Young House Love

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Planning And Prepping A Carport Pergola

What carport? This carport. You know, the one that almost kept us from considering this house because we were so anti-carport? My how we’ve changed our tune after spending a few years with it…

Pergola Before Straight

Sherry actually mentioned the new tune we’re signing back in this Listy McListerson post: “we originally wanted to convert this into a garage, but now we’re leaning towards adding a trellis arch so it’s all lush and pretty like a carport with a pergola instead of being closed in and dark like a garage (we’d lose some light from two windows into the laundry room and office if we closed it in).”

The lost windows were a big game changer, since we learned that fire codes would require us to close them off. See this guy over our built-in desk? It would be gone-zo along with the window in the laundry room.

Office1

We also got over our need for garage storage because our basement and attic have proven more than sufficient. So Operation Garage Conversion has officially become Operation Carport Fancification. Our main tactic? Adding the architectural interest that Sherry described above. In short, taking it from something like this…

Pergola Before Side

…to something like this. Just more real, less Photoshop-tacular. And maybe with some nice greenery running up it.

Pergola Rendering

If that Photoshop job isn’t doing it for you (it’s barely doing it for me) the first image in this article might. It wasn’t until we started hunting for inspiration that I realized attached pergolas are a thing. Some fancy folks even dub them “garage arbors.” So the idea of a carport arbor (a “carbor”?) didn’t seem that far-fetched. But figuring out how to actually build one had me all like…

Cali Fred

Then Google led us to Workbench Magazine. Well, specifically this 2008 article on – you guessed it – building an attached garage pergola.

Pergola Worchbench Screengrab

And it wasn’t just any article. It was an article with building plans and diagrams. Glorious, glorious diagrams.

Pergola Workbench Diagrams

And, as if the pergola heavens were shining down upon us, their plan was just about the exact size of what we needed to do, so we could follow their material and cut list almost to a T. Hallelujah. So I printed out the plans and made myself a date with the Lowe’s rental truck.

Pergola Lowes Truck

After finding the plans, and buying and hauling back all of our materials, we were finally able to get a start building this weekend, and the first step was installing an extra column on the house-side of the carport (since we needed a place for the pergola brace on that side to attach).

Pergola John Hammering Post

We’re currently in the process of rerouting the drainpipe, priming and painting a lot of wood, making our own curved wooden braces, and cutting all of the slats for the top part. So if all goes well, we should have that knocked out by early next week so we’ll be back with a post full o’ details for you guys then. The plans involve some fairly intricate cutting and bracing (at least by my standards) so we’ll have to see how all that goes. Wish us luck!

Gimme Five

People ask us how we get the courage to take on larger building projects like this a lot, and our answer is always “break them down into smaller parts so your brain doesn’t explode.” So to demonstrate that, here’s our own broken-out pergola to-do list:

  • find or create our own plans
  • figure out exactly what pieces of wood/screws/bolts we need and somehow get them home <–we rented a Lowe’s truck for $20 to get the 16′ boards home
  • prime and paint the wood beforehand (should be much easier to do this before things are assembled) <– this is about half done, hence the half cross out
  • build a column on the left side of the carport so the bracket on that side can rest on it
  • build the curved wooden braces and bolt them in securely
  • lay the boards and slats across the top, making sure they’re all level and secure
  • find some vine to creep up the thing for extra credit

Anyone else out there ever built a pergola? Who thinks HGTV should add Pimp My Carport to their programming? Just me?

Psst- I wrote this for Boston.

Comments

  2. Bria S. says

    I am loving the use of gifs in this post. Gifs get me everytime. every. time. have you ever read the goodreads review on 50 shades of Grey that is gif-loaded? its just too too funny.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Bikes are in the basement and we only have two strollers, so one is always in the car trunk and one is folded up in our walk in closet of all places.

      xo
      s

  4. Cathy M. says

    So excited to see this post! We took out some old nasty sliders last year and replaced them with French doors. This is exactly what I have been wanting to do above them. So, not only did you find the perfect plans, but also I can wait and see what you learn from it before attempting it myself. Can’t wait to see how it looks. I know it will be amazing! :-)

    Reply

  5. Katie says

    Cool idea! This reminds me of the ivy/grape vine (not sure what kind?) covered driveways in Astoria, NY. The big leaves growing on arbors over the drives keep the cars out of the sun. They always look so lush and pretty in the summer!

    Reply

  6. Erika says

    Oooh, I can’t wait to see the final reveal! I’ve been wanting to add a small deck and pergola to the back of our house so I’m looking forward to see how yours turns out. Love that you guys chose to embrace the carport, losing the windows and natural light to laundry room and office would have been a bummer.

