When the owners of a bi-level home in a quiet neighborhood outside of New Hope, Pa., decided to replace their broken-down deck, they were looking for more usable space and better access to their backyard pool. And because they planned to spend more time relaxing on their newly expanded deck, they wanted to incorporate a pergola into the design.
We built the expanded deck using pressure-treated southern yellow pine, and included a catwalk with a countertop and a new set of stairs spanning an entire side of the deck. The new pergola has 8x8 PT support posts and upper cross supports of powder-coated tubular steel.
On top of the cross supports are machine-cut architectural aluminum panels from Parasoleil (parasoleil.com). The panels—which are specced to meet local wind and snow load requirements—have a powder-coated finish and are engineered to fit together like a puzzle, casting a consistent shadow pattern onto the deck below.
The PT railings are fitted with heavy-duty 2-inch-by-2-inch “goat wire” panels, to optimize the view through the railings to the pool below.
