Questions to Ask When Building a Pergola or Pavilion
Custom Housewarmings Outdoor Pavilion With Custom HWO Outdoor Kitchen Islands Create a Perfect Outdoor Room
A pergola or pavilion is a great way to define your outdoor space and provides the perfect structure to extend your outdoor living season . Pergolas or pavilions provide shade and make a great gathering spot for entertaining family and friends. When combined with an outdoor grill island or an outdoor fireplace to create an outdoor room, they become an extension of your indoor living area.
Types of Construction Materials Used In Pergola and Pavilion Construction
Normally, when it comes to pergolas or pavilions you have two choices in construction materials. These are traditional wood or metal. If you select metal as your material of choice, there are many fine retailers locally that can assist you. At Housewarmings our focus is on traditional wood pergolas and pavilions, and we believe that we offer the best in the industry.
Installing a wood pergola or pavilion does represent a significant investment in both time and money. Our goal is to provide you with the highest quality product at the most affordable price.
There are a wide variety of pergola and pavilion kits available online and through other retailers. The quality of these kits ranges from excellent to very poor. There are many different options available on wood pergolas and pavilions, and the terminology used in the outdoor industry can sometimes be confusing. Many online retailers pull you in by showing you an extremely low price and then sometimes doubling that price with add-ons.
At Housewarmings, we take a different approach. We believe that our pergolas and pavilions are the best in the industry. We are proud of the fact that our products are made in our Lexington, KY plant using only locally sourced, premium western red cedar. Our kits include everything required to install your pergola or pavilion without a bunch of add-ons, and we encourage informed apples to apples price comparisons. The purpose of this article is to explain some of the terminology used in the industry and highlight some of the differences between our products and the competition. To keep things simple, we will focus on our Classic Rustic Pergola, but the questions and construction techniques discussed apply to all our pergola and pavilion kits. Below are some questions you should consider when shopping for your new wood pergola or pavilion.
What is the Difference Between a Pergola and a Pavilion?
Both pergolas and pavilions are outdoor structures that are usually open on all four sides. Pergolas have a roof that is open to the elements while a pavilion has a solid roof. These terms are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably depending on what part of the country you are from. It’s not uncommon to hear someone refer to a roofed pergola when talking about a pavilion.
Why Does the Type of Wood Matter ?
Many low-end pergola or pavilion kits available online use imported, pressure-treated wood. Pressure treatment is a process that forces preservatives into the pine wood to extend its life. The preservatives are designed to protect the wood from attack by wood ingesting insects (like termites) and wood rot caused by fungal decay. There are two major issues with these types of kits. First, the quality and type of wood is suspect on imported kits. These kits are typically mass produced, and you can never be one hundred percent certain what type of wood you will receive. The second issue is the pressure treatment process in general. During this process, wood is soaked under pressure in a liquid solution to force preservatives deep into the wood. Unfortunately, this also dramatically increases the moisture content of the wood.
You can check this out for yourself by visiting a local lumber yard and picking up both a treated and untreated piece of wood of similar size. The treated wood will be much heavier. The problem is that this moisture must go somewhere, and as it leaves the wood, it tends to cause warping and cracking. This is also why most paint and stain manufacturers recommend that you wait at least six months before painting or staining treated lumber.
Our kits use only premium grade, rough cut, red cedar sourced in the USA. Cedar is stronger than pine or fir and is naturally resistant to insects or rot making it much less likely to crack, split or warp over time.
Example of cracking and splitting common with treated lumber. This timber is less than a year old.
The photo above shows the cracking that can occur when the moisture leaves pressure treated timbers. This is a 6X6 timber that is less than 1 year old. Additionally, treated posts can also twist and warp to the point where they become structurally unsound and must be replaced. This is why we use only premium quality western red cedar in our structures and steel reinforced frames post-construction vs solids.
Housewarming Outdoors framed post construction. Premium western red cedar with full length zinc coated steel reinforcement rod designed to resist warping, twisting and cracking, creates a stronger, more ridged structure
What Are the Parts of a Housewarmings Outdoors Pergola?
The Housewarmings Outdoors Difference
What is the Difference Between Split Headers vs Solid Headers?
The header is the piece of lumber that connects the posts together. Typically, headers used in pergola or pavilion construction are 8 inches wide, although on some imported low-end kits you may see 6-inch headers. There are two methods of attaching the headers to the post. The first is the split beam method where a 2X8 is simply bolted on to the opposing faces of each post, using either carriage bolts or lag screws. This was the norm for many years and is still found today on most kits you will see online. While it may seem to be a secure method of attachment, the entire weight of the structure is carried on these bolts. Should they fail, the structure fails. Some cities have recently revised their building codes to restrict the use of these types of attachment joints.
Our kits use only solid 4X8 headers mounted on top of the posts and secured with a threaded steel rod that runs the entire length of the post and is anchored to the concrete foundation. This provides a much more secure joint with the weight of the structure distributed across all posts.
Split Beam Construction
Split Beam Construction - note: with carriage bolt attachment the full load weight is carried by 2 carriage bolts. Additionally, purlins are set at set 16 inches on center.