    Reply

  7. Heather says

    Okay, I have a nearly photographic memory, so hopefully that makes this sound less stalkerish/weird, but didn’t you guys want to convert the carport for privacy issues? I remember that being one of the reasons you nearly passed on this house. What’s changed with that? (That’s one of the reasons I require a garage, so I’m really curious.)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Great question! We didn’t love the idea of people knowing when we were away on vacation (or on tour) thanks to seeing a missing car when we were gone. But then we realized that in most cases John’s parents drive us to the airport so we leave our car behind right in our carport! Haha! So it never really looks abandoned like we feared. I also think our crazy alarm system here gives us a lot of peace of mind. It talks to us. Haha!

      xo
      s

  9. Alicia says

    I swear you guys are like the blogiverse version of my husband and me. Every time we start talking about a project/purchase, you guys post the perfect link/tutorial/suggestion. Love it!

    Reply

  11. CC says

    Love this idea! Plus you don’t have to deal with pesky malfunctioning garage door openers! One question I have is- where do you store large size garden equipment that you have to use on a weekly basis e.g. lawnmower, wheelbarrow etc.? Do you have a shed or something behind your home?

    Reply

  12. Samantha says

    Love this! Can’t wait to see the finished project! We have a yellow Jasmine vine (I think it’s called Carolina Jasmine) and love it because it doesn’t turn brown and lose it’s leaves in the winter and in the spring it blooms tons of yellow flowers. Smells so good! I actually posted a picture of ours a couple days ago on my blog because it’s exploding with flowers!

    Reply

  15. Lauren says

    If you decide to go with wisteria (and who wouldn’t? It is so pretty!) please use American Wisteria. The Chinese and Japanese forms are invasive are actually really bad for the ecosystem.

    Reply

  16. steph says

    This is going to look awesome!! Can’t wait. Let us know if you land any good intel on climbing/flowering plants too. . .you know, if you have time ; )

    Reply

  17. Annabelle says

    Have you thought of growing grapes on your pergola? A lady down my street grows the most delicious juicy ones on hers… and this is in the Boston area!

    Reply

  18. steph says

    This is going to look awesome!! Can’t wait. Let us know if you land any good intel on climbing/flowering plants too. . .you know, if you have time ; )

    *edit: readers have already given some great vine advice! wonderful : )

    Reply

  19. Paige says

    We just built a pergola on the side of our town home that didn’t have any windows. (We live on the end of the row) We also used those exact same plans, but modified them to better fit our needs. Hope your project turns out as good as ours did!

    Reply

  21. jeannette says

    i’ve said this before, and i will say it again in the teeth of the horrific news of last week.

    i read this blog when things are going very, very badly. (and also when they’re not.)

    and the reality that you two get up every day and do something creative, resurrect an old house/dumpster furniture/upcycle kitchen cabinets and write about it with such seemingly unflagging love, generosity and (mostly) good taste, with such a professional demeanor in a new medium in a disgusting economy, makes me feel as if something much bigger than just young house love is happening here. the positivity is a decision, i know. when the going gets tough, the positive get pergolas.

    love and thanks.

    Reply

  22. vickielovesjeff says

    Will be lovely, guys! I have had these exact plans printed out and stashed in my future projects file for about a year now. So happy you are going before me and preparing the way! Looking forward to following your progress!

    Reply

  24. Kala M. says

    This should look really nice once you are finished. I’m thinking you two have been reading all of Roo’s “This is how I feel” posts where she uses a bunch of gif’s. Pretty funny! Those are some of my favorite posts that she does.

    Reply

  26. Carla says

    I’m excited about this project. I’ve also been a big fan of carports. They’re so clean and fresh looking, and really charming. My husband and I are going to buy a small, old home next year, and one of our requirements is a detached garage that’s set back from the house. It makes things look less chunky and more rustic and sweet.

    The pergola is going to be an awesome addition. It’d also look great if you were to build a long narrow workbench along the house wall, something that looks like your desk top or the long console in your family room. It’d be a big help for setting groceries on and having a few baskets for hats and gloves.

    I can’t wait to see this project finished!

    Reply

  27. Sarah M says

    I have been loving this blog and website for awhile, but now I’m officially in love! When you post clips from SNL, you take it to a whole ‘notha level. Your sense of humor rocks! I don’t have a carport, but if I wanted to plant vines I hear that wisteria takes a long time to produce blooms. And creep. I would opt for clematis, it’s very hardy and easy to maintain. My mom has one that she barely has to take care of. Can’t wait to see the project to fruition!

    Reply

  28. Bonnie says

    What a great idea! Wish I could do that. I know other people have chimed in on this, but may I suggest some sort of native wisteria, like wisteria frutescens?

