomplete project. Why would you go through all that work and NOT put a roof on it? If you like it then you should have put a roof on it. Oh Oh Oh...

Had one in Australia. We had a green mess material on the top and halfway down the sides.

I would build another one.

They would be more useful if the top was like venetian blinds.

You better patent that idea, sounds like a winner!

too late...

We have one that extends covered patio area over hot tub. It was really just to tie everything together with pool. The provide more shade than you would think.

That's what I did. The previous owners had used that cheap white plastic material for the roof. I removed it and replaced it with steel siding.

Agreed on both

Yes

New word of the day for me……….now I know what a pergola is.

Dumb

I have never spoken with one, so...

When we built our back deck at our "lake" house 15 years ago we made about 1/3 of it with a pergola roof. This year we enclosed it to a solid roof. We never used the pergola portion of the deck. Mostly sun here in Texas was just too strong. Now that it has a full roof, we use it was much as the rest of the deck.

There like fishing with a zebco 202

All this talk of pergolas REALLY has be wanting one. It would be a great place to store my inflatable hot tub. I'm thinking I'll go solid top so the rain has to come in at me sideways when I'm sitting in the tub.

Anything else I should plan on including to have the ultimate pergola? Maybe some large ash trays on the corner posts? I don't smoke but I might start one day and I want to be prepared.

Wait.... scratch that. No corner posts. How about I just sink two T-posts in about a foot or two and have the whole roof balanced perfectly on just the two posts? I can have the ash trays hanging off of one side to balance out the roof which will be hanging off the other way.

This is going to be an engineering marvel. I'm off tomorrow so I'll get the holes dug and keep you guys posted.

J

Chickenman could fit a blowup hot tub for each of his kids in his pergola. That is impressive

Truly sounds like the 8th wonder of the world in the making. A swinging upholstered couch would be the crown jewel of that project

I've seen a few nice ones that had wisteria growing and blooming, most end up rotting pos.

Don't forget the disco ball and bug zapper.

this one is ok

Totally agree with you Otay. But then I think why build something you need to fix? That is not only dumb, but a waste of money & time. Just build something that provides cover & protection from the elements like Team Skeeterless said.

They help define an outdoor space. Also, with a retractable Sunbrella shade, and a nice fire pit, they can almost be used year-round

Easy way to give the feeling of more living space.

Pergola makes your deck small, roof makes your deck big. Got it

fixed it

this
they are art
that provides shade
& an interesting place to sit
98% of the time you can use them

i built one in 1991
it has vines
it is still there

When I was 14 years old and had no concept of trees belonging to someone a few of my friends and I went half a mile into the woods at the end of the neighborhood and built a cabin. We used axes to cut down pine trees, notched the trees, and stacked them. It was 12' x 20'. It was still there for years after I went off to college. My friends' younger brothers found it and thought we were gods or architects, like we had built the pyramids.

The one thing we didn't do, at least from the beginning, was put a roof on it. We couldn't figure that out. After a while we went to a nearby lumber yard, got some 2 x 8s, and carried them down the railroad tracks to our cabin where we covered half of it. We slept up there most of the time when we camped out. Unfortunately if it rained more than a little bit we still got wet.

Basically, we built a pergola, but I was 14 when I did it. I wouldn't do it again. Now I know how to get a roof on something and protect us from the elements.

So basically, you are an eco-terrorist?

I see him more as an aspiring lumberjack, like the guy in this little diddy.

Pergola-The origin of the word Pergola comes from the Late Latin pergula which means underestimated wood order. Often substituted for partially done roof over patios.

Yep, I'm not a fan of a roof that has holes in it. If you sunbathe under one you will look like a zebra.

Pergolas serve a purpose for the homeowner. If you want one and have the money to add the structure, it is a nice addition in which to sit. It truthfully lowers the temp by 10-12 degrees. I have personally tested that. It will not keep out rain but I'm starting to cover more and more pergolas. You can notice that in the pics below. Another addition is privacy screens out of slatted cedar.

They have some new polygal out that's standing seam. The first pic shows the new standing seam polygal.

Roller 22 ! You’re a wood slingin fool! Those are beautiful.

The wind channel openings of a pergola appear to be more tornado proof than gazebos as they don’t have an enclosed roof to act like a sail in 80+mph straight line winds and circling nader forces.

Are gazebos stupid?

Dumber than pergolas.

It's funny you say that because I lost my covered pergola at my old home in Justin when a tornado hopped over us about 15 years ago. Took my polycarbonate roof off my pergola and deposited it into my front yard. The rafters were still attached to the roofing, it ripped the rafters off the headers and they were screwed down. That's when I realized the toughness and durability of that polycarbonate roofing.

My uncovered pergola wasn't phased.

But what if the roof is perfectly balanced with cantilevered 40 lb glass ash trays? I just have to figure out what height to counteract the sail in 80 mph winds.





Just to not be ghey, I was thinking about installing a bidet somewhere off the back. Thoughts?

Can you hang a 350 short block on the front of that?

That is pretty nice looking there Jackson. Instead of bidets, just run the pressure washer out there.

The guy dug twelve foot deep holes for the posts and I thought it was excessive but I guess it is a pretty large sail in the wind.

Now I just need Steez to hang some 15" subs off the front edge and point them due south to keep ol' George on his toes back there. I've never been into gangster rap but I might try it a spell just to jack with ol George.

Seriously though..... I bought a couple of those fake rocks with speakers in them three years ago when we built and the same speakers are TWICE THE PRICE for the same fake rocks. I'm wondering if the blonde would notice some thrown together fake, fake rocks that sound like hell if I grabbed a few of the water meter rock-looking covers the city gives you and strap a 6X9 to it.

I’ve always thought they were stupid and pointless mudshark

Got you marked down lil Joe.

I miss the Old Grey Wolf

Agree with Lil Joe. Mark me down.

Point noted. Got you marked down!

I guess I do to, They took a hard left when he retired. The mothership is on dry dock now

Roller builds some awesome stuff!

^^^^^ All day long what he said.... ^^^^^

i like that
i don't think the front would do too good in a snow storm

yes those are great
its art

These two in particular. What would the ballpark cost be?

You should get the Rogers Rate.

Depends on post size?

The first pic covered with "R" panel is right at $36/sqft.

The second pic is covered with SunTuf polycarbonate and is right at $32/sqft.

The second pic does have 8 inch post which will increase the cost to more than the $32/sqft. but a 6 inch post would work just as well in that application and save you a few hundred dollars.

I will say my overall cost have increased by 20-25% since July last year and it is strictly material. I haven't raised my labor cost so I can try and stay competitive with my pricing. Something will have to give is fuel cost continues to rise.

I want a covered outdoor patio. My wife complained and said that would block out all the natural light. I suggested a pergola. She said pergolas are stupid.

Here is a traditional 12x24 with SunTuf roofing. I built it in 2018 for $7000. With todays cedar prices it would cost $9200.