The Memorial Day weekend provided three days of DIY for me. The pergola attached to the back of my house was in need of repairs. The posts were rotting through at the bottom, the white paint was peeling, and the clear corrugated roofing was growing more opaque and covered with moss and debris.
Removing old posts
One Zipcar truck and several trips to the lumber and hardware store provided the needed supplies to restore the pergola back to it’s former beauty. Here’s what was done:
- remove old polycarbonate roofing
- clean and scrape away peeling paint
- replace 2 posts with pressure treated lumber
- improve structure reinforcement using StrongTie post-to-floor, and post-to-beam brackets
- repaint entire pergola a new darker color
- install new Palruf polycarbonate clear roofing
New bracket and post
The process was fairly straightforward, but as with all DIY projects on an old house, there were a few snags along the way. Removing the old bolts from the posts was difficult (one bolt proved immovable and still remains). Also I underestimated the amount of roofing sheets needed by 3 and had to wait for a new shipment in order to finish the job.
Painting the entire structure took longer than expected, but the results were well worth the time. All in all, it looks new and improved the appearance in the backyard.
Before
After