Operation Pergola Restoration

For my birthday last year my awesome husband bought me a metal pergola, much like the kind you see at Lowes during the summer months. In its eleventh month of life it fell victim to a wind storm. "Pergola down, pergola down!" Our yard was in desperate need of the shade that it provided. So, operation pergola restoration began. The metal slats from the top of the injured pergola were still salvageable. Our challenge was to construct a base that was sturdy and securely anchored to the ground for the salvaged top to be fastened to.

  I found some pergola plans on ana-white.com that gave me an excellent starting point. Then I proceeded to modify them slightly to fit our needs. For starters, because we already have a cement patio to put the pergola on we followed the method shown in this video (www.ronhazelton.com) to anchor our posts. Then we bolted down the metal salvaged portion to the top of the posts.

Hammering on the cleats for the surrounds while Miss Meg supervises.

Built decorative post surrounds as per the anna-white.com plans

I decided to add some cedar fence pickets, mitered, to trim and finish off the bottom of the surrounds. Aren't they purdy? I'm quite proud of my little base surrounds.

 I originally used 2x4's for the top surrounds of the pergola but then added 2x6's to beef it up a little more. Then, cut a small arch and applied a decorative keystone piece. If I had to do it all over again I would've just cut to the chase and used a 2x10's for the top surrounds. I stained the entire pergola with Olympic brand semi-transparent stain in Tabacco.

We have a pergola once more, oh ya! I'm kinda glad the other one blew over.

P.S. whenever building anything my motto is "Glue it and screw it" to ensure it is good and sturdy. Bring on the WIND!