Back at the beginning of March I posted about the pergola I was planning to build. Well, I finished it tonight! Here's the original thread: http://www.diychatroom.com/f19/two-post-freestanding-pergola-173359/
I did end up going with much deeper holes, burying 4 feet of 12-foot posts. I used .60 pcf treated lumber for the posts. They came pre-stained brown, so they don't look that awful green color. All the rest of the wood is all-heart redwood.
I ended up not cutting notches in anything, instead going with the much simpler method of just double-diagonal-screwing the joints between the various 2x8s (a method I saw in a number of Youtube videos). The 2x2s on top are screwed in place with a single screw straight down at each joint. Each diagonal brace is held with a single lap screw to the post and two carriage bolts at the top. The beams that are flush with the post are held there with two 1/2" carriage bolts and a couple screws.
Now keeping in mind that I'll be growing grapes on this, does anyone have any suggestions on what, if anything, I should finish it with? All the wood is fairly rot/bug resistant so I don't know if it's super-urgent. Plus, it'll be difficult to re-finish it once the grapevines have grown in, so it would probably be a one-time thing. This is in the Los Angeles area, so sun will be a much bigger concern than wetness.
Pictures are included below. The darker one was taken at night, hence the weird coloration. The brighter one was take before I added the diagonal braces.
I did end up going with much deeper holes, burying 4 feet of 12-foot posts. I used .60 pcf treated lumber for the posts. They came pre-stained brown, so they don't look that awful green color. All the rest of the wood is all-heart redwood.
I ended up not cutting notches in anything, instead going with the much simpler method of just double-diagonal-screwing the joints between the various 2x8s (a method I saw in a number of Youtube videos). The 2x2s on top are screwed in place with a single screw straight down at each joint. Each diagonal brace is held with a single lap screw to the post and two carriage bolts at the top. The beams that are flush with the post are held there with two 1/2" carriage bolts and a couple screws.
Now keeping in mind that I'll be growing grapes on this, does anyone have any suggestions on what, if anything, I should finish it with? All the wood is fairly rot/bug resistant so I don't know if it's super-urgent. Plus, it'll be difficult to re-finish it once the grapevines have grown in, so it would probably be a one-time thing. This is in the Los Angeles area, so sun will be a much bigger concern than wetness.
Pictures are included below. The darker one was taken at night, hence the weird coloration. The brighter one was take before I added the diagonal braces.