The title of this article is slightly misleading, because it is never ‘easy’ to build a structure like this. I guess it is more appropriate to say made ‘simple’ because much of the planning and/or guesswork is taken out by using a kit. The reason is that once you measure for your patio cover, then you can just pick up the ready to be assembled cover kit.
Often, these kits are put together into pre-cut and measured pieces that yield a cover of a certain size. In other cases, you can have a kit custom designed for your specifications. You will definitely pay a bit more for the latter, but in the end, will be worth the time savings of doing it all yourself. You can spend this extra time building your patio cover yourself with the help of a few good friends.
Barring this type of pre-fabricated model, you’ll be responsible for creating a materials list, need to have all the proper tools for cutting and assembly and you’ll have to know a thing or two about construction. All in all, an avid DIYer can tackle a project like this and have a good time doing it. The problem comes with precise measurements and understanding how to make things plumb and level. By ‘things’ we are talking mostly about the posts and eventually the beams on top of them.
By no means is this an easy endeavor, again, unless you have some time in the construction trades. I’ve personally never had any formal training with this, but do enjoy woodworking and the occasional welding project. When I was planning (then building) my pergola, it took several tries just to get the footings placed in the right spot. You can credit this frustrating endeavor to never using one point of reference from which to measure. This is important – lesson learned on that one.
Then, once the footings were in the right spot, it was another challenge in getting the post brackets to sit level and plumb in the wet concrete mix as it cured. Sure, we could have used a masonry bit and mounted the brackets to the footings after the concrete cured, but this would have been another step and more time. In the end, we’ve got a pergola with ‘character’. It sits mostly plumb and has enough rigidity with the brackets in the footings and the welded brackets at the post and beam joints that it is in no danger of getting racked much. Plus, with enough vines and climbing plants, you’d never know whether we used a patio cover kit or built the pergola from scratch.
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