How to Build Free Standing Pergola Kits
You can extend your season of outdoor enjoyment through the use of an outdoor structure such as a pergola. Pergolas are open-sided structures that have slatted roofs, which are made up of rafters. In addition to their use, pergolas are also pleasing to the eyes.
What You'll Need:
- Measuring tape
- Masonry line
- Stakes
- Rubber mallet
- T-square
- (4) 4 by 4 pressure treated boards
- (14) 2 by 4 pressure treated boards
- Post hole diggers
- Gravel
- Carpenter level
- Water hose
- Cement mix
- Wheelbarrow
- Shovel
- Rake
- Ladder
- Drill
- 1/2-inch drill bit
- (4) Carriage bolts
- (20) Hurricane clips
- Phillips-head screwdriver bit
- (60) Wood screws
- (9) 2 by 2 pressure treated boards
- (90) Nails
- Hammer
- Use measuring tape to measure out the first side of a square pergola and insert stakes into the ground using a rubber mallet, drive them just beyond the end points of the pergola wall. Tie a single string that extends between the stakes. You’ll need to repeat this process for the other three sides as well. At the location where each masonry line intersects its neighbor marks the location for your posts. Ensure that each line is at a perfect 90-degree angle from its neighbor. You can do so by checking the alignment with a T-square. If the two lines are not, you’ll need to reposition the stakes.
- Use measuring tape again to measure the length of your 4-by-4 posts and dig a hole that is ¼ this length in its depth. You’ll need to fill the hole with 2-inches of gravel and put the ends of the posts into the hole. Brace each of the posts with 1-by-4-inch boards so that they are upright and at a 90-degree angle to the ground. You can verify this with a carpenter's level.
- Mix the cement with water in a wheelbarrow and stir it with a rake until it is the consistency of a mud pie. Pour the cement from the wheelbarrow and into the post holes. You can tamp it with the rake to dislodge air bubbles that may be present. Five the post holes time to dry and cure, approximately 72 hours before removing the braces from the posts and inserting them back with the other 2-by-4 boards. Clean all your tools while the cement is still wet to easily clean them.
- Use a drill to drill a ½-inch hole that is crossways through the side of each post and is 2- inches from the top. Make sure that each hole is oriented the same direction and drill a matching set of holes in the ends of four 2-by-4 boards. Raise the two boards to the top of the posts across one side of the pergola and “sandwich” the posts between them. Position all the holes so that they are lined up on one end of the boards and one post and insert a carriage bolt through them. Bolt the carriage bolt into place. Repeat this process for the opposite end of the boards at the second post then repeat this process with two more boards as well as the other two posts. This will create the two pergola beams.
- Raise the 10 remaining 2-by-4 boards up to the top of the pergola beams and position them perpendicular to the beams. These will serve as the rafters of the pergolas. Ensure that they are spaced evenly along the pergola beams and stack each of them onto their sides. Connect them to the beams. You can use hurricane clips and wood screws to complete this step.
- Raise 2-by-2 boards to the top of the rafters and position them so that they are perpendicular to the rafters as well as parallel to the beams. Space each of the 2-by-2 boards evenly along the decking that was formed by the rafters. Secure the 2-by-2 boards by driving a nail all the way through the 2-by-2 then into the rafter that is beneath it.