X post Home Improvement

My wife has convinced me to put a pergola over our concrete patio and because it's not a standard size, and because I consider myself handy, I was going to build it myself.

Some of you all have engineering and construction backgrounds and I clearly don't. I trust you all to tell me I am completely crazy or a rational DIYer.

Here are my specs:

4" concrete pad up against the house and 14' x 17'8". Eaves of the house are 9' off the concrete and roughly 2'6" wide. Attaching 6"x6" posts with Simpson Strongtie ABU66Z giving 6" birth from the edges of the pad and the eaves leaves the posts about 11'x16'8". Are those spans too wide? I had planned on putting some knee braces on long sides.

So 6x6 posts at 10' tall, sandwhiched by 2x10s on the longs (parallel to house) and 4x4 knee braces. Cantilever of 18" means I need four 2x10s at 20' for the girders, not flush but raised 2" above the top of the posts. This and the raised 1.5" base support would give me a clearance over the gutters of 5.5". Is that enough?

Then placing 2x8s rafters on 16" centers for a total of 15 would run perpendicular to the house. Do these need to have as long of cantilevers? I would rather not have to notch ever single rafter, can I toe screw them in and if I do is that one screw per girder alternating each side of rafter (4 total screws) or both sides of the rafter at each girder (8 total screws)?

Lastly some rafter stays. Are they needed and what size? 2x2 or 2x4? Same length as girders with 18" cantilevers?

All of this to be done with PT pine not from a box store. I should leave them out a month to dry before staining them, correct? Is there a suggested diameter for carriage bolts? If I countersink the head and nut then I am looking at 8" bolts on the girders and possibly the knees as well?

If I want an outdoor fan should I plan for an even number of rafters to center the fan? Would you put knees on the short sides as well? No there will never be a roof. Not attaching it to my 1950's fascia. Are my rafters to far apart from each other or need to be 2x10s like the girders?

What are your thoughts?

CactusThomas said:

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I can't answer any of your questions - so I'll pass on some advice. As with any DIY project, start by watching Red Green videos on YouTube.

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I remember watching those back in the early 90s. That guy was just like my grandpa but Canadian of course. Funny stuff.

That being said, any other comments from those of you with experience? Just looking to cover my bases. Will be ordering lumber this weekend. Any good way to dry PT pine without it splitting and warping badly, ie garage, under tent, up off the ground?

I am thinking about building one myself and was stressing over the best way to run the rafters to maximize shade until I found that people are now making canopies for pergolas. Something to consider anyway.

Here's one example:
http://www.aristocratawnings.com/canopies/residential.aspx

I planted grapevines at the base of mine and they covered it up.

Did yall notch your rafters, and how far apart did you end up placing them?

ntxVOL said:

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I am thinking about building one myself and was stressing over the best way to run the rafters to maximize shade until I found that people are now making canopies for pergolas. Something to consider anyway.

Here's one example:
http://www.aristocratawnings.com/canopies/residential.aspx

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I'm looking at a DIY pergola as well, and this is a cool idea that I've never seen before! After checking the website, they do not recommend that it stay extended during anything more than a light rain and that water shouldn't collect on it while extended.

Josepi said:

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Irish_Man said:

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I planted grapevines at the base of mine and they covered it up.

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I talked to a guy who did this, and he said that after the vines filled in, tons of roaches took up residence in the vines. He said it wasn't uncommon for a roach to drop down on someone sitting under the pergola.

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Haven't had that issue
Our biggest issue is once the grapes are good, the mockingbirds will eat them all in about one day. Those birds are annoying.

as I always tell contractors, send in sketches or markups with your questions!

Check with your HOA first

I have relatively closely spaced cedar 2x2's on top the main 2x8's. It's always shaded and has a good look to it.

So the first is a sketch I made. I used 6"x6" cedar posts. Then I used 2"x*8 and 2"x10" for everything else. the cross braces were 2"x8"s I cut in half. All of my wood was from a mill and I learned the hard way that wood from a mill comes in the dimensions you order. Meaning a 6x6 is actually 6x6 and not 5.5x5.5. This screwed me on my simpson tie downs. I had to notch the 6x6 to make them fit. Other than that my wife found the canopy material online. It is SPF and provides a ton of shade. I did notch the 6x6s so that the 2x10s sit on the posts, then bolted them with 2 carriage bolts. I do believe your span of 16' may work, but I am no contractor. It was much easier to deal with 8' sections. You might think about adding another post if you can.

I did not let my rafters go above the gutters as you can see in my sketch. I left a 6" air gap, which is not noticeable, except to me.

for the rafter connections I did not notch. That would have taken me months and I would have screwed something up. So I just used 10" SDS screws and screwed them from the inside of the 2x10 out and up into the rafter. One SDS per end. So two per rafter.

One other note. I did have one warped simpson tie down and it made the post wobble. I would have tightened it more, but I didn't realize until i had already put the post up and nailed it in.. This fixed itself once I placed the cross braces up.

Anyways, I am not expert and more or less free handed all this... Feel free to comment on my poor build or ask questions.

How did you anchor the simpsons? About how this is your slab?

I used red head sleeve anchors to connect the tie downs. My slab is thick, maybe 8" at a minimum.

In this picture, if you zoom in you can see that the slab is thick.



Also, I didn't use bolts to connect the posts to the simpson tie down. I went with the nails instead of the botls.

Great work! What'd the lumber cost direct from the mill?
Noticed a few intersecting contrails in the blue sky above in your pics.... Are you near a VOR?

it was around $2,000 for all of the wood.

I am west of Austin, so maybe because of Bergstrom..?