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Wood Pergola Plans can help you save money over ready made kits while having fun doing it. They can come in any size and shape, from free standing pergolas, to attached pergolas, over the patio, or in the backyard. They may be built in a triangular, circular or more commonly rectangular shape. Wood is without a doubt the most appealing of materials as well as the most pliable.
Even if you are DIY novice, wood allows for mistakes and correction. The best woods for building a pergola, a deck or other outdoor structures are cedar and red wood. They are expensive to purchase to start with but they will pay themselves off over and over again often outliving their builder, if properly maintained.
Good wood pergola plans should provide simple yet accurate instructions even for the uninitiated. They are generally cheap and easy to implement, providing few basic criteria are met first. To start with, location is very important, as a pergola will have a dramatic visual effect on the whole garden landscape and house. Most importantly, you must be sure that the chosen site is free of underground utilities such as electric cables or gas and water pipes. Once sure, you can dig your holes up for the post foundations, rig up the main posts and find the right level with a simple water system (a bucket of water with a clear hose).
You may need the help of a buddy and/or renting few tools such as electric angle grinder, circular saw and drill. Nuts, bolts, nails and sandpaper are also on the agenda. All main beams, joists and rails should be cut and shaped with these tools following the wood pergola plans. To save time, do it while the cement foundations are setting into the post holes. Once found the right level and alignment, prop the main posts up temporarily and bolt the main beams to close the structure.
At this point you can remove the temporary rigging and start nailing the joists. The help of a buddy is always welcome to handle all the pieces, hold them up and lift them. The most common wood pergola plans are for free standing rectangular pergolas to be installed in the middle of the garden or backyard. For a very small investment, they can help you save $2000 to $3000 over ready made kits, depending on size. Consider that pergolas are not skyscrapers. On the contrary, they are relatively simple structure to build even for not technical people, making it very feasible to implement a DIY project and carry it to the end.
With a simple and accurate pergola design in your hand, you can have fun and have your own pergola done in as little as a week end. The only expensive investment is wood, which is better to be a high quality one for durability and weather resistance. You may also increase its toughness with a resin based wood stain to resist UVA and rain. A beautiful glossy stain further enhances the natural wood texture, making your pergola the center piece of your garden and increasing your property value as an extra bonus.
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