Who can build a pergola?

[blokeybloke]

If it was to be connected to existing patio or as an extension of your house I'd recommend getting a pro in because of knowing how to circumvent cold joints but you should be fine pouring the slab yourself off in an unconnected backyard corner.

Form a plank border ... sand then gravel a base coat ... reed bar & steel mesh/lath ... pour concrete(wear wellington boots & get in there moving it around) & roughly screed off with a plank a couple times(you'll need another guy on the opposite side dragging the other side of the plank in harmony with you). Then stroke surface with a wet long handled finish trowel

Ignore the hardcore(wood) base in the above pic. That's only to be used on really soft ground.

 

[sub_thug]

Just know what you're getting into. It's not going to be that technically difficult, but you're going to put some serious time and energy into this project. Good luck and have fun with it though.

 

[SMillard]

I'm thinking about putting something like this in a back corner in my backyard.
Is anyone savvy with building stuff like this?

I'm wanting to build it myself. But I've never done anything like pouring concrete and what not. Is it practical for someone to do that? Or is there too much stuff you need to be able to lay the concrete or brick floor?

thanks

pour the concrete for the footers/foundation for columns only, do the rest in pavers it will be a lot cheaper. If you do it all in concrete you are going to need to rent a mixer and you will be busting your ass to get it all mixed and poured before you have problems. If you do the concrete, don't cheap out on the reinforcing rebar.

The main issue is making sure your foundation is level, from their the measurements should be pretty simple. Once your columns are in place and level the rest should be pretty easy unless you are milling the beams yourself, then I hope you are good at wood work.

 

[TripLikeIDo]

You don't need a concrete slab for a pergola.

IMO, the best/easiest way for a newb like yourself to do it, is to use concrete piers for the corners (like sonotube), then put a form for a gravel foundation, and cover it with patio blocks or bricks like in your photo. You can cover over the sonotubes with stone fascia if you want it to look like your picture. That way, all you have to do as far as concrete goes is to dig the holes with a posthole digger (you can rent one if you're not a manly man) and mix your concrete in a wheelbarrow if you don't feel like hiring a truck to pour it.

 

[blokeybloke]

Buy your materials wholesale from a builders yard and have them drop a scoop(sand/gravel) into the bed of your truck. Buying pre-bagged product from Home Depot is nonsensical labor & financially wise for this kind of job.

By the time you figure out labor & cost of renting a concrete mixer you're really better of paying a local Concrete mixing company to come pump pour it in, whilst you and a friend screed it off.

 

[boss429]

Thanks for the tip.
I'll check youtube to see how practical this is for me to do.

I've never mixed or poured concrete.

What do you need concrete for? The base in that picture is interlocking bricks and those are rockboxes at the bottom of the posts, you build those with 2x4's and plywood then face them with decorative rock. As long as your ground is prepared properly so it stays level you can buy concrete post saddles and do the rest with the interlocking brick, no mixing required. The top of the pergola is quite simple to build for a competent DIYer.

 

[boss429]

You don't need a concrete slab for a pergola.

IMO, the best/easiest way for a newb like yourself to do it, is to use concrete piers for the corners (like sonotube), then put a form for a gravel foundation, and cover it with patio blocks or bricks like in your photo. You can cover over the sonotubes with stone fascia if you want it to look like your picture. That way, all you have to do as far as concrete goes is to dig the holes with a posthole digger (you can rent one if you're not a manly man) and mix your concrete in a wheelbarrow if you don't feel like hiring a truck to pour it.

He would need footings to use sauna tubes, more work than is necessary and the difficulty level increases.

 

[Scerpi]

You don't need a concrete slab for a pergola.

IMO, the best/easiest way for a newb like yourself to do it, is to use concrete piers for the corners (like sonotube), then put a form for a gravel foundation, and cover it with patio blocks or bricks like in your photo. You can cover over the sonotubes with stone fascia if you want it to look like your picture. That way, all you have to do as far as concrete goes is to dig the holes with a posthole digger (you can rent one if you're not a manly man) and mix your concrete in a wheelbarrow if you don't feel like hiring a truck to pour it.

This is the correct answer.

