When planning any landscape remodeling project, a pergola is a quick way to beautify your home and outdoor space. While building a pergola, safety, stability, and security are the most important components to consider.
Additionally, you will need to pick the right furniture for your pergola in order to make it as functional as possible. If you intend to use your pergola for outdoor dining, you may need to choose an appropriate dining table (such as an extra large refectory dining table). As well, if you intend to spend time outdoors under a pergola, you can purchase chairs. It is possible that these requirements will arise after constructing a pergola. In light of that, let’s take a look at a few things you should keep in mind when building a pergola for the first time.
Step 1: Choose The Right Location
Pergolas are designed to stand alone from a house, so you can either place them right next to your house or leave them to stand alone in your garden. A wood chip or gravel floor would also work, or you might lay a concrete slab. This allows you to avoid bothering with shifting existing gutters or matching eaves by leaving them unattached.
Step 2: Determine The Pergola Column Centers
If you want to build a pergola near your house, you first need to measure the projection of your eaves. If you want the column centers to be placed precisely by the house but not too close, keep the pergola’s center posts at least seven inches away from the house.
Step 3: Pergola Attachment To Deck Surfaces
A deck properly built has enough strength to support a pergola. Every pergola pillar with 90-degree strap brackets could be attached to a wood surface. Make certain that you are screwing into the deck’s beams rather than the deck’s boards. If a beam is not available where you want a post, place a 2 x 6 flat under the deck planks, spanning many deck boards.
Step 4: Set Posts In Concrete
Concrete hammer set fasteners are simple to install and extremely robust. It is critical to ensure that the poured concrete has enough mass to support these fasteners. That said, if you are doing this by yourself, make sure to avoid any direct skin contact with construction materials like wet concrete. Wash off any concrete that comes in contact with your skin immediately. It is essential as concrete can harm your skin tissue if exposed for a longer period. This might be the reason why it is always recommended to use safety gloves like the ones available at Unigloves when attempting a construction project. With that in place, anchoring the post is as simple as hammer drilling the holes for the bolts, hammering the fasteners into position, and bolting down the post mounting brackets for the pergola.
Step 5: Don’t Attach To Paving Stone
Although it may be tempting, you should not fasten posts to paving stones. In the long run, a pergola anchored with paving stones will likely move due to unpredictable wind loads and seasonal changes.
Let West Hills Masonry Assist You With Your Home Renovation
The exterior of the home is just as essential as the interior and needs the same amount of attention, whether you own a property or wish to sell one to company’s like Ben Buys Indy Houses. Hills Masonry is here to assist you with building the pergola for your ideal outdoor deck.
Our number one goal at West Hills Masonry is to assist our customers in transforming their outside living space into the beautiful atmosphere they’ve always dreamed of. We love seeing the joy on our clients’ faces when a project is completed, and we can’t wait to do the same for you.
Contact West Hills Masonry today to receive a quote on your next landscape design project.
