You've done a fantastic job. Congratulations. Solo, or did you have some helpers to set it up? Dimensions - looks larger than ours. Enjoy.

Thanks.

I had help getting the posts and headers up. The rest has been solo pretty much.

The pad dimensions are 10'x16', the headers are 12' x 18' to give you the ideas of the dimensions.

You'll have nice shade for those ribs and an adult beverage! Sorry that you aren't getting more feedback on your accomplishment. When you get the barbecue area finished I suggest that you post photos on the Decorating Forum and you will get a tremendous response.

Did you build with cedar or douglass fir? Ours is cedar and I'm in the process of re-staining it after 3 years. I've used a white-pigmented, oil-based stain which shows dirt more than yours will.

Yours is twice the size of ours. Village here has "rules" on the size of structures limiting them to 150 sq. ft. Dumb - we have 3/4 acre and it took 9 years (and a change of administrators) to get approval for the corner overhang because they considered it too large.

The pergola looks great. Are those 2x12" boards on the long span? Are you concerned about sagging at all? Also, what size boards did you use on the top? I'm looking to build something of similar size. Just hoping to get another data point.

Well done.

They are 2x10" for the headers. Since they double headered, I'm not super worried about sagging. (famous last words :-) ) The design I copied used 2x8" boards over a 16' span with only a single header design, so I think it should be fine.

for the top, I used 2x4" rough cedar so the boards are almost exactly 2"x4" and I ripped them in half and matched them with a with the same rip cut from another board then screwed them down. The seam of the two stripping boards meet in the middle of a joist. I screwed them down at every other joist (overkill, but 2x2 boards like to warp). For the spacing between them I used a spare ripped board to ensure I was parallel to the other board. I went with 2" gaps, that is also probably overkill. But that is how I roll :-)

Really beautiful!
I'm starting to explore an attached pergola and was looking for pics. Your work looks very careful and well thought out. Enjoy this for many many years!
Christine

Great looking pergola. Very nice detail. My wife and I are planning a 12' x 20' pergola with 6 x 6 posts, using cedar also. Not looking forward to digging 36" holes for footers though.

Thanks, for the 20' length I would put a post in the center, that is a long run. I must admit that I'm amazed at how the post holders hold it in place without more ground points. I have looked at all the specs on it and know it is ok, but it still scares me.

For the 20' run, we dug three post holes. I take the 2-man auger back today. Now I need to find the proper Simpson base ties as Lowe's didn't have them. Did you use Simpson AB/ABU adjustable bases or the PBS/CBQ embedded in concrete bases?

I had the footers dug and poured when our pool decking was poured. The concrete contractor "forgot" to put in the bolts when it was poured. So I ended having to use retrofit anchors after the fact. Drilling 6" into concrete sucks. So get the bolts in when the footers are poured.

I then mounted Simpson bases onto those bolts. I went with the big 5/8" bolts.

The bases are rock solid and each bolt has an amazing about of force capacity. The top of the posts can be pushes and get some wiggle because there aren't framing walls. This concerned me at first but then I went to a number of free standing pergolas and all had some wiggle unless the posts were cement columns.