It’s always the right time to be thinking about making some major changes in your garden. Maybe you’ve spent all winter waiting for the snowpack to melt and you’re dreaming of having somewhere new to spend the summer outside. Maybe you’re itching to move house when spring rolls around, and you’re looking for an easy way to raise the value of your home. Maybe you’re just in the mood for something new to change things. No matter how you’re trying to upgrade your garden, a pergola is a great option.
What Is A Pergola?
While they come in many different shapes and sizes, at its essence a pergola is defined by a post and beam structure that has no walls or windows, and usually has some sort of lattice covering to give a dappled shade effect. Whether you purchase a pergola that will sit on the deck right outside your house, or a freestanding model that will frame part of your garden, a pergola helps to define a specific area of your outside space. Some common uses for pergolas include:
- Outdoor dining – the most common mental image people have when they think about having a pergola in their backyard is a dining table with climbing roses on the posts and hanging flowers from the lattice overhead. It’s surprisingly easy to make this dream into a reality with a professionally made wooden pergola and some climbing plants coming out of pots at the base.
- Romantic relaxing – a pergola offers you the perfect place to create a truly romantic setting for your everyday date nights. All you need is some string lights, a cosy outdoor couch for two, and some drapes to give you some privacy as necessary. Add some sweet smelling candles and a small fridge for cold drinks and ice, and you’ll feel like you’re on a luxurious vacation right in your own backyard.
- A hub for the garden – if you have children who love to be outside in the Calgary summer, your pergola can become an excellent central hub for all outdoor activities. Use it as a place to easily store all their toys, and a set of fold down chairs gives the grown ups a perfect place to supervise the chaos in peace. Add a cooler full of snacks and drinks and you (and your kids!) will never want to leave the pergola again.
A Big Return On Investment
It’s clear that a pergola gives you a wide range of options for upgrading and updating your outdoor space. However, a pergola is also a great option if you’re looking for ways to improve the value of your home without spending a lot of money. A storebought pergola that you put together yourself can be an inexpensive way of adding “curb appeal” to your property, while a professionally designed and built pergola setup will make your garden the one thing that every potential buyer goes away talking about after they visit your property. You can gain significant value of your home with a pergola, and in most cases you’ll make more money from the increased sale price than the cost of the pergola installation project.
Where To Buy Your Pergola
The big decision therefore isn’t whether to buy a pergola or not, but whether to buy a storebought pergola or hire a professional team to build and install your pergola. This choice boils down to three factors that you need to weigh up:
- Budget – the big deciding factor for many Calgary homeowners is how much the pergola project will cost. A store bought pergola tends to be the cheaper option as you’re just paying for the materials, and these materials tend to be of lesser quality as customers have to be able to transport them to their homes. It’s a reasonable option to save money if you have the time and knowledge to successfully construct the pergola yourself, but this can be tricky given the size and the construction process. A professional team will cost more, but will get the job done quickly with a much higher quality of material.
- Customization – storebought pergolas tend to come in a one size fits all model in regular square or rectangle footprints. If you’re fortunate enough to have the perfect sized spot, then this might be a good option. However, most Calgary homeowners will find that storebought pergolas will either provide too much or too little coverage. Working with a professional team will allow you to customise all aspects of the pergola from the width to the height to the size of the gaps in the lattice.
- Maintenance – just like any other piece of store bought furniture, you get what’s in the box and nothing more with a storebought pergola. This means that you’re left to your own devices to work out how to maintain and preserve your investment. Wooden pergolas require a yearly maintenance process to keep them looking their best, and a professional pergola install will talk you through this process once the install design. The same is true for aluminium pergolas, and you’ll be able to ask questions about painting and cleaning to keep your pergola looking at its very best.
It’s clear to see that there are some situations in which a store bought pergola might fit your needs, but for the majority of Calgary homeowners, it’s worth paying more for a professional pergola service. You’ll be able to plan out the exact size and location of your pergola, and the installation team will also be able to work with you on any landscaping of your garden (for example, flattening and grading the lawn, putting down a flagstone path out to your pergola, etc) that will help complete your pergola project. Call our team of experts today to start your perfect pergola journey.
