Pergola plans are, in fact, hard to come by. Several reputable companies offer pergola plans and how-to guides at very reasonable prices.
Craftsmanship, skill and an excellent detailed plan are all essential to a good pergola design. Let’s face it, building your pergola from pergola plans will save you up to 80% over hiring a contractor. And a pergola isn’t that difficult to construct yourself, even if you’ve never done it before. All you need are good pergola plans.
So why even consider building your own pergola? Building contractors are turning such a quick buck from erecting pergolas, they just don’t have the financial carrot proffered to induce them to lower their prices. Any good pergola build guide will list all the materials to purchase, how to go about dealing with suppliers, the tools required for the job, detailed plans and building methods. To give you some idea of costs, the materials I required for my own pergola amounted to a grand total of $376. How much do you think three pergola contractors quoted me for the exact same job?
Wood Pergola Plans – How to Build a Wood Pergola With the Help of a Plan
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. 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. Good wood pergola plans should provide simple yet accurate instructions even for the uninitiated. 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).
All main beams, joists and rails should be cut and shaped with these tools following the wood pergola plans. The most common wood pergola plans are for free standing rectangular pergolas to be installed in the middle of the garden or backyard. 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.
DIY Pergola Plans – Basic Instructions For a DIY Pergola Project
It is easy to build your own pergola with the help of simple DIY pergola plans. In order to build a pergola you need an idea of the position and shape of your future pergola.
A clear cut, simple and modern design implies an uncomplicated building process, making the whole project easy to implement and finish off. DIY pergola plans give you just the blueprint to build a pergola, so you need to choose in advance which materials you are going to use and which tools you need for the construction.
For this article we will stick to quality woods such as red wood or cedar, but pergolas can also be built with vinyl or aluminium. Wood is the most appealing of the materials, can easily be cut, sanded and shaped and easily forgives mistakes.
Cedar and red wood pergolas can be built untreated, as these woods are naturally very tough and weather resistance, however for extra gloss and weather protection a good resin based stain is advisable. A wood pergola is usually built free standing in the garden, making a DIY project very simple to implement.
