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Living in the desert has it’s pros and cons, just like any other place. Our temperatures here in the high desert of Southern California can easily range from the 20 degrees F all the way to around 115 degree F. That is quite the extreme range. The summer heat can be unbearable at times, especially when you want to be outside. There are a few things we do here to help us survive that heat, one being the swimming pool and another is shade.
We tend to spend the entire afternoon during the summer weekends in the swimming pool so that we don’t go stir-crazy in the house. Sometimes we even get tired of being in the pool all the time, but at least it is getting used, otherwise we may not keep it since it does require quite a bit of maintenance and I would rather do something else.
When we are not in the pool, the mornings are also pretty hot, especially if you are working in the yard. This is where shade is required. We have quite a few pine trees on our property along with other trees like the Palo Verde Tree, Arizona Ash, Mesquite Tree, and Desert Willow, just to name a few, that all help contribute to providing some kind of shade.
Sometimes trees aren’t enough to provide shade and you need to resort to some kind of structure. In this article, I will be sharing with you the wood pergola we built for our backyard. It is a pretty simple build that is affordable compared to one you would buy premade or one you would hire someone to build for you. We like simplicity and prefer to save money on purchases when we can and this pergola meets that criteria.
This structure is 12′ square by approximately 7′-6″ tall. The roof isn’t solid, but it has redwood privacy lattice to allow for some shade and plenty of air flow and is aesthetically pleasing. You can put a lot under this pergola, such as a picnic table like we did, maybe a BBQ, or load it up with plants! The uses are many.
Picking a Location
I have to say one thing before you start this project…check with your HOA, town, city, or county to make sure you are allowed to build something like this. Sometimes it isn’t a big deal, sometimes it is.
We put our pergola in the backyard a fair distance from the house and fire pit. Pick a location where you might use it the most, maybe where friends and family might hang out and visit the most when they are outside.
Consider the type base you want installed, such has concrete, brick, or gravel. Being a wood structure, I would recommend avoiding wet areas such as those in lawns. This pergola is designed to be installed in the ground, not on top of it. We chose this method because I wanted a nice sturdy foundation for it without having exposed post base attachments and trying to figure out how to properly square them up. If you want to install this on top of an existing concrete slab, you will need to change things up a tad.
Start the Foundation and Posts
Once the location is determined, you will need to get the area prepped for the foundation. Make sure your work area is cleared of debris and other obstacles.
Have you ever seen a foundation installed and noticed all these boards and stakes in the ground at the corners with string all over the place? This is a method of squaring up the foundation and getting things lined up correctly. You will be using a masons line and creating batter boards.
Remember when you were in school learning math, specifically the Pythagorean Theorem, and thought that you may never use this in your entire life? Well, here is a real life instance where you can use it and it comes in handy. If you don’t remember what the Pythagorean Theorem is, maybe this will ring a bell…a2+b2=c2, where a and b are the length of the sides of the triangle and c is the diagonal length of the triangle. For example, if you measure out side a as 3 feet and side b as 4 feet, the diagonal length c should equal 5 feet. (32+42=c2, which is 9+16=c2…25=c2…and the square root of 25 is 5).
So for a 12 foot square structure, you would have 122+122=c2. This would then be broken down to 144+144=c2. This then would be 288=c2. Side c would equal 16.97′, or approximately 16′-11 5/8″.
Do you need to remember all that? No, not really, but you should. There is a more simple cheat to this method. Just remember the sequence 3-4-5. 3 and 4 are the number of feet you measure out on your lines (a and b of the Pythagorean Theorem) to get the diagonal distance of 5 (diagonal c). This isn’t a very accurate method for longer distances, but there is also a solution to that issue. Just double each number for further distances…
- 3-4-5
- 6-8-10
- 9-12-15
- 12-16-20
- and so on.
This will get you close to square and then you can measure from one corner to the opposite corner diagonally and make sure each diagonal dimensions are the same. Just adjust the string lines on the batter boards until you have the diagonals the same.
If you want to learn more about the mason line and batter board setup, InspectAPedia has a good article showing how to properly do this. Check it out here.
When doing this, keep in mind that the posts will be inset 3 inches from each corner for this project. This is because we are using 12 foot long 2×8’s for the top frame, which is the 12 foot square portion, not 12 foot square at the posts.
Make sure the structure is as square as you can make it! Otherwise, installing the lattice will be a huge pain in the butt! Do the hard tedious work now so everything else from this point forward goes smoothly.
The holes were dug down to about 2 feet for the 10 foot long 4×6 posts. We chose to use douglas fir wood for this entire structure because it was more affordable. There are definitely better choices in wood that will last longer but we wanted to be cheap here.
Before installing the wood posts, we treated them with CopperCoat (paid link). It is a green wood preservative for wood that is used above or below ground. It was cheaper for us to go this route than to buy pressure treated lumber. What can I say? We bought the supplies for this during the COVID pandemic when wood prices were very high!
