Attached Pergola Plans - How to Build

The best way to cool off a hot deck is to add a pergola. This style of pergola plans attached to your house or deck uses rafters and slats to cut down sunlight, which can transform an otherwise uncomfortable deck into a nice place to spend time.

NOTE: Windows© 98, XP, Vista only.

My favorite thing about this attached to house pergola plan is that you don't have to be a carpenter to build it. You won't need expensive tools or complicated joinery to learn how to bring all the pieces together. A circular saw, cordless drill, and jigsaw are enough to get the job done.

Adobe™ Flash™ slide shows take you through each step of the pergola project - with tips to help make building a pergola go smooth and easy..

Plans also include printable diagrams for close-up views of the joinery, plus full-size patterns for creating a decorative edge on the rafters.

Pergolas provide the ideal blend of shade and sunlight for outdoor decks and patios. Most plan designs are fairly simple to build, showing you how to use common hand tools and easy-to-find materials. If you build a pergola that attaches to the side of your house (above your deck) you'll avoid the some of the more daunting challenges that come with building a free-standing structure.

Pergolas date back to ancient Egypt, but their origins are more often associated with the early Renaissance gardens in Italy. Later their popularity spread to other parts of Europe, with pergolas showing up in gardens designed for the rich and noble classes. The pergola's function today is pretty much as it has always been - a structure designed to gently filter the heat of the sun and possibly provide something that plants can grow on (like grapes).

The architecture of a pergola can add a striking visual feature to your backyard - transforming a deck, garden, or back entrance to a home. A pergola's bold lines will play with the sun throughout the day, casting ever-changing shadows across your deck or patio. Another nice feature of a pergola is its trellis-like structure, wich is ideal for growing flowering vines - or any other type foliage that wouldn't normally want growing on the side of your house.

One of the first things to think about in building a pergola is whether the you'll attach it to your house, or build a free-standing structure. Both variations are reasonably easy to build for a DIY kind of person, but attaching it to your house will make the project much easier. If you prefer a free-standing pergola, you'll be facing a few more challenges in making the structure stand on its on, and that means more lumber, more hardware, and more planning.

Most of the pergola plans I'm looking at here are designed to attach to the back or your house or deck. In this case, the important piece of lumber is, of course, the piece that secures the pergola to the house. In most plans, this piece of wood is called the "ledger" (defined as a horizontal board fastened to the vertical uprights of a scaffold). If you can manage to mount the ledger securely and squarely to the side of your house, you've got the bigger part of the job tackeled.

The rest of the attached pergola plans is all about how to cut the posts, rafters, and the beams that support the rafters. Aside from a few optional add-ons, that's pretty much the extent of the project. Although it's tempting to cut all the pieces first before you start building (like you're putting together a kit), most experienced carpenters will cut pieces as they go - measuring and cutting each board only as they need it for a particular section of the project. This can save you a lot of ruined lumber and wasted time. of course, there will be plenty of opportunity to economize some of your cutting tasks by ganging up like boards that all need the same treatment (like the pergola rafters).