Here's the pergola I designed and had the local amish build in 2010. Size is 18' x 10' x 10'. My carpenter had never done mortise and tenon, but was excited to try, and after consulting with an older member of his church, found the process very simple.

Lumber was all treated, and put into concrete footers. Total cost, lumber and labor: $1500.

I've gone down this road a time or two for myself and my kids. I would strongly suggest using rough cedar for all the lumber rather than pressure treated and don't stain it. The weathered grey color it will turn into in the first 2-3 years will look very natural in a garden setting.

Also do not cover in vinyl. That takes a lot of the natural look away. And in a zone 6 you probably have pretty good hot and cold temped seasons which says the vinyl will crack a lot faster than the posts will need replacing.

Another thing, set the posts on "raiser" brackets where they are bolted to the surface but it lifts the post about 1/4 to 1/2" off the ground. Those untreated uncovered cedar posts will last for many many years without rotting. If you want a finished look you cover up the brackets completely by wrapping a bottom piece of cedar trim like baseboard.

And if you are looking for total seclusion and looking for some kind of rose to grow up over it, take a look at Lady Banks roses.....agressive, thick, and almost turn into a tree in time. I don't know if they are zone appropriate for you but a great covering option in white or yellow. Covers agressively like wisteria.

mark

2. I can build my own out of all wood. Cost of this would be $370

==>>> cost is my main factor ...

double the size ... to at least half the cost of the other ... and still be saving half ....

i have never built anything.. that the moment i was done.. i had not wished.. i had gone bigger ...

i AGREE .. let it go natural ... why you need to stain anything is beyond me.. you plant a NATURAL garden.. and then go foo foo'ing it all up.. and making yourself an annual maintenance problem is beyond me ... i suppose you went with colored mulch too ... natural ends up matching natural mulch ... and its all so .. wait for it.. NATURAL ... lol ..

go treated in ground... and who cares above ...

hanging wood will stay rather dry.. and last 20 to 30 years ... its not like you will be sitting on top of it like a deck ... or old uncle jake at 450 pounds .. lol ...

ken

ps: my sand .. things dont rot.. you might have other opinions with bad clay and inserting wood ....

Unprofessional - Great picture... I'm jealous of your pond! The Pergola looks very well built especially with the 4 main beams on each side. I was definitely planning on doing mortise and tenon for the top 2x6 rafters just like you did. For the main rafters I was just going to fasted two 2x8's to each side of the 6x6's with stainless carriage bolts.

Mark - I'm not sure where to buy Cedar at or if my local yard carries it. I'll have to check next time I'm in there, I priced everything with pressure treated wood and stainless fasteners. I wonder what the price difference would be. Every deck I've seen they have always just sunk the pressure treated post into the ground and filled with cement. I was considering bolting the pressure treated boards to the cement, but all the brackets I found said it wasn't recommended for top heavy structures. This Pergola will be 10' tall when assembled so that kind of scared me. Not staining it is a good suggestion... now that I think of it, after the roses climb the structure you won't see to much of the wood.

Ken - Going natural it is... the mulch I have is natural wood chips... I don't do colored mulches. Going larger is a good suggestion. The 12x12 outside dimensions (10x10 inside) would cost $370. I'm not sure I would want to go 16x16, but if I do 14x14 outside (12x12 inside), it would be $490. So if I go 16x16 or 14x14 it's only going to cost $120 more which is still less than half the cost of the all vinyl one.

So the cost of a 14x14 or 16x16 would be $490 out the door, that includes all the wood, concrete, stainless fasteners, & tax. Definitely doable and not a bad price at all. I'm glad I checked in with you guys because I was leaning more towards the expensive vinyl pergola.