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You can make them as shady as you wish. You space the lathe on top as near or as far apart as you want, or you can grow vines over the top, or you can make the roof solid, if you want.
My only suggestion is to build one that is big enough for conversation so a couple of friends can sit out there with you and maybe room for a couple of tiny tables to set your drinks on.
Would you use it? I don't know. I have a covered back porch that gets a lot of use. The barbecue is going year round and when the air temperature is nice, I take a book and sit on the porch swing and I like to sit out there and watch my dogs and enjoy the scenery, so I use mine a lot and I would use a free-standing pergola if I had one. It's your lifestyle so you should be able to guess whether or not you would use it. It's a lot of money to spend if you never use it.
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 07-16-2023 at 11:43 AM..
We built a very small one in our last backyard just to accommodate a single chair swing. It was limited in size because of the nearby deck that we also built. The pergola/swing overlooks the fish pond in the yard. Doesn't provide "shade" as such, but could if I grew vines over it.
At our current house we will be building a "cabana" next to our new pond/waterfall. This is a larger structure which will also accommodate a swing but has a tin roof so will provide shade and shelter.
And all windows bathroom provides extra entertainment
No kidding! It was really different at night, but I'm used to it now. Outside the bathroom the pergola sits on an adobe wall surrounding a small garden area and the wall is tall so no peeking in. Someone would really have to want to see in to take the risk of being out there at night. Way too many wild animals and snakes plus it's extremely dark. I don't even go outside at night! I used to walk down to the mailbox at night until I set up game cameras...I don't walk down there anymore! Haha!
It's shady in a backyard that doesn't have much direct shade. A picnic table goes under it. It'll be fine once the concrete pad is poured under it, but right now it seems a little silly sitting in the grass.
Pergolas as I have seen traditional ones use vertical boards to create shade at appropriate sun angles. by using certain width boards at particular spacing you can create almost complete shade at the time of day that you most use the space. Personally I consider them architectural gee-gaws that are put in to enhance the appearance of an area. Around here the bugs are too bad to sit outside without being screened in so you might as well build a screened deck or porch.
I've always thought a well built pergola looks cool but considered them a piece of costly yard art because they won't be keeping folks dry if it rains. Now that I'm old and retired with some discretionary income, I can see it might be fun to build one. Question is, do the joists block enough sun to make any significant shade?
Costco had one for sale but what I liked was they were also selling "blind" like shades that could attach to the supports and roll down. I'm assuming that was the enclose the structure for rain. They were housed in a small'ish enclosure box, like maybe a retractable awning would be in.
We are having our back deck rebuilt, with the overhang, and I am going to see if they can place the beams so I can purchase these shades.
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Thanks for the assist!
