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My wife has been asking for a pergola for quite some time. After taking it easy for the summer, I finally had the ambition to take it on. The verticals and supports are 5×5 tamarack. The top is made up of 3"x 6"x 16' hemlock and is topped of with 1.5" square hemlock.

All of the wood was custom cut for this project and took about three weeks to build over the nights and weekends. I was able to put the whole thing together alone after careful planning on how to lift the lumber and level the whole thing out.

I've got enough wood left over to build a couple of small lattice that will be used to get some vines and hops up to the top to provide additional cover.

The strength was already tested this past week with the hurricane, so I can finally stop worrying about the stability of it!

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Nice work John, very classy and well proportioned design, love the timber used. I just finished a similar one for my wife (not as nice as yours, but she's happy with it), and we're still debating about whether to paint it or stain it. I used all pressure-treated lumber and don't really like the funky green color! What brand / color stain did you use?
 

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Thanks for the timber info. Sounds like this was labor intensive but the results show it's worth!
 

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Smitty, I used Behr transparent cedar natural tone stain from Home Depot. Our fence in the front yard and my neighbor's fence in the second picture were all done with that stain, so I wanted to keep the color consistent. I stained each piece individually as I was building it so I could also seal the cuts after they were made. It was also a lot easier than trying to get in all of the cracks from the top of a ladder.
 

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Thanks John, wish I had thought that far ahead! Also wish I had popped for some better lumber, but couldn't really afford it. The PT stuff as it was cost nearly $400. Bet the retail cost of yours would be way north of $4000, but your results look rich and elegant. Mine, well, just call it 'utilitarian'!
 

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Nicely done, my friend. Having built over two dozen of these for clients, I know they require precise measurements and patients to build. Good for you.
 
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