Monday, July 19, 2010

Shade!

 

In California heat it is necessary to have some shade. Our backyard has no trees, grass, or anything to speak of until recently. About 2 months ago a patio was poured for us and soon after we began to work on our shade structure or pergola.

This project involved several steps and several weeks. According to city code we couldn’t build the pergola off of the fascia so we got a little creative.

First, Mike bolted into the stucco a 20 ft long header. On the header Mike put brackets to hold the 2x6x10 boards.

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Second Mike placed the 4x4x8 poles into the brackets already in the patio. Once we had the poles, another header, and all those brackets installed we could begin putting the 2x6x10 boards in place. Of course, one must become good friends with the level.

 

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Finally, I had the joy of painting 10 2x6x10 boards and 40 2x4x10 boards. After they were all dry Mike could finally put it completely together. Below is the completed pergola!

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Now its done and we can enjoy a cooler patio and cooler house! It was finished just in time for some 100+ degree weather!