Pre-cut Pergola?

[Lt.Dan]

Hey y'all, has anyone used a pre-done Pergola from one of those big box stores and installed solar panels on the top? A quick search came up with a few that look pretty heavy duty.

Backyard Discovery 10 ft. x 12 ft. Traditional All Cedar Wood Outdoor Patio Pergola Shade Structure with Electric 6214com - The Home Depot

Provide a beautiful addition to your backyard or patio by selecting this stylish Cedar Pergola from Backyard Discovery. Suitable for outdoor usage.

www.homedepot.com

I just poured a new concrete slab in my backyard, and moved my hot-tub off the patio and onto the slab. A new Pergola with some more solar panels on top would be pretty sweet, but not looking to spend $4500 for the rack that Will just showcased on YouTube, just to cover my hot tub with.

It is in my backyard, and is backed into a corner with a high cinderblock wall, and not far from the house. I'm not expecting any winds hardly at all, and if anything I might match the height of the pergola to the block wall.

Thoughts?

@Will Prowse

 

[Lt.Dan]

Pic for reference:

 

[fuzzmunky415]

My Costco is running a deal on a big pergola right now..a seasonal.

https://www.costco.com/paragon-modena-aluminum-pergola.product.100486524.html

Get out your hammer drill and have some fun!

 

[Lt.Dan]

My Costco is running a deal on a big pergola right now..a seasonal.

https://www.costco.com/paragon-modena-aluminum-pergola.product.100486524.html

Get out your hammer drill and have some fun!

Im trying to stay away from the aluminum framed ones, they don't instill alot of confidence

 

[houseofancients]

Pic for reference:

View attachment 297947

Love the pup
Seems we have love for that breed in common too

 

[fatjay]

I have installed 3 costco pergolas for friends. Their quality is horrible, and while it'll probably hold a few panels, I wouldn't trust the structure itself to last 10 years. They'll never stand up to wind load which is why they're open top with cloth.

They don't say what they define as heavy gauge aluminum. 12ga? 18ga? Big difference. My shop joists are 12ga steel and I wouldn't trust them for a pergola.

My pergola is 1/4" steel and it's about as thin as I would go. And I engineered the hell out of it.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Love the pup
Seems we have love for that breed in common too

They definitely are special! They are always pretty amazing. This one in the picture just went through his 2nd surgery because he keeps EATING everything he finds on the ground.

I have installed 3 costco pergolas for friends. Their quality is horrible, and while it'll probably hold a few panels, I wouldn't trust the structure itself to last 10 years. They'll never stand up to wind load which is why they're open top with cloth.

They don't say what they define as heavy gauge aluminum. 12ga? 18ga? Big difference. My shop joists are 12ga steel and I wouldn't trust them for a pergola.

My pergola is 1/4" steel and it's about as thin as I would go. And I engineered the hell out of it.

Looks like you are also using 2" square tube? If I'm building it myself, I'd probably used 4", or 6", and be able to go down in wall thickness too.

I also have to think about when I sell the house, as I won't be here forever.

 

[chill633]

Tulare, CA

Wind​

The average daily wind speed in May has been around 9 km/h, that’s the equivalent to about 6 mph, or 5 knots. In recent years the maximum sustained wind speed has reached 54 km/h, that’s the equivalent of around 33 mph, or 29 knots.

That's about 150 pa of upward pressure. Most panels are rated minimally at 2400 pa. Congratulations! You live in a place naturally immune to wind turbines!

 

[fatjay]

I also have to think about when I sell the house, as I won't be here forever.

If I was in CA I wouldn't want to be there forever either

 

[SouthernSolar]

I just built a 12 by 20 foot pergola from pressure treated lumber. Rafters are 2x10 12 ft long, post are 6x6.

Material cost was around 1000.00

6 each 6x6 8 ft post
35each 2x10 12ft rafters
10 each 2x4 12 ft boards go across the top

Need about 50 strong tie screws and a box of 3 inch decking screws. The bases I got off Amazon and the came with hardware.

All the rafters and supports are uncut. I just cut the design into the rafter tails

The rafter tail design I used was simply cutting 45 , then I traced half circle with top of coffee can. Once I got it the way I wanted I made a cardboard template. You need a good jigsaw and about 5 hours to cut all rafter tails. Two guys can put it up in 8-12 hours.

 

[SouthernSolar]

Rafter tail close up. You can google rafter tail design and get a good idea of how you want yours to look. If you use pressure treated wood you need to wait a couple of months before staining

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Pic for reference:

View attachment 297947

Last spring I purchased the 6 x 12 large grill gazebo by backyard discovery. Our local Sam’s Club was running a special for $999 for that particular version.
I poured my own concrete pad and bolted the legs to the concrete. The structure is cedar, but has metal brackets, and the metal brackets can be attached to the concrete with tap cons.
It was very easy to assemble, with the help of a friend. I installed my own metal on the roof and re-purposed the metal roofing they sent with the package. The prepackaged metal didn’t allow enough overhang for my liking.
I did not turn the entire roof into a large solar collector. But I did use a small panel, a pwm controller, a 12v 100ah battery and a 500w inverter to give us power for some lights, a fan and any small accessories.
Well worth the investment.

