Diy Pergola

I cannot believe how easy this diy pergola was to build -- I thought it was going to be a nightmare but it actually turned out great! I am fairly handy when it comes to carpentry and basic home renovations, but I have never attempted something quite so large before.  So many of of the patio pergola ideas that we had been looking at were going to cost us an arm and a leg for a contractor to install, so I figured what the heck let me give this a try.  I thought that worst case scenario, we could call somebody to finish the job if it became more challenging than I had anticipated. I am thrilled to tell you that the project went really well, and I was able to complete it in just about a week (working on the weekend and in evenings).

Does anybody on here know how to create a diy pergola like this where the top is essentially a living roof?  After doing quite a bit of research, I have found a lot of simple pergola plans to construct the actual structure but I still am unsure how they got all of that greenery to grow up there.  Admittedly, I cannot tell if it is an extension of the tree or if it is vines (can anybody on here shed some light on that?) and I am sure that the answer will determine how I should begin filling in the roof area.  My second question is how greenery effects your pergola designs over time -- does it start to decay the wood or just it just get better and better over the years as the vines or branches or whatever take over?

For anybody with building expertise on here, I would love to know how feasible this photo would be as a diy pergola project? I am not a novice carpenter, but I have to admit that I have never built anything go this magnitude.  Based on some of the pergola design plans that I have already shown to our contractor, I know that this would be thousands of dollars to have somebody else build.  That is why I want to attempt it on my own.  I probably could not get as detailed on the columns (or who knows maybe I could pull it off with a router), but I am willing to make some design modifications in order to save some money.  It has been my wife's dream to have an outdoor pergola like this off of the kitchen and I want to deliver it to her by Mother's Day.

Most of my friends think that I am crazy to even consider trying to make a diy pergola in this design because it seems so large from the photos.  I was never one to shy away from a challenge though.  The bottom line is we need something more permanent and decorative than the fabric diy patio cover that we currently have, and I am definitely not spending ten thousand dollars to achieve it (thats what my contractor quoted me at).  Luckily my friend Josh is really good with building things and seems to have a good grasp on what is needed for the job.  Him and I have researched different types of pergola covers and what it takes to build each type, and I think that we are pretty well-equipped for the job.

if you have any reservations about building your own diy pergola, I have two words for you -- don't worry.  I was so surprised at how easy this project came together, even with my fairly limited carpentry experiences.  My wife and I really wanted to bring our outdoor patio designs to the next level both visually as well as in terms of functionality.  We wanted to add some decor to an otherwise boring brick patio and we also wanted to provide a shaded area that we could dine and just relax if it was drizzling out or just too sunny out to enjoy reading a book.  We had tossed around the idea of fabric pergola cover ideas, but I felt that it would only last for a few years and really wouldn't have the look that we wanted.

I am so proud of the diy pergola project that I just finished building in our backyard lounge area! Even though we decided not to do a full on roof on top of the thing, I thought that incorporating one of these cool modern pergola ideas back there would allow us to use that patio area a lot more because some of the sun would be blocked.  We talked to a few contractors and they quoted us a several thousand dollars to build the thing for us.  That was way over our budget so I said to myself that building a pergola could not possibly be that hard.  I will admit that I was a little bit scared that I would come to rue the day that I said those words but, after all is said and done, the project really was not that hard to complete.