Welcome to part 12 of my DIY backyard project. If you have missed the previous
progress, check them out in the description. If you're planning to build
a deck by yourself or even hiring a contractor to do the job. I hope you will
find this helpful and my goal is to inspire more people
into DIY. This time, we are talking about how to transform a traditional pergola
into a modern ,contemporary structure using a Azek PVC.
Framing is not part of this video, check out part 7 and part 8 for details. Okay let's get started....
Remember I told you to avoid using this joist tape products on the PVC
deck boards but I also said I was going to use it on this Pergola. Here we go..
Moisture is always the number one enemy to wood, you either find ways to cover
the wood or drain the water by gravity and keep the wood dry.
Making the 1/4 inch spacer using table saw is very simple. If you have a
Dewalt table saw like mine and the blade guard is in your way, you need to do
some adjustment. All you have to do is to make the blade higher then lift the
anti-kickback and you will be able to adjust to a quarter of an inch.
Of course, you can remove the blade guard if you want to make yourself look like a pro.
For me, I am fine I like the extra protection if possible
That's correct, you rip it from a 2x4 , 2x6 or 2x8. It's not too difficult at all.
Most of the wooden pergolas are secured by carriage bolts because they are way
stronger than screws. After cutting the end using an angle grinder we need to
apply some rust paint.
To make the pergola having the same color scheme as
the deck I am using the same materials for the fascia boards from Azek
All the DIY projects are done by myself sometimes it is difficult as you can see
My wife is not a handy woman, I am glad she did not get involved.
At this point I, think it is a good idea to run some low voltage cables for the lights
I recommend using this method to hide the cable at the top of the spacers.
All you need to do is to leave some space at the top.
The top part is almost done
But wait a sec, can you tell there was a design problem?
The longest fascia board
from Azek is 12 feet but the top portion is 14 feet.
My recommendation is
to design your pergola based on the materials. This can save you from doing a
lot of extra work Don't repeat my mistake.
To make the corners of the top
of your pergola look nice you may want to use miter joint. It's pure cosmetic but
it does make a huge difference
I am using construction adhesive for the end, they should be okay for such a small area.
What do you think? I think it looks fantastic!!!
There is something I want to
share with you I saw some professional deck builders did
this, they put the fascia boards at the bottom. It looks very nice honestly but
guess what happened?
I did an experiment to show you what happened after a rainy night
Are you ready? Look! whoa... I don't have to explain much. The water has nowhere to go....
eventually it will rot your wood. If you DIY or hire someone to do the job this
is something that you want to pay attention to. I hope that helps.
After I've removed the board the wood dried in about 30 minutes, amazing!
So, what is my solution? I am using this stain from Home Depot. It is
impossible to color match my PVC boards but close enough is good.
Of course, I thought about adding some spacers at the bottom to drain the
water but this solution is approved by my wife in terms of the overall look!
So, let's move on.
Before wrapping the posts we are going to need a lot of this
1/4" spacers. This is my mass production, I hope I can buy this from
the local hardware store. Even better, Azek may want to add some vertical
grooves at the back of their PVC boards that would make life a lot easier
Why are we doing this? Of course, it's the same reason as before.
If you wrap it without any spacers, moisture has nowhere to escape, good luck to you.
I was doing a miter joint on the fascia boards for the post but it did not look
as good as I expected, what do you think?
I think there were two problems. The miter joint looks a little bit weird.
Also the two-tone color on the post would look much better.
It looked so good!!!
Even a wild rabbit came for a visit, I guess that's a good sign.
This is the structural support called "bracing", I have to cut the board to make it fits nicely.
Because the bracing is in 45 degrees angle, you have to cut the PVC board in
45 degrees and you will have a perfect fit. Look at that!
Don't be lazy to eye ball for the position of the screws, always spend time to level everything.
To make the job faster you can also make a template using a piece
of scrap wood, I will show you later but not this time.
Now the front is completed
Before moving on to the privacy screen at the back, I want to show you something
Let's see if the extra time I spent on installing the spacers is working or not
That's awesome. It's DRY!!!
I forgot to tell you I left
1/4" gap at the bottom for drainage but it has another problem
Spiders!!! So, I am using this plastic mesh screen to block them from building the web.
At the same time letting water pass through.
Remember the annoying carriage bolts?
How are we going to hide them?
That's right, we are building small boxes for the corners. It's pretty
straightforward of course is a bit time-consuming
To make it even more dramatic, we are doing a simple crown molding for the
post. This time we are ripping one inch off the solid deck board. Adjust the
miter saw to 45 degrees and make the cut
Put them together using the screws... Getting into shape
It's looking fantastic! It acts as a transition piece between the vertical
post and horizontal beam.
Most pergolas don't have to middle post at the back
but my design has one, so here we go...
Next, we are getting to the focal point of the
deck. it also acts as the privacy screen. Again this is a non critical part of the
deck, it is totally fine to use the joist tapes for the top portion of the screen
To make the privacy screen stand out, I am installing a slim border
This technique is called picture framing . Can't go wrong with two-tone color. It looks
pretty empty now we need to put something there. So, I bought this plastic
privacy screen from the local hardware store. It's around $35 Canadian each.
They look good but quality is just ok ,they expand way more than Azek PVC boards.
in the hot weather. The problem is, it will not be completely flat against the
wall if you just install the four screws according to the instructions
I am installing this cheap LED lights by Paradise. This may be the magic touch to
make my backyard into a paradise!
The lights are done but the top and the bottom seems to be out of balance.
There is too much blank space at the bottom, my solution is simple. Just install some
scrap boards to fill the space!
All right!!! Both sides are done, looking pretty good, eh?
It's close enough of what I had planned on the computer
You may ask ,what about the back ? oh yeah, if you hate your backyard neighbor ,
you can just leave it like this I'm pretty sure this can drive him or her crazy.
But I am a good person, I have to finish it. We need to do some
soldering to hook up the lights I am using this outdoor connectors called "DryConn"
it has some waterproofing gel inside.
It looks pretty tidy, I actually ran out of those color-matching screws, so I went with
this GRK fasteners from Home Depot. They are cheap compared to the one I had
they worked.
It's done I guess my backyard neighbor would be happier to see this
than seeing the raw wood.
Let's check out the LED lights, that's the focal point
I am talking about!!! Looks awesome. Of course, we have to test it out in the dark
whoa, look at that!!! With the patio furniture in place, I think we can invite
some friends to come over for a drink.
We bought this from IKEA. It's the SOLLERON
line of product I will dedicate a video to show you how I put them together like a Pro!
This project is far from over yet I will show you how I select and install
the shade to stand out from the rest of your neighbors.
Of course I need to
finish the privacy screen on the side. Then, I will make a dedicated Fireproof
barbecue station to hold my favorite charcoal grill
and planting some Cedars too!!!
Give it a thumbs up if you like my project.
If you love DIY and you may want to check our other videos on my channel.
Of course if you want to see the progress of this project, remember to subscribe!
Thanks for watching and see you next time!!!