When you have the posts in place, you can support them with diagonal wood braces that are temporarily attached to the posts and staked into the ground so they don’t move. Brace them in at least two directions. Mix some concrete and cement these posts in place. Let them cure for at least one day so the posts don’t move on you when installing the top frame. Keep the braces on for a while.
How do you make the posts stand vertical? I use a post level that has bubble levels in two directions. It can attach to the wood post (or metal) and you can then hold the post in place while someone places the concrete or adds the braces. It is a very handy tool. Here is one that is similar to the one I have, but has three bubble levels: Kapro – 340 Postrite Post Level (Paid Link).
By the way, we did not bother making sure the tops of the posts were level. We leveled them up after the top perimeter frame is installed by cutting the tops of the posts off.
Framing the Top Frame
Once everything is secured in place, you can then start installing the top perimeter frame. Start from one side and work around.
The first board will go in at a height you choose. I recommend installing it a few inches below the top of the posts so that you can make sure the frame is level and then you can cut off the top of the posts when that is done.
We created a wood support bracket with a 2×4 and an over lapping 1×4 and an 1/8″ thin shim in between the two. This is held in place with a clamp on the post. This allows the wood header to rest in the bracket at a desired height and allows you to easily make height adjustments one side at a time.
To simplify things and make sure the top frame works out, we held each board up with one 3″ deck screw on each end, that way we can easily remove them if we needed to make any adjustments. When one side is installed and perfectly level, you can move onto the next adjacent side and repeat the steps until all sides are installed and meet up with the first board. That last board will show you how well you did on leveling all the boards.
Note: You will need to cut off 3 inches from two of the header boards in order to keep the structure square, preferably on two opposing sides. I would start with installing one of these shorter boards first since it will line up with the edges of the two posts. The longer boards will flush up with the shorter boards when installed.
We installed each header board with two 4 inch long x 1/4″ diameter hex head lag bolts with a washer. Some of them might have been 5″ long where the depth allowed for it, but it was what ever lag bolts we had on hand. Make sure the length does not go all the way through the header and post. Pre-drill these holes and use an impact drill if you have one to drive in the lag bolt.
Now that the perimeter headers are in place, you can install the middle supports. We used three 3″ long deck screws for these connections.
The last short middle support will need to be installed by driving the screws in from the side face of the board since the other board will be in the way. Simply predrill the holes and then screw in the screws.
When all center supports are installed, we cut off the top portions of the posts with a reciprocating saw.
Now you can remove the diagonal braces supporting the posts since the concrete should have had plenty of time to set by now, given that it has been a couple days.
Add a Finish to the Structure
Apply a finish of your choice to the structure. We went with a dark brown solid stain to match the trim of the house.
This is the point where we changed plans in the middle of the build. Originally we were going to install a shade cloth to the top of the structure but instead decided to go with red wood privacy lattice.
Because of this change, we installed 2×4’s at 24 inches on center. These will be used to attach the lattice. Each 2×4 is supported and held in place with a joist bracket that you can find at any Lowes or Home Depot.
Install the Lattice
Note: When choosing lattice for horizontal applications such as this roof, plastic lattice may not work as it will most likely sag. Most, if not all, plastic lattice manufacturer’s do not warrant their product for horizontal applications. This is why we chose wood lattice.
Before installing the lattice, I would recommend staining it with a clear stain to help protect it more than it would be left plain.
We had to buy six panels of lattice. Each are about 4 feet wide x 8 feet long. The joint needs to be down the middle support, so we had to cut off 2 feet from the length of each lattice. We used a skill saw and hoped that the lattice stayed in tacked. It did, for the most part. Just go slow and pay attention to the last part of the cut. This wood is brittle and is held together with small staples.
We installed the lattice with 1-1/4″ long deck screws at each corner and maybe 12″ on center along the perimeter and middle supports. Because the wood on the lattice can be brittle, pre-drill for the screws first to reduce the chance of the wood splitting.
Here we are, about one year later from finishing this build. We put in railroad ties and installed a gravel base, placed some plants and solar lights and a picnic table. We have really enjoyed this pergola.
Final Word
Now that it is done and we have had a chance to enjoy it, would there be anything we would change on this project? Maybe it would be how we applied the clear stain to the lattice. Joy took on that task and really hated it! It was very time consuming because she used a brush to apply the stain. If we sprayed it on, then there would be a lot of wasted stain from the over spray. We could probably roller it on, but we would still have to use a brush to get where the roller can’t get to. I think either way, this is a crumby task. Just expect that not all parts of this project are easy going.
Now go out and build yourself one of these and enjoy the shade and your new yard addition!
Rick Simper has various hobbies, including woodworking, metalworking, composting, and gardening. He is an Architect full time and uses these hobbies to get away from the busy week of Architecture.