What Does It Cost to Build a Pergola?

Pergolas are a beautiful way to add shade to your garden. When you train trailing vines and flowers to grow over the structure, you’ll have a great garden showpiece. They’re a relatively inexpensive item to build, making them accessible to most homeowners. Here’s what you can expect to pay when you work with pergola builders.

General cost considerations

As you might imagine, the price of a pergola largely depends on its size. The bigger your pergola, the longer it will take to build and the more materials it will require. Whether you go the DIY route or work with contractors, remember that the price can change significantly depending on how large you want the structure to be. If you have a set budget, you may need to scale down to fit.

Material costs

At this time, lumber prices have gone up due to the pandemic. However, you should still be able to purchase all the pressure-treated, high-quality lumber you need for an average-size pergola for under $500. Of course, if you’re building a larger pergola made out of a more expensive wood type, you can expect that cost to go up accordingly.

Generally, you should avoid cutting corners when it comes to the wood type and quality. Investing in good-quality wood will ensure that your pergola lasts as long as possible.

Labor costs

Depending on the contractor, the size of your project and your design, you can expect to pay somewhere around $1,500 to $5,000 for labor. Elaborate, custom designs by a pergola builder are going to cost more than a simple and more traditional design.

When in doubt, call your contractor ahead of time and discuss your budget. They might not be able to make a giant, solid-teak pergola for $2,000, but they will be able to offer you some alternatives that will fit into your budget.

How to save money

If you want to maximize your budget, there are two ways to help keep costs down. First, measure your garden area and create your own blueprint for your pergola builders. If they don’t have to measure the area and create a design, you’ll save money on labor costs.

Second, you can choose to engage your contractor during the off-season, which usually runs from late December to spring. Since this is slower time for most contractors, you can save anywhere from 5 to 30 percent on labor costs. Plus, working in the off-season means your pergola builders will have more time to discuss plans and budget concerns with you.

Clearly, it’s cheaper to build a pergola yourself—and if you’re skilled with construction, that can be a fun project. However, if you want to guarantee that you’ll get a long-lasting, high-quality pergola that looks great, working with a contractor is the way to go.

Buhrt Builders Inc. can help you create the pergola of your dreams. When you call us today, we’ll work to design and build the perfect garden accent for your yard. We look forward to assisting you!

Categorised in: Pergolas

This post was written by Writer