The pergola measures slightly less than 12 ft. wide x 13 ft. long, so I was able to cover the underside of the structure with one large sheet of shade fabric. If your pergola is wider than 12 ft ...

Pergola Plans: How to Build Your Own Pergola For me, though, a precut piece of sun fabric is a better alternative. You can buy it with varying degrees of sun-blocking performance.

Now that your pergola posts are up and trimmed, it’s time to fasten the three 6-by-6 crossbeams to them. At this point, you can remove the 2-by-4 braces from the posts.

Although pergolas have been around for thousands of years and are popular throughout the world, it almost seems like these garden structures were created specially for the South.

If in need of a quick shade fix to help with the summer heat, Grady Pace, owner of Sunset Decks and Pergolas says, “We can cut, build, stain, and assemble pergolas up to 16' x 20' on site and in ...