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Two-post freestanding pergola -- finished!

20K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Two Knots 
#1 ·
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.
 

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#2 ·
It looks great. Before the next years summer i hope to build one in my backyard. Here in the Netherlands the rain will be the main problem. How did you secure the posts in the ground? Did you put them in cement or something? And is it possible to post some pics of how you attached the beams to the posts? I tried to translate your post in dutch, but i got some very strange translations on the types of screws you used. Maybe a pic will make it clearer for me.

But my compliments on your pergola. It really is a beauty.
 
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