100mm Oak Pergola with Braces

Putting together
 
4” pergola
 
2-3 person job
 
Ground preparation by hand 1-2 hours
 
Put together 1-2 hours
 
The first job is to decide how to fix the pergola. Either by digging 6 holes or by marking where the posts are going to sit.
 
We dug in the posts for the pergola. We started by marking roughly where the legs were going to be. We then dug out (I used a digger as we have very stony ground!!) 6 holes around the marks giving a bit of wriggle room to adjust the legs when it was put up. We went down 18” deep for the four inch post.
 
We would recommend having three people on hand to put together the pergola. We started by putting   together the first half of the pergola length ways on the ground. This meant fixing the rail to the three posts and braces. For this we had two members of staff. They slotted the posts into the rails with the braces and then pegged the joint. Each piece is labelled with a number. This corresponds to be the plan and says which numbered pieces goes into which piece. This was then sturdy enough for us to lift in place. It needed a third member of staff to lift into the holes. One on each leg. Once it was up, it was braced it with some timber strips and clamps. Two strips on both end posts at a 90 degree angle. This allowed for the posts to be let go and adjusted.   The post were adjusted using a level and a spade to make sure they were up straight. As one of the staff was over six foot he put the level on the rail to make sure the posts were all the same height, otherwise a small step may be required. This took a bit of digging to get the holes an even depth, but once they were square the posts were postcreted in. The second half was then put together as the first half and lifted into place. Before the second half was postcreted in they put the cross rails in place to ensure the distance is correct and then adjusted the second set of posts to ensure they were up straight and that the cross rails were level. Once everything was level the second set of posts was postcreted in place. The pergola was finished was a coat of Restol to give a added layer of protection and maintain the colour. This will need to be regularly re done to maintain the colour and the protection. The alternative option is to let it go grey. This is the natural weathering process and gives a protection of its own.