 

[Osmethne]

I just built a 12 by 20 foot pergola from pressure treated lumber. Rafters are 2x10 12 ft long, post are 6x6.

Material cost was around 1000.00

6 each 6x6 8 ft post
35each 2x10 12ft rafters
10 each 2x4 12 ft boards go across the top

Need about 50 strong tie screws and a box of 3 inch decking screws. The bases I got off Amazon and the came with hardware.

All the rafters and supports are uncut. I just cut the design into the rafter tails

The rafter tail design I used was simply cutting 45 , then I traced half circle with top of coffee can. Once I got it the way I wanted I made a cardboard template. You need a good jigsaw and about 5 hours to cut all rafter tails. Two guys can put it up in 8-12 hours.

View attachment 298093

It looks beautiful. My only concern is that I think the posts should be notched at the top so that the beams are resting on the posts and are only using the lag bolts to make sure they doesn't slide off the posts.

 

[SouthernSolar]

Thanks, I agree putting the beams on top of the post or notch is much stronger for supporting vertical loads. Since there is no snow where I live the only load is the weight of the rafters and solar panels.

I was more worried about racking and putting the supports on the side of the posts helps. A notch like you suggest helps both, but I just was trying to keep it simple.

A notch would be better. If I was building a deck or something people walked on would 100 percent have the supports directly on the posts.

 

[chrisski]

I just built a 12 by 20 foot pergola from pressure treated lumber. Rafters are 2x10 12 ft long, post are 6x6.

Material cost was around 1000.00

6 each 6x6 8 ft post
35each 2x10 12ft rafters
10 each 2x4 12 ft boards go across the top

Need about 50 strong tie screws and a box of 3 inch decking screws. The bases I got off Amazon and the came with hardware.

All the rafters and supports are uncut. I just cut the design into the rafter tails

The rafter tail design I used was simply cutting 45 , then I traced half circle with top of coffee can. Once I got it the way I wanted I made a cardboard template. You need a good jigsaw and about 5 hours to cut all rafter tails. Two guys can put it up in 8-12 hours.

View attachment 298093

How is that connected to the concrete?

One of the things stopping me from building it is I'd want to drill into the concrete slab, dig down t feet and fill with concrete and j bolts.

 

[fatjay]

How is that connected to the concrete?

One of the things stopping me from building it is I'd want to drill into the concrete slab, dig down t feet and fill with concrete and j bolts.

Regardless of how you connect, you're going to want a footer. What I did was used my 8" gas auger and drilled down 40". I made the bottom as flat as I could. Then filled with concrete. 40" is overkill for my area but I wanted to be sure.

 

[BigGun]

When building with this modern treated lumber be prepared for it start to Rot by year 7. I'm in the process of repairing ours that I built almost 8 yrs ago.

The post and frame are OK, I used good rough cut treated from a place that sells better grade for bulk head type applications. For this area I used Stainless bolts and Hot Dipped gun nails.

For the slats on top I used Home Depot treated (mistake) That's where the problem comes in. Started noticing Rot at 6 yrs. The crazy part is these Deck Screws, they rotted worse than the wood. More than 75% of them broke off or were rotted through completely. I only used screws , because I knew the 2x4s would need to be replaced at some point.

There's a misconception about screws are better than nails. They're not, they shear off.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Wonder why that is. Last year I took down our fence I built so we could get tree trimming crew through. All the deck screws I removed were perfect 4 years in, I reused them to put it back together when they were done. My fence posts bolt onto galvanized ground screws so I could easily unbolt the posts to R&R if/when necessary instead of having to dig them up every time, which also made it easy to take part of the fence down for the project.

 

[Osmethne]

When building with this modern treated lumber be prepared for it start to Rot by year 7. I'm in the process of repairing ours that I built almost 8 yrs ago.

The post and frame are OK, I used good rough cut treated from a place that sells better grade for bulk head type applications. For this area I used Stainless bolts and Hot Dipped gun nails.

For the slats on top I used Home Depot treated (mistake) That's where the problem comes in. Started noticing Rot at 6 yrs. The crazy part is these Deck Screws, they rotted worse than the wood. More than 75% of them broke off or were rotted through completely. I only used screws , because I knew the 2x4s would need to be replaced at some point.

There's a misconception about screws are better than nails. They're not, they shear off.
View attachment 298592
View attachment 298589

When I did some research into pressure treated lumber a while back I recall reading that they used certain chemicals that are corrosive to certain metals, aluminum in particular. Also that pressure treated lumber has changed their formula around a decade or so ago so there's a few sets of rules about what sorts of fasteners will work.

 

[BigGun]

I'm looking at Stainless screws, but over the years of using them they have a tendency to snap easier. The crazy part with the rotted screws, I would of understood if it was the part in the better treated timber, not the HD treated 2x4s on top.

I used Hot Dipped ring shanked gun nails to frame my fence ( 14+ years old ) and Hot dipped siding gun nails in the cedar boards. The nails all are good, the boards are rotted on the tops and bottoms.