Pergola Update: Nasty to Nice

Today we are back with an update on our yard. This is one of the first projects we tackled this year. (Rewinding all the way back to April).

 

 

That scary picture above is our backyard pergola when we moved into our house. A lovely sight, isn't she? I'm shocked people weren't lining up to purchase this welcoming home. Overgrown ivy, odd paint choices, warped deck boards, and a wonky fan. That's what dreams are made of, folks. All kidding aside, we were actually really excited to have this feature. Yeah, we're kinda crazy. 

 

 

Here's another angle of the beauty. You're welcome. I just want you to get the full scale of what we were dealing with.

 

If you take a closer look, she's really not that bad.

 

Who wants to join me for a glass of wine sparkling cider under those bistro lights?

A little bit of hard work and we got this little pergola looking much more acceptable for lounging. Here's a breakdown of what we did to make her look party-ready.

First, we cut the ivy clear to the ground, removed stalks from the beams and posts and sanded the tendrils off the wood.

Then, we removed the dated, decorative lattice and unnecessary wooden slats. We painted the posts and beams using Behr's Exterior flat black paint (two coats).

Next, we replaced the gray and warped Trex deck boards with pressure treated wood. Yes, we know Trex is a superior product. But when someone installs Trex incorrectly, it gets really, really ugly. Three months later (after allowing the pressure treated wood to dry out), we stained the boards using Behr's Semi-Transparent Coffee.



The ivy clearly didn't suffer any damage from cutting it back. We now plan to cut back the ivy each year to control the growth (that stuff grows like crazy).

And lastly (for now), we had new electrical ran for the outdoor fan and outlet box. Prior to this, there was an extension cord wired to the fan that ran through a window in the garage. Anytime we wanted to turn on the fan and lights we had to plug the extension cord in and risk shorting out the entire house. We thought it would be best to hire out the electrical work this time. I didn't want to fry my little growing babe!

Then we enjoyed the shade for the rest of the summer.

 

We aren't done working on this pergola just yet. We have some plans for the area around the structure. 

 

We'll remove the gravel (hopefully before the snow falls) and lay flagstones for a natural looking pathway leading to the deck off the kitchen.

Next year we will remove the pavers and replace with a low maintenance walkway (stamped concrete, better looking pavers, or exposed aggregate). We are also playing around with the idea of placing a sun and rain barrier on top of the pergola (like a metal corrugated roof). We're open to ideas!

For now, the hubs and I are pretty excited to have a shady spot to kick back (and look at pictures of this neglected little house before we got our hands on it).

Here's the before...



And where we are today. (Okay, I started this blog post in July... so here is what it looked like then). Picture more ivy and less blooming rose bush.

Can't wait to share more exterior updates with you soon!