How to Build a Garage Pergola | This Old House

Use milled brackets and pressure-treated lumber to create an elegant canopy over your garage door. (See below for a shopping list and tools.) SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse The garage door is the first thing most of us see when we arrive home, so it better be a sight worthy of admiration. Impossible? Not at all: Perching a pergola upon shapely brackets adds architectural dimension and intriguing shadow lines to this otherwise utilitarian entry point. Our approach calls for mounting ready-made brackets to the door s casing—and the framing behind it—then attaching an assembly of rafters and purlins shaped to complement your home s existing trim. Follow along as This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers guides you through making this decorative structure, which looks as good freshly installed as it would draped in flowering vines. Shopping List for How to Build a Garage Pergola: - 2x4 pressure-treated lumber, get three 12-foot boards for the rafters - 2x2 pressure-treated balusters, get six 8-footers to make the purlins - 24-by-24-inch cedar side brackets, get two - 3_-by-24-inch cedar center bracket, get one - 3_-inch deck screws, get a 1-pound box - 2_-inch deck screws, get a 1-pound box - acrylic adhesive caulk, get one tube - _-inch wood plugs, get one package - solid-color acrylic exterior stain, get 1 gallon Tools for How to Build a Garage Pergola: - clamps - combination square - 1-gallon paint can - jigsaw - 120-grit sandpaper - miter saw - 2_-inch sash brush - drill/driver - _-inch combination countersink bit - _-inch bit - bit extender with flexible shaft - caulk gun - level - tape measure   Brackets: Port Orford cedar Original style end bracket, about $88, and Contemporary style center support, about $55, Auer-Jordan [http://arbororiginal.com/]. Looking for more step by step guidance on how to complete projects around the house? Join This Old House INSIDER to stream over 1,000 episodes commercial-free: https://bit.ly/2GPiYbH Plus, download our FREE app for full-episode streaming to your connected TV, phone or tablet: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/pages/streaming-app Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House: Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter http://bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest Instagram: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseIG http://bit.ly/AskTOHIG For more on This Old House and Ask This Old House, visit us at: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseWebsite How to Build a Garage Pergola | This Old House https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/