I'm going to show you how to build a pergola.
I've got a few different tools here.
I've got my concrete and my wheelbarrow for putting all my posts in the ground.
I've got my power saws here for cutting and drilling all my timber.
I've got my levels and my ladders, so I can get access up nice and high.
All my safety gear, a tape measure, pencils, and hammers.
I've got an assortment of screws and bolts here for putting bits and pieces together.
I've got my post stirrup and my joy stirrups here.
Shovel for digging some holes and for mixing some concrete.
Handsaw and some clamps for holding it all together, whilst we're setting it up.
Also I've got my timber beams, posts, and batons.
That's going to be all the material we're going to use to build our pergola.
One of the first parts of building a pergola frame is to get the post into the ground.
One of the most common ways of doing that is using one of these post stirrups.
We're going to dig our hole and I'm going to put the stirrup down into the ground, and
then I'm going to concrete it in into position.
My engineering drawings and my council plans tell me how far apart I have to space these
stirrups, the type of post I'm going to use, and how far in the ground I have to actually
dig it all.
So I've already got that information given to us from council, with all of our engineering
information on it.
I'm just about done now with my hole.
I'm just going to quick measure to make sure that my post is in the center.
My hole is dug, the next thing I need to do is put the stirrup into the ground.
I'm using these off cuts of timber here to hold the stirrup over the hole so I can put
my concrete in.
But before I put my concrete in, I need to make sure that I am in the right position.
If this is a square, there is a good chance when your post goes up your post is going
to be at a square as well.
So you really want to get a good line in here, make sure the're in position.
I've now got some concrete mixed up in my wheelbarrow.
I'm going to fill it up until I get just around the base of that stirrup, it's going to be
around 50, 60 mil below the top of that stirrup.
And then I check it again to make sure I'm still in line because the concrete will move
it around a fair bit.
I've got this post stirrup in position now.
I'm now going to continue on with the rest of them, and once they're all set, I'll stand
my post up.
Now that I'm waiting for the concrete to dry on my post stirrups, I'm now going to cut
the wiling plates.
The wiling plates goes up on the space here.
This is where my rafters are going to come in from my pergola.
And now I've already measured it, I'm now going to cut it to length and I'm going to
use a friend to help me put it up there and fix it into position.
Before I put my wiling plates up onto the fissure, the fissure isn't a structural member.
So what I need to do is find a way to fix the wiling plate into the ends of the rafters.
I've already got my nail in my fissure which tells me where that is, but once I put my
wiling plate over here I'm going to lose that line.
So I've got to mark underneath here, I'm going to get right along the fissure and mark it
that way.
Okay, I'm now going to get my friend to pass the timber up to me, and she's going to climb
up and take her end up.
Once it's up there, we'll then nail it off and then we'll put some screws into it.
We've put a few nails up in here now to hold this wiling plate into position.
That isn't our final fixing, we're going to put some large bugle screws in there now.
To do that, I'm going to put a square line underneath, lining with the mark I've already
put in there, and then down the face.
I'm going to put some clearance holes through here now, and once I've got that in there,
I'm going to draw the large bugle screw through to give me extra strength.
I'm going to two in the end of each rafter that takes me through the fissure and into
the rafter itself.
I'm now going to go along the remainder of the wiling plate here and put two screws in
the end of each rafter.
Once I've done that, I can then continue on with the rest of my pergola.
You want to get the bugle screw just to go below the surface.
You don't want to bury it too far and you certainly don't want to leave it high.
Just below the surface is how it's going to work.
Now that I've done that, it is nice and secure.
I've cut a template here, and that sits underneath my gutter.
It follows the same profile.
So now that I've done that, I can cut the profile cut on the end of all my rafters,
and they'll fit in there nice and neat.
I've now positioned my template on my rafter.
I'm going to mark it out.
I use my square down the face.
So I now want to come in with my jigsaw.
I'll put it down this space as well so when I exit with the jigsaw, I'm going to sign
line as well.
And then with my jigsaw, with the right type of blade in, I'm going to cut it out.
Now that I've made my cutout, I've now got some raw timber.
I'm going to put some primer paint on that so it takes that open surface.
I'm now ready to measure, cut, and install my rafter according to my plans.
This is my post, if you can imagine it standing upright.
My rafters that come through.
This is an off cut from my rafter.
I need to sit into the post itself, okay?
So my rafter will be sitting down the face of the post.
I need to make a cutout in the side of the post to take that rafter and support it, and
support its weight.
I've now got this marked out.
This cutout post will now take the rafter and support it in position.
When making your cuts with a circular saw, be mindful that you don't overcut them.
Only take your saw to your line.
If you take your circular saw too far down, you will weaken your post.
I've finished cutting everything now that I can with the circular saw.
I'm going to use the hand saw just to make those final cuts.
My next step is to now measure the distance between my stirrup and my rafter so I can
cut my post to its final length.
I've now got my post ready to go in.
Once I get it in there and it's plum I'm going to drill it and then bolt it.
Now that I've bolted my first post into place, before I move off, I'm going to temporary
brace this one so that it stays up nice and plum.
Now I'm going to go along and stand the rest of my posts and bolt them into position.
I've installed my posts with my cutouts, next on a beam is now in.
I'm going to put a few screws in to secure it, then I'm going to start with my rafters.
A quick tip when you're building a pergola, put a cleating underneath your outside beams,
that way when your rafters sit on them, they'll sit nice and flush, stay nice and safe.
I'm just about ready to install my rafters.
Before I do that, I'm going to transfer this center mark, and the center mark is the center
of my rafter.
I'm going to transfer it around the back of the beam, that way I can put my pilot holes
in for my large bugle screws.
Once they're in, it'll keep it nice and secure.
Okay.
Now we've got it sitting up, we're going to screw it off and we'll put the next one in.
Along this wiling plate, I've got to fix this universal bracket.
I can't put big screws through, so I need to use this.
What it does is it allows me to get a fixing along my flat surface, along my wiling plate
and onto the side of my rafter.
I need to nail it in with a portrait [SP] nail.
It's a hardened nail, it's not just a standard clout.
You need to put at least four or five nails into each universal bracket.
I'm going to have a universal bracket on either side of my rafter.
I've set this one up, now what I'll do is I'll go along and put the rest of my brackets
in.
I've now finished putting all my rafters in, I've got all my universal brackets on.
Now that I've done that, I can take my cleat out, which we put in earlier for a temporary
fix.
I'll unscrew that now and we'll be all done.
It's now ready for liquor paint, and that's how you build a pergola.