My wife and I built a house off spec in 2022. The plan allowed for us to convert the covered patio into a study, however that left us without a patio. At the time we did not have budget for a full covered patio, so we built the uncovered stoep with the intention of covering it later.

In order to keep costs down, we decided to build a pergola over the stoep ourselves.

I first created a 3D plan, using the free version of SketchUp. The design was chosen to fit in with the existing aesthetic of the house. Since the structure required council approval, I compiled and submitted the application to the City of Cape Town based off these plans. They were very patient and gracious with me through the various iterations and changes which were required to get the plan approved.

I purchased rough construction pine from Somerset Timbers, which they delivered. I cut the pine down based on the plan measurements using a circular saw and various handsaws.

I opted to build the pergola using traditional joinery, as opposed to joining the beams using metal brackets. While the process took more time, and involved a lot more cutting, I prefered the overall look of the joinery. I built a number of jigs in order to help with the accuracy of the cuts.

My wife and I painted all the timber before assembly. It took two coats of primer and two coats of paint. Painting before assembly made it easier to get full coverage on the beams and it was easier than trying to paint above your head.

I rented a large rotary hammer drill to drill the holes for the truss hangers which join the pergola to the brick wall. There were 68 holes in total. I also needed to drill four 25mm holes into the concrete slabs for the post brackets. The post brackets were secured in place using a special anchoring epoxy. I took a day’s leave to complete the drilling, due to the amount of noise and mess that was unavoidable.

Once the brackets were in place, I started with assembly. San, who helps with our garden work, assisted me with lifting and securing the beams as they were too heavy for me to handle on my own.

Once assembly was complete, I applied one more coat of paint to touch up areas which were damaged during assembly.

I wired in some string lights to the existing light fixture and my wife planted two vines at the base of the posts for the final touch.

Since we have a toddler in the house, and the noise that generated from all the sawing, work was limited to a few hours on Saturday mornings. The project took about one year to complete from when I started the plans to completion.