Pergolas weren’t part of the original deck design, but we quickly realized that the city wouldn’t approve the construction without handrails on the higher levels of the deck. Instead of installing boring-and-exactly-what-you-would-expect railings along the top edges of the deck (blah! I wanted to retain the sleek and unobstructed look!), I thought it might be interesting to disguise the railings in a pergolas, delicately installed over the doorways.
We did some research. Some pergolas out there are admittedly a little more complex than my simple deck needed, or more than we could have afforded, but most seemed manageable from a DIY sense. We both agreed that if we had considered the pergolas sooner, we could have incorporated the posts into the actual deck construction, but in the end I’m OK with the way we installed this (each post is sitting in a little metal brace which is attached to the floorboards). Any future homeowner could easily (really easily) remove the pergola wholly and put up their own boring rail.
The best part of this one was that we used boards that were already cut to length – 8′ high posts, and 10′ long “girders”. The crossbeams at the top took a little longer to make because they were cut to fit snuggly like puzzle pieces to add strength to the structure. It’s all pressure-treated, and soon will be weatherproofed too (add to to-do’s… winter is coming fast). Beginning to end, including a trip to Home Depot, this project probably only took 6 hours.
Notice that stuff is missing? The siding is replaced soon so it was OK that it came down. The deck’s motion light is also removed right now (we had to lower it 3″ to accommodate the girder closest to the house). Oh, and the railing. I’m getting to it (add to to-do’s). Instead of traditional spindles, I was inspired by Peter Kirsch-Korff and want to try something like this, a clean horizontal rail.
What next? My friends own a great nursery outside of Ithaca, NY. I’d love to find a pretty arborvitae and some clematis to grow up the left side and over the top of the pergola. I also found some great hanging plant holders from Anthropologie (on clearance!) that I’ll probably hang in the spring. Also, very shortly there will be an accompanying pergola installed over the other part of the deck that’s raised. Stay tuned.
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Ok, so now I really, really want a pergola on the patio we haven’t made yet! Also, I laughed at “their own boring rail” part!
People’s differences in taste is astonishing… but I’ve grown to respect it, haha… I hope I don’t get sick when someday I drive back through the neighborhood and see that the whole deck has been stained bright green or rust red or copper orange.
Oh yeah, that would be an unpleasant discovery for sure! I try to respect people’s differences in taste, too, but seeing your deck like that would be a bit sickening!
How and what did you use to attached the post?
Did you have to take out a building permit for this project?
A few are tied into the joists of the deck, but for the rest I used metal post cups like these
In hindsight, I would have tied them all in to the original structure.
The deck as a whole had a permit, and the pergolas were a part of it only because I needed to have railings over the higher level.