Adaptable Layout Pergolas

This article will show you how to use our P008 Pergolas Plan. It is by far the easiest to use pergola detail around. It is also adaptable to all the following arrangments of pergolas shown in the photos in this article.

The trouble with typical pergola plans and details for pergolas is they are predicated on square or rectangular layouts. Sure, rectangular pergolas are nice, however they are often not the kind of pergola layout we really envision.

What if the deck has a cut off corner? How do we develop plans for pergolas that just stop and start? Like this?

On these Pergolas we simply decided where we wanted to place the posts (in a pattern), with the supports not more than 10 or so feet apart.

Between the clustered supports we added a bench so that in the summer you can sit comfortably in the garden with a beautiful vantage of the entire yard.

These Pergolas were lit from below to give a nice ambiance at night.
Planter Pots were added within the pergolas to make them green.

We even made the pergola trelliswork into gates to allow easy access in a few spots.

Now, say you had a grape vine climbing on metal poles and wanted to do something a bit more decorative... say like the pergolas shown below.

With a very similar layout to the pergolas shown above, this one was built with 3 pods in a straight line. Angled rafters were placed to support this pergolas grape vines. This pergola bears on the masonary wall and the pergola posts.

This plan is the basis for all the photos shown in this blog entry.

Using this pergolas plan details you can create any number of layouts and of just about any size. You could do a 6' long and 2' wide pergola, it could be 12' x 12', and it could cover an L shaped area or even a football field.


Pergola Plan P008 will give you a material list, designer's notes, full size templates, details and notes on the trelliswork sample layouts and stain guide.

When you want to build a pergola on an existing patio or deck in a weekend-- this is the plan to use.