Solid Beam Construction
Post Height / Ground Clearance
Most pergola or pavilion kits come standard with 8-foot posts. However, with the kits that use split headers, you will lose 8 inches in height since the header is bolted directly to the face of the post. This means that you will only have a 7’4” clearance under the header. If you want a full 8 feet clearance under your header on these types of kits you will have to upgrade to longer posts. This upgrade usually runs between $60 and $80 per post.
Our kits are constructed so that the header sits on top of the 8-foot posts so that you have a full 8 feet from the ground to the bottom of the header beam.
Post Width
Many kits come standard with a 6x6 post. The typical up charge on competitive sites for upgrading from a 6X6 post to an 8X8 post is $300 per post.
Our kit comes standard with an 8X8.
Post Construction
Most kits use solid posts.
We use a framed post construction with a full-length zinc plated steel reinforcing rod that ties the entire structure together and anchors it to the ground.
We use the framed post construction because it is lighter, much less likely to crack, check, or warp over time, and if you should ever decide to move the structure it is much easier. The full-length steel rod also provides a much stronger connection to the ground than the typical base mounts used on solid posts. We believe that our framed post construction is just as strong as a solid post construction, provides better overall performance and a more secure ground connection in strong winds.
Competitors Post Attachment Method
Most competitors charge extra if you want post mounts to attach the pergola to your patio or deck. These typically run $60 per post.
Our pergola and pavilion kits come with all the hardware required to install as well as detailed installation manuals and videos.
Competitors Attachment Methods Posts secured at top with carriage bolts and at bottom with deck screws.
Housewarming Outdoors Post Attachment Methods
What are Purlin Beams / Purlin to Header Connections?
Purlin beams are the cross members that span between the headers. Typically, these are either 2X6 or 2X8 boards that are spaced 16 inches on center. This spacing, as well as the width of the boards, affects how much shade is created. Many of the low-end kits use 2X6 purlins that are set on top of the headers and are held in place using only screws. Better kits notch the purlins so they fit over the split beams to create a stronger header-to-beam connection joint. Additionally, better competitive kits offer 12 inches on center spacing but this is usually an upgrade that costs $200 - $800 depending on the size of the pergola.
Our pergola kits come standard with 2X8 purlins set at 12 inches on center. Additionally, we notch each purlin and the header it rests on to create an interlocking dado joint. The use of this type of joint is unique in the industry and is normally something that you would only see in fine furniture construction. This type of joint is time consuming to create but it tremendously increases the rigidity, durability, and overall strength of the structure. Given the precise nature of these joints, this would be something that would be challenging for even the best carpenter to duplicate onsite. It is also one of the reasons our kits can be installed in a couple of hours.
Why Are Sealer and Stain Important
Cedar is a very stable wood, however if left untreated you create more maintenance issues down the road. Most reputable manufacturers strongly recommend that you stain or seal your cedar pergola and offer this as an upgrade option. The price for this normally adds 12% to your purchase price.
At Housewarmings, we again take a different approach, our Pergola Kits already include sealer and stain in the price unless you specifically request that we exclude it.
What Other Options Do We Offer?
Our pergola and pavilion kits are built to order and our goal is to help bring your vision to life. We offer a wide variety of standard options on our kits, but if you want something completely custom we can help with that as well. Below are some of our most popular standard options.
Trellis Canopy
Our trellis canopy is a perfect choice if you like the feel of an open roof but want more shade. Notice that each purlin beam is notched individually to accept the trellis. This gives your pergola a more finished look and adds to the structural integrity of the structure. On many other kits the trellis is simply screwed to the top of the purlin without the notches.
Rustic Premium with Trellis Top
Stone Post Bases
Stone Post Bases are another popular option. They tend to give your outdoor structure a more substantial look and feel. Many clients electing this option also elect to add an Outdoor Kitchen Island and/or an Outdoor Fireplace using the same stone to create an cohesive Outdoor Room.
Factory Delivery and Setup
Factory Delivery and Setup is available within 200 miles of our Lexington, KY plant. This is far and away our most popular option. Our factory artisans will deliver your Pergola or Pavilion and install it on-site in less than a day. There are some caveats to this service, but if you’re interested please discuss with your design consultant.
What are the Differences Between Site Built and Factory Kits?
There are many fine builders out there that are more than capable of building you a great pergola or pavilion from scratch. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of people that will take your money and build your pergola or pavilion using questionable construction practices and materials. Our kits are built to order at our Lexington, KY plant using state of the art jigs and equipment and only premium grade, rough cut western red cedar. Each of our kits are assembled here at the plant to ensure proper fit and then disassembled and packaged for shipment or delivery. The result is more consistent and precise cuts, a better fit, and a stronger overall structure that is extremely easy to assemble in a couple of hours. Considering the cost of labor for a good carpenter and crew, our kits represent excellent value.
Highest Quality / Affordably Price
Simply put, Housewarmings Outdoors Pergola and Pavilions are the best in the industry. Our highly trained team of factory artisans produce pergolas and pavilions that are lighter and stronger than competitive products found online, and the precision of our joints and connections would be difficult for even a master carpenter to reproduce onsite.
