Where are my Fixer Upper fans? If you love the show it is probably because you love Joanna’s style, but likely also because you love Chip and Joanna together. We recently re-watched the episode where she shows Chip the Silos and he’s like “Oh, geesh, really?!” (Paraphrased a lot.) But then like 5 minutes later he’s figured out how to buy it for her and it’s so cute because he’s surprising her and you wish you were them and your voice has strangely gone up an octave and your asking your husband to buy you a silo, too…
Anyway, the point being: My husband is on par with that kind of awesomeness. I mean, he has never bought me a silo, but I just asked him he would and he unhesitatingly said yes. Never mind our bank account resoundingly responded “no!” It’s the thought that counts, right?
So I recently cooked up this wonderful, brilliant idea. I wanted to build a sort of modified pergola on our back patio. Only without actually having it rest on the paver stones (not a great idea, structurally), and without digging out for footings (a great idea, structurally.) The vision of what it could be was so clear in my mind. But, let’s be honest, it’s not like I could claim a need for a pergola. We have discussed building one, but really, this wasn’t necessarily the right time.
But, the vision! I was starting to obsess.
See, it’s things like this that lead people to wonder when my endless list of projects will ever end. Never.
Husband’s response was typical of our conversations on such topics. The first five minutes are spent raising eyebrows and uh-huhhing with just a hint of exasperation that wife is once again suggesting new projects while working on two dozen others. The hour after that is spent with him quizzing me about my design, determining technical details, and often adding his own ideas to the mix. That’s right, my husband is awesome.
Guys, we did it. And it is all that and a bag of chips.
*This post contains a few affiliate links for your convenience. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
***I have received a number of questions about the pergola since writing this post, and I have attempted to answer them all here.***
Materials and Tools
This is based off of the measurements for the pergola we built. You will need to make adjustments as needed for your space.
6 – 2x4x8s
6 – 2x4x10s
8 – joist hangers
2 – joist hangers
22 – 5-6″ bolts + nuts (calculate for the depth of the 2×4, siding, plywood, and then enough extra to drive well into the stud)
Stain – I used General Finishes Brown Mahogany Water Based Stain
You can complete this entire pergola with only a couple of tools!
Circular saw
Drill/Impact Driver
Cut list:
-The two boards braced to the house are 9 feet tall.
-The 45 degree arms measure 7 feet long, long point to long point.
-The four arms extending out from the house are 8 feet long
-The four crossbars on top are 113″ long
A necessary word:
As with any DIY project, please use all precautions and utilize safety gear. These are the steps we took to build our pergola, but I cannot assume any responsibility for your build. I also cannot give advice when it comes to weight capacity, how to attach the pergola to your house, etc.
If you want to know about the dining set, you can find that here:
And if you want to know about the chandelier, you can find a tutorial here:
How we built a pergola for under $200
Our back yard has a large paver patio. The portion of the house that it abuts to is tall and mostly bare. The only window is on the second story. Originally the home had a door where that window was, and an old deck. But that was before my husband purchased it, moved it from one city to another, and completely remodeled it. That left us with a wall of opportunity, as it were. A big, blank wall.
Step 1: Locate the studs
Our house has this shake/shingle siding, which really made the job easier. We also had the faintest marks about 10 or so feet up where the old deck had been screwed into the studs. If you are looking for studs through traditional long siding (hardiplank, etc.) your best bet is to go from the inside out. But obviously this is a pretty individual thing. Our house is Over 50 years old, which means it has 2×4 walls instead of 2×6. That also makes it easier to drill from the inside out to locate our mark. You can see in the photo where we pulled shingles to test where the studs were and to determine the positioning of the pergola supports. We were able to tack these back into place once we determined position.
Step 2: Secure the pergola supports
My design calls for the weight of the pergola to be sustained by the house itself rather than the pergola. The weight of a full pergola would be enough to crack paver stones, creating a potentially dangerous situation. Alternately we could dig out the pavers and create footings, which would be more than we wanted to do on this property.
I should add that we stained all of the boards before attaching them. Except the 45s. I don’t know why we didn’t do the 45s first. Something to do with timing.
Take a look at how gorgeous this color is. It’s Brown Mahogany water based stain by General Finishes. I love these stains and really cannot say enough about them.
Step 3: Determine the length of the 45 degree angle
Oh my gosh. Math. Guys, I was absolutely terrible at math in school. Since getting into remodeling and woodworking I have grown very comfortable with fractions. In fact lately I have started to pat myself on the back for getting over my fear of mathematics.
