Baldwin Pergolas | Pathway Pergola | Assembly Instructions

Our Pergolas kits come with scale drawings indicating post locations and detailed instructions so everything comes out just right. We started by snapping a chalk line down the center of the walkway. We are measuring from the center of the walkway to the center of the hole. Dig eight holes about 20 inches deep. Add 4 inches of clean sand to the bottoms of the holes and pack it.

We give you eight hard plastic pipe pieces. Put the pieces into the holes and once again measure carefully to locate the pipes in the holes. These pipes keep the soil from coming into direct contact with the legs. Cedar is rot resistant, but why take chances? We have been using this technique for years and have never had an arbor or pergola blow over.

When you are sure each pipe is in the right place and is straight up a down, backfill soil around the pipes packing the soil as you go.

Level the bottoms of the holes: Use a transit as shown here or a water level to determine the height of each of the eight holes. Add or remove sand until all the hole bottoms are at the same level. Home Depot sells a Johnson Lazer Level for only $40. A water level is a clear plastic tube with water in it. The water always settles level. They are inexpensive and most hardware stores carry them. Make sure you pack the sand tight.

Once the holes are level we add a few blocks of cedar to lift the pergola leg up out of the sand. This will keep the bottom of the leg dry. Ideally the leg should go into the ground twelve inches.

Now the fun begins! Start with a leg and an outside framer. Square them with a framing square and screw them together, through the pre-drilled holes, with two and a half inch stainless steel screws.

The screws go through the leg into the outside framer. These screws will be obscured by the inside framer.

Each leg gets a gusset. Position the gusset centered on the leg and screw it in (all holes are pre-drilled by us) using a three inch stainless steel screw.

Note: If a gap appears between the boards you must back the screw out, hold the boards together tightly and put the screw in again. Don't think the gap will disappear just by over-tightening the screw.

The other end of the gusset gets screwed to the outside framer with two two and a half inch screws.

The inside framer gets screwed on through the half inch slot carved in along it's length.

This slot will get filled latter with an accent strip of cedar or a string of outdoor lights. The lights are really beautiful.

Now stand the wall sections up into the pipes. Don't worry about letting go. They cannot fall over.

This part requires two people. Each person must hold a wall straight up and down and gently fit the first crown piece in. It goes in the outermost notch.

The parts are machines so accurately that they will only fit together when everything is lined up. A hammer will not help. Wiggle, jiggle and pull down. They will slide together like a dream when everything is plumb and square.

Now fit the outermost crown piece. This is the one everyone will see first, so pick the most beautiful one.

The outer and inner (left and right) frame pieces sit on the legs "haunches". The leg is haunched again so the crown piece can rest on it too. The leg actually extends a few inches higher than you can see to give even more support to the crown pieces. It is a tight fitting system that is built to last generations.

Notice how all the corners are nicely rounded over.

This is an interior gusset. It gets screwed on in much the same way except for one difference: There is no way to use a square on this joint. You must plumb the leg with a level. Hold the level vertically against the side of the leg. Lean it over till it is straight up and down and screw the gusset in place. Double check plumb before screwing through the gusset into the crown piece.

The second crown piece fits into place and covers the screws you just put in. Isn't that beautiful? Now fill in the center crown pieces. They just snugly fit in place with no fasteners needed.

Now the first section of the Pergola is complete and we will be adding to it. Square up a leg and outside crown piece. Screw them together and fit in a gusset. Fit the leg into the pipe and stand it up.

Screw it in.

Attach another gusset.

Now set the inside framer up onto the haunched legs and screw it in.

Now go back and fit in the next five crown pieces. This is what it will look like. Adding the third section is done just the same as the second. This should be getting easy by now.

The last step is to get up on top and screw the purlins in place. All the holes are pre-drilled and countersunk. A three inch screw is used at each intersection. That's it! All done.