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DIY Clear Corrugated Covered Pergola Attached to the House and an Existing Deck

April 29, 2019 / 1,740 Comments

Covering our deck has been on the to-do list since last year when we refinished our old deck with new paint and stain. For this project we built a DIY covered pergola attached to the house and attached to our existing deck. We then covered the DIY pergola with clear corrugated plastic roofing sheets to create a dry, sunny, outdoor living space. Here is the complete DIY tutorial for building a clear corrugated covered pergola attached to the house and an existing deck!

Before & After Photos

On the left you can see the deck before we stained and painted it followed by the deck before we added the DIY pergola. The photo on the right shows the deck with the finished pergola.

Are you ready for the tutorial? First we had to rip out that arbor. After that we were ready to begin. Here is the complete DIY covered pergola tutorial!

Tools:

  • Circular Saw
  • Drill
  • Right angle drill with 5/8″ x 16″ auger bit

Step 1: Build the Pergola

First you will need to install your vertical supports and your horizontal beam. Just make sure you won’t need to be replacing your roof anytime soon before you begin! It always makes sense just to check that the structure around the supports is solid. Just a quick examination of the surroundings ought to be enough. You could tear out your existing deck supports and use a solid support however, we opted to extend the existing supports using a bracket. As far as wood goes, you can use pressure treated wood or cedar. Pressure treated wood is much cheaper, and comes in in either incised or non-incised. We opted for non-incised (though its slightly more expensive than incised) on all the pieces except the beam (because it wasn’t available in our area) and then wrapped the beam in 1×6″ cedar to hide the incisions.

Supplies:

  • Post support brackets for 4×4″ wood (2)
  • 4×4″ vertical wood supports (2) we cut a 10′ beam in 1/2 and used 5′ lengths to reach our desired height of 8′ at the end of our pergola
  • 4×6″ horizontal support beam (1) we used a 16′ beam, the width of our deck
  • 2×6″ plank of wood to attach to the house as the ledger (1) we used a 16′ long plank
  • 2×4″ wood joist slats (9) we used 12′ long wood slats, spaced 24″ apart spanned across our 16′ wide deck (we used 9 total)
  • 2×4″ wood – 8′ length (2) we used these to add additional support to the vertical 4×4″ supports
  • 2-in x 4-in 18-Gauge Triple Zinc Face Mount Joist Hanger – to attach the wood slats to the house (9) you will need one for each wood slat you attach to the house
  • 5-2/7-in 18-Gauge Triple Zinc Steel Rafter Tie Brackets – to attach joist slats to the horizontal support beam (9) you will need one for each wood slat you attach to the beam
  • 5″ ledger board fastener, 5/16″ hex head coated (7) use as many as you feel necessary, we used 7, spaced 24″ apart
  • 8″ lag bolts (4)
  • Cut existing caps off where the vertical supports will be attached
  • You will need to drill a hole for this bracket to drop into, between the posts
  • Drill a hole in the existing vertical support
  • Cut new support to size
  • Attach new support using this bracket (the bottom of the bracket has a long pole you insert in the existing support)
  • Repeat for the other side of the pergola
  • Place the horizontal beam on the vertical supports. Add an 8′ 2×4″ wood as additional structural support
  • Clamp in place and add a temporary support
  • Screw the 2×4″ wood into the beam and the supports, then remove the temporary support

Note that we simply screwed the beam into the 4×4″ supports using 8″ lag bolts (2 per post) to secure their attachment. The temporary supports are to hold this structure in place until it is secured to the house.

After the supports and beam are in place, you can work on attaching it to the house. We used a 16′ long 2×4″ piece of wood which we attached to the house with lag bolts, and then spaced 9x 12′ long 2×4″ slats spaced 24″ apart. No siding was removed – the bolts are strong enough to go through the siding and into the framing. We selected this height for our ledger because it is in line with the ceiling, where we know there would be wood framing to support the attachment of the roof.

