my new project, (havent got a clue though where to start)

[rottie007]

we have a dead area behind our shed

which I want to put a pergola on, now im all very well at designing things and seeing them in my minds eye but when it comes to actually doing stuff I can get stuck..

here is the idea for what I want as set out in CAD..

but where it is due to go is simply soil, do I need to build a retaining wall if we want this raised up? I did debate deckingthe underneath but and slinging some joists across form the posts on some sort of bearers but decking isnt exactly cheap... and we already have the slabs courtesy of a neoghbour who took up a patio, we also have a fair quantity of hardcore we need to lose..

help !!!

 

[pantsmachine]

I put a pergola up a couple/few months ago. 1st thing, stay away from all the chain stores, go straight to your nearest sawmill and price timber there. No reason why you can't sink the vertical posts into the ground and concrete in place.

Got to do a sample dig first and don't stop till you hit hard ground. That way you know how long your posts have to be. Mind and bell the post holes out at the bottom of the hole to give a serious anchor and stop lateral movement. Hope you are going to joint the horizontal timbers so you can get maximumn strength into the frame. I don't know the correct joiner phrase for it but you cut a knock out the timber the same size and half the depth of the timber and then lay it across and screw it into place. Seriously stong and your frame won't move anywhere. Oh aye, use outdoor treated coachbolts to fix it together. Good luck n that.

 

[rottie007]

digging down to anything other than soil in our garden is a nightmare, your talking well over a metre I dont have a set of spoon shovels so will struggle a bit with that to be honest...
I do want a concrete patio underneath so surely if the patio base meets the post concrete it will join it together??
we have decided it will be at ground level now so no retaining wall will be needed, although looking online it seems to say you can lay a patio on just hardcore and mortar?? 5-1 mix about 5 cms thick? surely this would break up over time being so thick?
anyways we have started digging it out to a depth of 6 inches, seems a good starting point it will only ever have a table and chairs on it so figure 3 inches hardcore/3 concrete then the slabs should be ok ??

did debate using those metapost things to fix the perg up but they look awful..

we do indeed have a local wood mill and as far as I have heard their wood is as fair as their prices...

 

[pantsmachine]

To be honest i don't have enough groundworks experience on depths to give you a definitive answer but from the slabbing, fencing etc i have done(its a fair bit and its all still standing or lying down depending on its original purpose). All i know is 'go till its solid'. I suppose if you go down a couple of foot and flair out the bottom of the hole you would get a good enough anchor. The pergolas self supporting(kind of) once the reast of it is up. Have to go some to rip 2 foot concreted posts out the ground at four seperate points. Heck if the wind blows that strong i'd be worried about other things and not a Pergola!

I would suggest that you factor in the hire of a petrol powered compactor to compact the hard core and keep compacting it. If you can get that stable you can then lay your slabs. If 6 inch depth is what you are happy to go to i would be getting the max amount of compacted hardcore in that i could, say 5" deep compacted at least twice and then a 1" mortar bed to lay the slabs into. Keep in mind you need to get a stable base to lay your patio on to so the deeper you go with the hardcore to ensure a stable base the better your chances of no worries down the road(within reason of course).

 

[Symptoms]

rottie - I built a pergola 25 years ago and set the posts in BROWN metposts (not the red ones) ... all very discrete! The thing is still standing ... solid as ever. So I suggest you drive the mets in, then lay the slabs. My paths are edged in stable cobbles with red gravel infill; the path has a series of shallow steps out the otherside of the pergola leading to the rest of the garden. I used slates on the roof and the 4 hips have 1¼" wood rolls nailed on then these were dressed in lead. By the way, the bright light showing at the pergola is the morning sunshine.

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• Symptoms
• 22 Mar 2009
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• 22 Mar 2009
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• 22 Mar 2009
• 1

 

[rottie007]

thats an awfully smart pergola !!!!!! wow!

 

[Thermo]

ill post some pics of some weve done on some jobs and a guid to how we did them. its all pretty simple stuff. Ill try and do it tomorrow when i have a bit more time