It became fairly obvious early on that this past summer wasn’t going to be spent in a typical fashion. One of the things I always felt was lacking in particular since we moved in was our outdoor space. The back yard had no landscaping whatsoever and was basically just a big blank rectangle.

The one thing we did have was a basic concrete patio. I had immediately envisioned putting up a pergola to add a nice architectural feature to the yard that really complimented the house. The only problem was that I really wanted a very simple, understated, modern pergola. The more I researched, the harder it was to find exactly what I was looking for.

That’s when I discovered Toja Grid’s diy modular pergola system. It was exactly what I was looking for and boasted an easy build that could be put up in under an hour (FYI - definitely took us longer than an hour. More like a couple of hours with four people). The kit only includes the brackets that connect the wood, and the footers. We also purchased a shade sail for the top of the pergola. I went with the 4x4 kit and really glad I did because I would not have been able to lift the 6x6 lumber.

I quickly set out sketching up a design and figuring out the dimensions and pressure treated timber I would need to purchase. I will say that the guys from Lowes were a little surprised when I pulled up with my sedan for my curbside pickup. I assured them that I was a pro at fitting all kinds of things in my little car and that this would not be a problem.

Next I stained the wood with a transparent black outdoor deck stain. I probably should have sanded them down a bit but they were already planed and I didn’t feel like it was absolutely necessary.

I had originally imagined that I was going to be able to put this thing together myself but it quickly became apparent to me that I was going to need help. So I bribed my brother in law, Tim, and my nephew, Brady, to come over and help me and Matt with some pizza and some beer. Matt was a reluctant participant as he knows how my crazy projects tend to go and usually wants no part of them. He’s a smart man.

With that I set to building the top of the pergola by laying it out on the patio. For some reason I thought that the heavy brackets would easily glide onto the properly sized wooden posts. I did my best to pound them into place by kicking them but soon realized that I would need a wooden mallet. Since I didn’t have one I tried to fashion one out of a hammer and some foam. It sort of worked until Tim arrived with the correct tools and actual strength. Things progressed a lot more quickly from there.

I learned a lot from Tim on this build. He showed me a neat trick to figure out the correct drill bit to use. If you hold your screw in front of the drill bit you should just barely see the treads of it from behind. If you don’t, keep sizing your up until you do.

Prior to this lesson I always thought it was that I was too weak to correctly screw things in with my drill. Now I know that the I was just making my pilot holes too small. So thanks for that, Tim!

Pro tip: I highly recommend not putting the pergola together upside down so that you don’t have to flip it like this.

And here’s the finished product where we spent the entire summer relaxing in the shade. Totally worth it!