Pergolas

amz05

I want to add some kind of pergola to our back patio, its south facing and gets really hot in the summer.

Anyone build one? get a kit and add it yourself?

The hardest thing about ours will be getting it level because it needs to be put in the grass in 2 places on a decline then the patio area ~2 feet taller

dirtyred

If you're looking for shade for your patio, a pergola won't cut it.  You need some kind of roof.

Our friends thought the same thing--put a pergola on the patio for shade.  It's still hot as hell and no one sits under it.

amz05

I'm not looking for total shade, filtered shade is fine. I would rather it look pretty and I be able to grow a vine on it then add a large roof extension

csartini

amz05:

I'm not looking for total shade, filtered shade is fine. I would rather it look pretty and I be able to grow a vine on it then add a large roof extension

If you are planning to grow some type of vine on it I would think that would provide more shade than the pergola alone.

I don't have any suggestions but would be interested to know what you ultimately end up doing as I'm interested in one for our back patio area too 

FoxinFiji

I've never made a pergola but one of my favorite bloggers has:

http://diydiva.net/category/house-projects/badass-pergola/