rocklobster

I'd love to tell you that this was something that my neighbor or cousin or someone else did but, nope, it was me.

I built a pergola as part of the deck I built when I bought this house. I had many things going on at the same time(fence, woodshop, dog house) and I didn't put a lot into it. I decided it was time to spruce it up.

The first time around, I stained it after I built it and that was a PITA. This time, I bought the PT pine in advance and air dried it all spring so I could stain it before building it. I stickered it and put weight on top of it to keep it straight and it turned out nicely.

Then I made all the cuts, which were also a PITA and I almost posted for advice here but I got it done. I hate staining or painting anything, but managed to force myself through it over a few days.

Today I put the sides up along the top. It was a real struggle as everything was up high and I was working alone. Once they were up, though, I measured across the top to see where I needed to notch all of the 2x4s. When I noticed it was just over 99", I got a sickening feeling in my stomach.

I looked down at my pile of 2X4s and realized that I had bought 8' boards.

I really almost cried. Then cussed for a while. Then laughed insanely at the brain cramp I had experienced.

Oh well, I'm planning to build a play set for my son later this summer. Maybe I'll incorporate a pergola into the plans.

Rob

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Webster

Ouch! Rob....I could def. see myself doing that. I feel your pain, man.

There muxt be some way to save face there....

Maybe cut the 2x4's in half. Then run 2 pieces (spaced appropriatly apart) in the opposite direction on top, and toe nail the 2x4's into that?

Looks great though, regardless
Rick

jdixon

Rob, I feel for ya! But believe me when I say this, We've all been there. What you have looks great by the way.

John

joesdad

Rob, that hurts. But way to take a slice of humble pie for our benefit. Btw. with all that lawn, where's your tomato garden?

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Leo G

You can use it as the layer above the one you have to (re) build now.

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rocklobster

Maybe cut the 2x4's in half. Then run 2 pieces (spaced appropriatly apart) in the opposite direction on top, and toe nail the 2x4's into that?

That's a great idea, Webster! I think I'll draw up something along those lines and run it by the wife.

Rob, I feel for ya! But believe me when I say this, We've all been there. What you have looks great by the way.


Thanks for saying so, John.


Rob, that hurts. But way to take a slice of humble pie for our benefit. Btw. with all that lawn, where's your tomato garden?

JD, a tomato garden sounds great, but I stay far too busy as it is. I do have some peach trees and blueberry bushes, though. Looking into getting some apple trees as well.



You can use it as the layer above the one you have to (re) build now.

I don't think I've got the motivation for that one, Leo. I'll be glad just to call this thing done!


Rob

firehawkmph

Rob,
Were those 2x4's meant to fit into the space left on top? Could you maybe run a ledger around the inside, or double it up and then fit your 2x4's into that?
Mike Hawkins

Geoguy

Wow!, I can't believe you guys. I haven't made a mistake,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, today,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, yet,,,,,,,,,,,,well,,,,,, I'm still at work and haven't gotten out to the shop today.

But, I'm sure I'll probably screw something up tomorrow.

I worked for an old carpenter while in college. He always said, "the sign of a good carpenter is one that can cover up his mistakes." I'm getting better every day!

BHOFM

Just run a beam down the center and make a joint in
the middle. You need to get some more 2X4s
any way. You have enough to do one side.

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rocklobster

That's not a bad thought, but I planned for the ends to extend over the side rails enough for the curved cuts to show. I was thinking that they would be going in the same directions as the beam that BHOFM was cool enough to doctor into the picture.

BHOFM, you may be right about more 2x4s. As is, I can place them at 5" intervals and cover the inside of it all, but I may want to extend farther once I see what it looks like. I need to learn to edit photos like that. My wife's only concern is having a little shade. There really wasn't much at all before.

Hey, Fungi, I think that saying about carpenters applies to woodworkers as well. I'm learning but still have a way to go.

Rob

BHOFM

Sure would look nice in my back yard!



The only way to learn photo editing is to start doing
it. You will be terrible at first, but keep doing it and
it will come to you.

I worked for PlayBoy before computers and we did it
with brushes and tiny scrappers and re shooting negs.
Spending hours, even days what takes seconds now.

These of my Great great great great Aunt Zen took
about five minutes to do. The pictures we think were
taken in the late 1870's

Off topic, sorry.
before


after

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rocklobster

Finally got it finished! I feel a lot better now and I was able to use all of the 2x4's that I had prepared in the first place. The new wood isn't stained yet, of course.

Thanks for all the advice and comments.

Rob

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toolman Steve

I think it looks great . Nice yard to.

Steve

firehawkmph

rocklobster I am the biggest idiot EVER!




George Costanza: I just threw away a lifetime of guilt-free sex and floor seats for every sporting event in Madison Square Garden. So please, a little respect. For I am Costanza, Lord of the Idiots.

Rock,
It came out nice. That's not a mistake, just a redesign.
Mike Hawkins

Allthumbs27

Spectacular view of your yard. Love the pergola. I wonder if your new design is better off because of the mistake you made??? Minus a little extra work. I find out that mistakes sometimes help out in the end.
Very Nice

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rocklobster

Thanks, guys.

I love the Seinfeld reference, firehawk. With the exception of some sports, I've nearly quit watching TV since it went off the air. Still catch a rerun here and there.

Rob

firehawkmph

Rock,
My whole life is a seinfeld episode.
Mike Hawkins

Sleeper

It really looks great.
I just wanted to add that I had a little chuckle on youtube yesterday. I was going through videos of building sheds and one guy built a nice looking shed, but had to move it 5 ft because of easement rules.

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JohnnyB
"I do what I do well, but I still like to dabble in what I don’t do well"

firehawkmph

Sleeper,
That brings back to memory a number of years ago we got paid to move a 20' x 20' garage, with a concrete foundation three feet ovedr because the original contractor never bothered to check where the property line was. It ended up costing 9000.00. The city invoked the original contractor's bond to pay for it. Ended up being a pretty good job for us.
Mike Hawkins

Sleeper

That’s pretty funny.
Once a bar owner friend of mine bought lot across the street from his establishment. There was previously a rival bar that burned to ground just before, so my friend bought it to prevent any more competition. He hired me to build a wood fence across the front to keep cars from parking there and I decided to check with the county records for the exact property lines before digging any holes. I was afraid of getting to close toward the highway.
I discovered that my friend only owned a very small portion of what he thought. He was so mad that he was yelling “first they stole my pizza business and now they cheated me out of my property” over and over for weeks. He made sure everyone that entered his bar knew of it.

__________________
JohnnyB
"I do what I do well, but I still like to dabble in what I don’t do well"