Perfect for outdoor living

Press, 23 February 1989, Page 30

Perfect for outdoor living

BUILDING

with

Bill Harrison

Summer’s buzzword, melanoma, has sent all but the most ardent sunlovers in search of sun-block, sun-hats or shade. This growing awareness of the sun’s harmful effects may see a blossoming of shade structures around our homes and gardens.

To achieve maximum use and enjoyment a well-planned outdoorliving space will have at least a small portion of shade area. A pergola, a structure of posts and beams, traditionally supporting vines, but now more often covered with opaque plastic sheets will provide permanent shade and some wind protection. Pergola, in dictionary terms, is an arbour or covered walk formed by growing plants trained over a trellis. Pergola in common usage describes most beam structures projecting from a house over a terrace or deck. Pergolas, in a truer sense of the word, once popular as a landscape feature erected over driveways, have now all but disappeared. Many were built of untreated timbers with only a paint protection. When plant growth prevented easy repainting, the structure was allowed to deteriorate until removal was the best if not the only option. Many pergolatype structures attached to houses suffered the same fate. However not all projections of a house’s roof line can be correctly described as pergolas. Many today are clever design tricks to add interest or balance to an otherwise austere design. The materials available to pergola builders today have greatly extended the life expectancy of such outdoor structures. With the selection of treated or imported timbers, galvanised fixings and protective oilstains to work with, the maintenance requirements of the structures can be reduced to a minimum.

Space and budget considerations will impose the real design limitations on most pergola builders. Careful design of the pergola will be crucial. A welldrawn plan will not

only assist in obtaining a building permit and estimating the cost of the job, but will also give everyone some idea of what the finished job may look like. A pergola that has an overhead roof structure will need a building permit. You will need to supply your local authority with a site plan showing distances of the structure from boundaries, a section of the building showing sizes and positions of materials and the stormwater system.

Unless your pergola is being attached to and supported by another building consideration must be given to bracing the structure for stability and protection from storm damage. Beam sizes will need to be adequate to support not only their own weight but also the future weight of any vines and foliage or perhaps even a snow load if someone decides to roof over the structure.

Correct placement of timbers can provide useful shade to windows and doors, incorrect placement can just as easily nullify any potential benefits. Free-standing pergolas can be supported on timber or steel posts concreted about a metre into the ground to give stability. Preformed galvanised metal post brackets for fixing to concrete paving or footings are available from hardware merchants for those jobs where just digging a post straight in the ground is not appropriate.

Prefinishing all the timbers by applying your chosen oil-stain or paint before erection will make the job so much easier and avoid any embarrassing spills or drips on to the deck or paving below. When lifting the finished timbers into place always work from a secure platform. Light weight stepladders can easily buckle and move with disastrous consequences. Always use an isolating transformer when using electric power tools outdoors and the only shock you may get will be from the price of the materials used..