If you don't need the concrete supports to go above grade, then you don't need sonotube. Just dig the holes large enough to put the posts in and have extra space for the concrete.

To assist with leveling and squaring the support poles. Nail them together with temp 2x4's or use clamps until the concrete is placed. Don't worry about the support posts being the same height initially. Run them wild, higher than your desired elevation, then cut all to the same height afterwards.

When you place the concrete, mound the concrete toward the posts to facilitate drainage away. It doesn't need to be much, just don't make the concrete flat or sloping back towards the posts.

 

[weed]

would pergle

 

[D4wnee]

I'm thinking about putting something like this in a back corner in my backyard.
Is anyone savvy with building stuff like this?

I'm wanting to build it myself. But I've never done anything like pouring concrete and what not. Is it practical for someone to do that? Or is there too much stuff you need to be able to lay the concrete or brick floor?

thanks

Yes, I can tell you how to do the concrete and the brick pavers, it's actually fairly simple.
As far as laying the stone around the concrete piers you will definitely need to hire somebody for that.

PM me if you'd like

 

[MC Paul Barman]

If it was to be connected to existing patio or as an extension of your house I'd recommend getting a pro in because of knowing how to circumvent cold joints but you should be fine pouring the slab yourself off in an unconnected backyard corner.

Form a plank border ... sand then gravel a base coat ... reed bar & steel mesh/lath ... pour concrete(wear wellington boots & get in there moving it around) & roughly screed off with a plank a couple times(you'll need another guy on the opposite side dragging the other side of the plank in harmony with you). Then stroke surface with a wet long handled finish trowel

Ignore the hardcore(wood) base in the above pic. That's only to be used on really soft ground.

Thanks for the step by step on that.
Reading that.... I think it would be wise for me to use a pro.

 

[Scerpi]

Thanks for the step by step on that.
Reading that.... I think it would be wise for me to use a pro.

Especially if you want a half way decent finish on the concrete. It's an art.

 

[ralphc1]

Hey, cool stuff. I'm putting one in my backyard too, as well as replacing a lot of grass with stone and indigenous low-water plants. I recently finished the foundation and leveling that thing was a pain. Had to make a perimeter around it, then use a long board across the frame with plywood attached, to drag it across and level.

Now it looks like I have a Kumite ring back there and a ridiculous amount of fill dirt that I have no idea what to do with. I tried to give it away on craigslist, to save myself the trouble of transporting it. I had a middle-aged woman with a van show up, back it up to my fence, then literally shovel dirt into the back of her vehicle. Keep in mind, I said van, not truck, so this shit is literally just like on top of her seats that she folded down and filling up the entire back half of it.

I asked her why she needed all this dirt and she said that her dogs were digging holes in her backyard. My girlfriend asked her, "Well, if they're digging, shouldn't the dirt still be there, just moved"? We uh, we really didn't get a response to that.

Now I have slightly less fill dirt and some major trepidation towards telling anyone else on craigslist where I live.

It is rather strange but when dogs dig holes, there is never enough dirt to fill the hole back in.

 

[Kevin Rudd]

you are not going to be able to that job by yourself, you'll need some assistance unless you are one of the strongest fuckers alive who can hold up those beams by yourself whilst attaching them.

It is a 2 man job imo. The slab you could probably do by yourself.

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

Not too hard of a project, but you definitely need experience to be able to build one correctly and safely.

 

[BEER]

Concrete foundation would be the toughest part. The false brick "bases" [corners/legs] would be easier if you used standard brick, but even going for the "organic" look wouldn't be too tough to do yourself.

 

[deise69]

The base you can do yourself, there's enough info in the thread to cover it.

Apart from that, find a few friends who have tools or know how to finish the rest and provide free beer and bbq for their help. That way you get it done easier and saves having to rent or buy tools.

 

[blakethemus]

It is rather strange but when dogs dig holes, there is never enough dirt to fill the hole back in.

My kids rabbit digs holes and i can never fill them in with the available dirt. She must be eating some

 

[Kevin Rudd]

My kids rabbit digs wholes and i can never fill them in with the available dirt. She must be eating some

She never digs halves? What about quarters?