  • Attach your wood joist slats to the house with ledger fastners
  • Measure and place your joist hanger brackets, then place your wood slats in the bracket and secure
  • Place all the wood slats, measure and ensure even placement
  • Using these other brackets, secure your wood slats to the horizontal beam
  • Here’s a look at the wood slats secured to the beam
  • Add 16′ 1×6″ cedar plank to both sides of the beam to hide the incisions on the wood
  • Overview of the pergola with all wood slats installed

Step 2: Install the Clear Corrugated Roof

Next, you will install the wood roof supports on top of the wood slats and then install the clear corrugated roof on top of these roof supports. As far as painting goes, you should at least paint the wood roof supports before installing them because once the roof is attached it will be very hard to paint, and impossible to paint the top (which you can see from above).

Supplies:

  • Corrugated roof panels (8) we used 8x 26″ wide panels at 12′ lengths from Home Depot (Palruf brand – 26 in. x 12 ft. Clear PVC Roofing Panel)
  • Horizontal plastic closure strips, packs of 6 (8) we used 8 packs of 6 to cover our 4 roof supports at 16′ long each support
  • 2×2″ wood roof supports (4) we used 8x 8′ lengths, but you could use 4x 16′ lengths, or whatever length you need for your project to at least create 4 roof supports across the top
  • 1.5″ Decking screws (100)
  • 1.5″ Fastener Screws (100)
  • Place your 2×2″ wood roof supports on top of the wood slats, spacing evenly. We did 3.5′ spacing
  • Install the plastic closure strips on the wood roof supports, snapping together as you go. Make sure they line up so the roof will sit properly in them. Screw to the wood at the lower part of the closure strip using 1.5″ decking screws
  • Install the corrugated roof one panel at a time so you can reach all the areas you need to screw down
  • Place your first sheet of corrugated roofing, ensure that it sits in the supports properly
  • Here’s how the roof should look sitting in the closure strips properly
  • Carefully screw in the roof one panel at a time with the 1.5″ fastners, either predrill the holes or gently screw down as to not crack the roofing.
  • Here’s how one panel should look installed
  • Here is 2 panels installed
  • Here is a look at all the panels installed
  • Cut your roof panels if needed so they are at your desired length

Step 3: Paint

We used the same paint that we previously painted the deck, which is easy to paint on, and durable for outdoor projects: Glidden Premium Exterior Paint, satin, white. We used a combination of rollers and brushes, making sure our deck was covered with drop cloths as we worked. The painting itself took nearly a whole day.

The Finished Project

It is so nice to have a DIY covered pergola with a clear corrugated roof. Now the relentless Seattle rain won’t stop us from enjoying our outdoor space year round! This DIY project only took us 3 days start to finish, and was fairly straightforward. I hope this helps you on your own DIY pergola and clear corrugated roof installation!

Answers to some of my readers questions:

  • This project cost us approx. $800, though we already owned all the power tools
  • Our deck is 16′ wide and 10′ deep
  • The roof is Palruf brand, we found it at Home Depot
  • We did not remove any siding, we attached the ledger directly into the siding of the house
  • The height from the deck to the top of the ledger on the house is 9′ which creates about a 1′ difference from the house to the edge of the pergola, and it is perfect for the slope to keep the rain draining properly (even in the heavy rain we see in Washington)
  • The edge of the corrugated plastic roof hangs over the last support just slightly to line up with the edges of our house, which is slightly farther out than the deck railing – it was simply a matter of aesthetic preference when we did this – we actually plan to add more roofing even farther out to protect against the rain dripping off the edge onto the deck
  • The support slats for the roofing are spaced approximately 24″ apart. We centered the first one and then spaced out evenly on either side except for the last support on one side which had to be slightly closer to line up with the ledger at about 22″ (the farthest part of the house we could attach it to) We wanted them as even as possible, and the outside slats to line up with the deck railing
  • We did 4 cross supports, we could have added more or done less, we just guessed and so far it seems like the perfect amount of space
  • This project cost us around $800 for wood, roofing, paint and all materials – we already owned the tools
  • We have had it for a year and so far no leaks or holes
  • It does need to be gently sprayed off at least yearly because of the moss from our second floor gutter that drops on it
  • We had 2 weeks of heavy snow over the past year and it did not damage the pergola

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