*Seriously, if you are not planning to do this yourself, skip the next three paragraphs and jump to step 4.
We had to figure out the hypotenuse of an isosceles triangle to determine the load bearing capacity of the upper supports. Fortunately where I am strong in basic accounting and, of late, fractions, my husband has retained a surprising degree of mathematical knowledge in regards to equations. What you need to do is use the pythagorean theorem, a2 + b2 = c2
Believe me, there is no one in this world more shocked that I am about to type this than I am. Basically, you will need to determine how far out your support needs to be to carry the top load. I will not even attempt to cover span calculations here, but recommend that you do some homework to determine that your structure is properly supported. We determined that our support should safely sit five feet out the 8 foot long “beam,” which in our case was a simple 2×4 rather than a heavier 2×6. I should note that we chose to construct the entire structure from 2x4s rather than the more common wider boards.
We further determined that we wanted the 45 degree board to start five feet down from the top of the support board against the house. That meant that a = 5 feet and b = 5 feet. Squared that is 25 + 25. The square root of 50, then, is 7.07 (thank you, Google). Our board would need to be seven feet long.
Step 4: Join the top supports and the 45 degree boards
Are you still with me? Let’s be honest, I would have skimmed all that if it were me. Or maybe I would slam my laptop closed and run way screaming “Math! Noooooooo!”
This step is best accomplished with three people. Or two very determined people I guess. We had to hold the 45 in place while also holding the top 2x4s and setting them in place. We set them with screws, then went back after everything was attached and bolted them in.
Step 5: Hang the cross supports
We added four 2x4s that span the top of the structure. Again, these are 2x4s so as not to add a lot of weight to the structure of the pergola. We used joist hangers to make the job easier.
Step 6, 7, and 8: Add cover, curtains, and accessories
There’s not much to it, is there? One day’s worth of work, and that with toddlers. Just look how beautiful that color is.
The cost at this point was only about $100. What doubled it for us was adding the rain covers. I should add that we did not consider snow loads when we built this. Here in the Pacific Northwest we don’t get snow very often. When we do it is called a “snow event,” which should tell you how often that happens. What we do get is rain, and it just wouldn’t make sense to go to the trouble of constructing a pergola without adding a rain cover. We used corrugated PVC roof panels.
For curtains we used electrical conduit, which we already had on hand and which I simply spray painted black. For curtains we used drop cloths. We strung cafe lights to add ambiance, and a diy chandelier really set the whole thing off. (I’ll cover that one later.)
My diy dining table and benches made from the remnants of our neighbor’s old fencing and our dilapidated hot tub wrap finished off the space. (Check back in on that one, too.)
Now, if that was a lot to read, you can see it all in 24 seconds here:
Here’s the finished project. My dream came to life very nicely, I think!
And here it is all lit up.
We LOVE how it came together. Having an outside dining area has really finished off our back yard. The ENTIRE project: Pergola, lights, curtains, chandelier, and dining set came to a grand total of $400.
Guys, $400. If you are interested in learning about how we did that with a full dining set as well, you can read about that process here.
Be sure to check out part two, The DIY Frugal Pergola: Your Questions Answered if you have any questions!
Thanks for reading, and happy building!
How cool is that! 😍 Thanks for sharing the idea 👍🏼🙂
Thank you, Marianne! I’m glad you like it!
I love the chandelier. Where did you find it?
I built it! The tutorial is on Remodelaholic: http://www.remodelaholic.com/make-outdoor-chandelier/
How did you build the chandelier?
The tutorial is here: http://www.remodelaholic.com/make-outdoor-chandelier/
Do you have a list of supplies and sizes of things anywhere- am I just missing it?
I didn’t include any specific sizes when I wrote this last year, because I assumed it would need to be customized to each setting. However, given it’s popularity I’m considering revisiting it very soon and will give specifics. Thanks!
I absolutely love this!!! I am going to keep all the information and make 2 Pergolas 1,in my front yard where I made a patio out of pavers last summer .and 1 on my back deck it is 20ft by 20 ft .I have an empty place by the sliding glass doors I think would look beautiful…thank you so much.
Sure thing! Please share a photo when you build it!
Do you have any siggestions for building this against a brick home? I would love to add this to my patio project.
Hi Michelle! To do this on a brick home you would need to use anchor bolts. I’ve not done it myself, so I would check with a masonry professional first. It also couldn’t hurt to reinforce the bolts with liquid nails adhesive. But then, I like to err on the side of caution. Good luck!
