Pergolas in Godley, TX

This project began in winter with a bare, fenced yard behind a newer brick home. Our crew staked out the slab and four footings, then set heavy timber posts finished in a dark stain. Each post was braced plumb while wood forms went in along the slab edge.

The finished pergola stands a few steps out from the home's existing covered porch. Knee braces tie every post to the beams, and a slatted rafter layer runs across the top. Below it, a fresh concrete slab with a curved outer edge gives the family an outdoor room that did not exist before.

Godley yards have few mature trees, so a pergola is often the only shade beyond the porch. An open-slat roof cuts the sun a good deal, though not all of it. On the Godley job we laid clear polycarbonate panels across the rafters to tame the glare and still let daylight through. Shade cloth, retractable canopies and solid sections are other ways to get there.

Placement matters as much as the roof. We study where the sun sits during the hours you actually spend outside, then turn the long side of the pergola to block that low western angle. On an acre lot, that can mean setting it farther from the house than people first picture. If you would rather attach shade to the house, compare our Godley patio covers.