Planning a Pergola - Where to start?

[PaulCanning]

So, don't judge me but here's the back of my house resplendent with stuff thats needed doing for a looooong time, god I wish when I laid that patio in 1995 that I had continued it to the corner of the house!

Essentially Im looking at building a pergola that attaches to the wall of the house all the way along then have 4 posts (4x4inch) from the corner of the patio hidden by the end of the chicken house on the right, all the way to the end of the red line C where I should have extended the patio all those years ago.

Basically something similar to this

pergola01.jpg (327.17 KiB) Viewed 668 times

So, for the upright 4 inch posts I guess it's gotta be concrete realistically? Im wondering though about the use of metpost? I think I'd rather concrete in a metpost and put the post into that rather than concrete a wooden post into the ground?

[sammy.se]

Check these videos out - will give you lots of tips and how to start.

https://youtu.be/6UEcBBUcd-g

[sammy.se]

To answer your question more directly: wood in or on the ground will rot around ground level eventually (the video also explains this). You can create a small concrete footing to ground level (maybe 50cm deep? Others may have a view on that) then use a metal bracket to keep the wooden posts a few inches off the ground. This is the most 'rot proof' way.

Otherwise, stick the wood in the ground, and be prepared to fix in 10 or 15 years time, which isn't a bad deal to be honest.

Metposts won't help you much here.

[sammy.se]

This is the thing I meant:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EUNOH ... bFbY8B70K6

That one is a good brand, cheaper alternatives are available.

[PaulCanning]

Thanks for the vid link, gonna sit and watch them all now

[PaulCanning]

Hmmmm interesting that he built it all up first and then didn't concrete the posts in until very last, never would have thought that was feasable