How to Build a Wooden Pergola

Pergolas are an attractive addition to any garden. They will provide shade in the summer as well as a frame for climbing plants such as wisteria or vines. Pergolas can create a stunning gateway to a particular part of your garden or can cover a patio or seating area.

You can make a pergola from softwood or oak. Either wood will give a good result, but oak is our recommended choice, it’s study with excellent resistance to insect infestation, moisture and decay. It’s been used for structural construction for hundreds of years. Not only will it look great but will last for generations.

Positioning and base

The first thing to decide is where your pergola is going to be positioned. It’s important to have solid foundations such as paving or a concrete base. Make sure your pergola is positioned away from tree roots or underground pipes.

Pergolas can be built to almost any size and shape and can even be fixed to a wall.

Assembly

You need to make sure that the base is square and level. If you are using softwood the posts will need to be fixed to the ground with L brackets screwed to the bottom of the posts and the ground. Alternatively, you can place the posts in concrete planters.

An oak pergola won’t need fixing to the ground because its weight will ensure it doesn’t move.

The two cross members should be positioned on top of the posts, check they are level and square before fixing. Then attach the diagonal braces to the posts and cross members. The top roof members can then be fixed to the cross members ensuring they are equally spaced.

There are several ways of building a pergola:

Whichever method you choose, pergolas are an attractive addition to any garden…

You can hire a tradesman to design and build a pergola from scratch. This is probably the most expensive option as you will have to pay for his time to design and build the pergola plus there’s the cost of the parts.

You can design and build the pergola yourself which can be a fun thing to do but you will need to be reasonably good at DIY and be able to produce an accurate design, so the parts fit together perfectly.

The other option is to buy a Trade Oak Pergola kit. Made from French oak each piece is expertly crafted and will fit together precisely. You can still enjoy building the kit knowing that the finished pergola will last for generations.

There’s one, two and three bay options to choose from or if you want something different the Trade Oak design team will design a Pergola tailored to your requirements. The kit will be delivered to your home. Each frame comes with a pergola design plan with all the parts numbered. The frame parts have labels with corresponding numbers making assembly quick and easy.

Last updated: 26 November 2025