Pauls321
7th October 2013, 05:37 PM
Hi all, I am visiting with my son in western nsw and my project this time was to assist him to build a free standing pergola. The size is 4.8m x 4m.
the height is 2.4m. He already had the timber when I arrived and the project is nearly finished. The block was rather sloping so for the corner posts we used 100x100 2.4m lengths. We also put a 5th one of these on the back wall. The rafters and cross side/back pieces of timber are 90x35. However to combat the slope of the block we used stirrups dyna bolted into cement footings/piers. On the higher side the stirrups had 65mm steel rods in them and on the lower side we used stirrups with 300mm steel rods in them. At this point in time we have only 45 degree braced the front face with 2 braces as we have run of timber. I still need to brace the two sides and the back (another 6 braces). My concern is that the pergola will still sway.
I am now thinking these stirrups are more designed for say awnings hanging off a fixed wall or similar, and not a free standing construction such as this.
Hopefully the pergola will be much more stable when I have fixed another 6 braces to it. Any comments or suggestions please.
The roof will just be shade cloth coming down about halfway down the back and sides also.
Regards, Paul
the height is 2.4m. He already had the timber when I arrived and the project is nearly finished. The block was rather sloping so for the corner posts we used 100x100 2.4m lengths. We also put a 5th one of these on the back wall. The rafters and cross side/back pieces of timber are 90x35. However to combat the slope of the block we used stirrups dyna bolted into cement footings/piers. On the higher side the stirrups had 65mm steel rods in them and on the lower side we used stirrups with 300mm steel rods in them. At this point in time we have only 45 degree braced the front face with 2 braces as we have run of timber. I still need to brace the two sides and the back (another 6 braces). My concern is that the pergola will still sway.
I am now thinking these stirrups are more designed for say awnings hanging off a fixed wall or similar, and not a free standing construction such as this.
Hopefully the pergola will be much more stable when I have fixed another 6 braces to it. Any comments or suggestions please.
The roof will just be shade cloth coming down about halfway down the back and sides also.
Regards, Paul