Hello Sarah, I am planning on building this on our front patio. I will be using 2×4 for the entire project as well. Could you provide details about the hardware you used? The support braces, sizes of bolts, etc. Thank you in advance!
Hi John! Yes, I am happy to do that. I have actually received so many requests that I am planning a better how to post with measurements and hardware sources and all. Hopefully in the next week. Thanks for asking, and please share a photo when you are done!
Love this! Might be perfect for over our back sliding door.
Do the PVC roof tiles secure to it? We are in the PNW too and I’m trying to figure out how to give us some outdoor space when it’s raining but not close us in when it’s nice!
Yes, they screw to the frame. There are specialty deck screws for it. They are usually located right next to the plastic roof panels in hardware stores. Best of luck!
Aloha, Love your attached pergola, very cool. I have a freestanding one, the 4 sided version, like everyone can get at your local store, metal. I’ve gone through 4 replacement covers, and have run out of finding them anymore. Do you have any idea of a way to put a new top on? Was thinking of the plastic corrugated panels you used initially, but don’t know how to attach them. My house is stucco, or I would consider attaching one like you did here. Thank you in advance.
Bummer on going through the covers! I simply screwed the plastic corrugated material to the wood frame with deck screws meant for the plastic material. For a metal frame, however, I would maybe pick up some u-shaped brackets that would fit around the metal of the pergola and bolt the covering material on that way. I hope that makes sense. I’m not sure how yours works, but that would be my first guess. Does that help?!
This is beautiful! Do you think it’s possible to add a swing to one of the cross supports at the top of the pergola or will it not be strong enough to support?
The structure is strong, but personally I would not put a swing on it. I would worry about the momentum wearing on the materials – bolts and what not – over time. It would look cool, though! You could certainly do a swing on a regular 4-legged pergola, and it would be gorgeous!
Ok, thank you for the help!
This is gorgeous!! What size corrugated plastic would I need? Thanks a bunch.
The panels we used were 2′ wide and 12′ long. They fit so well that we didn’t have to trim them down. We got them at Lowes. I hope that helps!
Very impressive build. Can you go into detail how you attached the curtains? I dont see how conduit helped. I zoomed in the pictures you posted but still didn’t get it😢
On another note. Would it be easier to build the entire thing before putting it up against the wall?
Sure thing! The conduit rests in some screw hooks that are simply screwed into the bottom of the outermost boards at the front and back, so the curtain can slide between. I seem to recall bending the hooks a bit more to make sure the rod didn’t fall out.
As far as building it first, I guess it depends on how many people you have to lift it in place. It’s a lightweight pergola, but that’s still a good deal of weight to hold in place.
This is amazing and exactly what I needed to inspire me. We have a raised floating deck and I’ve been trying to figure how to add a pergola without the weight resting ON the deck itself. We desperately need shade and rain protection for our back door. This will be perfect with just some minor modification. It has to fit under our overhang.
Awesome! Be sure to share a photo if you built one!
I love this! How do you think this would do with vinyl siding? And how do you go about screwing into siding like that?
It’s generally less about the siding and more about insuring that you are drilling into the studs. HOWEVER, vinyl siding will compress if it is bracing the 2×4 structure, and will likely cause damage.
I love the pergola idea! We also have a concrete patio and a metal shop I think would look very nice installed on!!
During last year’s snowstorm event I had taken my dog for a walk and when I returned our gazebo collapsed that’s what wet heavy snow will do here in the Pacific Northwest..
So I believe I’ve found the solution.. Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely! We have had it up both with and without a cover, and it has even taken a few snow loads with the cover on. It held up great!
Sarah,
When you were attaching the main supports on the back to the siding, did you remove the siding that the 2x4s would be sitting in so it sits flush on the house? Or did you just attach on top of the siding without removing anything?
Many thanks
WE went over the siding so as not to create “holes.” That said, we did remove a couple and then replace them to be sure we were drilling into studs.
Hello…Flash forward 3 years and we’re in quarantine. Or as I like to call it THE TWILIGHT ZONE. what an horrific time!
I have money saved up to redo the patio. Now I’m going to make do. So many need help I can’t spend the money frivolously. But I DO want some cover from our South Texas sun. Do you have any suggestions what I could put on top instead of white plastic to block the sun? Galvanized would get way too hot. I’m just taking a chance and tossing this out there. Don’t even know when I can get to store. Hope you are home and safe and healthy. 🌹