    Reply

  29. Carolyn says

    I’ve been wanting to put one of these on the front of my garage! Now I have the plans! Also….FYI Wysteria is highly invasive, and has a very short bloom period. Try a carefree thornless rose “Lady Banks”, clemetis, Carolina or Confederate Jasmine (evergreen)!

    Reply

  30. Sarah M says

    I like the pergola idea!

    A word of caution: I’m sure y’all have checked into building codes, etc., to make sure that you’re affixing the pergola to the house using appropriate screws and flashing and whatnot…but I wanted to put a reminder here! :-)

    I only mention it because my fiancé and I are trying to close on a house this Friday, and the homeowners built a deck and trellis seemingly without consulting any building codes or plans–so now the trellis is pulling away from the house, and there is water intrusion around the back door from where they neglected to install flashing when affixing the trellis to the back side of the house. Yikes!

    Reply

  31. Ellen says

    I love this idea sooooo much! That is just what my boring garage door façade needs! Beginning to plan my attack…

    Reply

  32. Kevin J says

    Awesome plan, guys. For a vine, look into hops — you know, what they use in beer. Cool vine and really need “cones.” Also, because you don’t have enough to do, maybe also put a pergola along the porch to tie together the two post-y structures? Whatever you do, it’s great.

    Reply

  33. janice says

    oh oh oh, WOW! YAY! and AWESOME! I have a carport that I have a non-plussed/hate relationship with and I could totally do this off the side of mine! I would probably get some prefab archy-bracey things and then add on to that…..but wow, this is perfect timing! YAY! So how did you add that brace beam there? Attached to house? Cement floor? Both? Do I really have to wait until next week? That would be excruciatingly painful. (I SO need a drill that can tackle cinder block and concrete and brick…..)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, I promise we’ll spill all the beans as soon as we can! There were metal brace pieces and a hammer drill involved, but we’re taking pics all the way through, so no detail will be spared :)

      xo,
      s

  35. Jenn says

    Maybe I’m your only reader with attention span issues– squirrel!–but those gifs on perma-loop were beyond distracting while I was trying to read this post.

    Can’t wait to see how that carbor turns out. Ooh, another squirrel!

    Reply

  36. nick says

    I don’t know if I’m in the minority, but I don’t love garages that face the same direction as the front of the house; it adds such a block, bland feel to an otherwise architecturally interesting facade. Because y’all have that basement like John said, you’ll keep the carport nice and clean, and that pergola will really add a bunch of character. An overall wise and money-saving decision, I think.

    Reply

  38. Karen says

    This is great. I have been wanting to do this to our garage. We live on a block where ‘all houses look the same’.. so I figured something like this would add some personality to our place. I look forward to seeing the results! And SO handy that you found plans for me! ha

    Reply

  39. Courtney S. says

    How awesome that you don’t have to use your carport/almost garage to store stuff! Makes me want to go all Niecy Nash and throw out everything in our garage :) However, I do wonder where you keep everything you use to keep your yard/house/whatever looking nice – lawn mower, clippers, sheers, wheelbarrow, ladder, etc. Do you have a shed somewhere?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The wheelbarrow and lawn mower are in the back yard tucked in a convenient but hidden spot. All the yard stuff like clippers and blowers are in the basement. John lives his pegboards for most yard stuff!

      xo,
      s

  41. Kim S says

    I am SO excited to see the finished product! We have a carport too, and ever since you guys bought this house I’ve been waiting to see what you would do with yours. We too thought about closing ours in, but it would be SUCH a tiny garage that it just makes way more sense to leave it open. And like you guys (and some other commenters) have mentioned, it’s a great place for congregating during a party! My husband occasionally hosts Guys’ Game Nights where he has his friends over to play Risk or poker, and they’ve started setting up a table outside in the carport with coolers all around…let’s just say no one would ever plan to host a party in a garage, but in the carport, it works!

    Reply

  42. katrina says

    Ah, the Californians! My favorite one is when Stewart finds out he has cancer, and the doctor immediately consoles him with how much parking is available at the treatment center.

    “You can do it Stewart! I know a short cut through El Segundo!”

    Reply

  43. Kate says

    My husband and I built a (giant) pergola in our backyard many years ago and we love it. We planted wisteria at the base of each of the four posts and it has completely taken off – now it’s thick and lush and about to bloom again in a few weeks. And now we are building a smaller one over our garage doors, similar to the one you are building! The wood was delivered just two days ago, and we’ll get going this weekend. Good luck with yours!

    Reply

  44. Julie says

    Ahhhh I’m so excited about this project! We’re replacing a sliding door out to our back yard and it looks so blah and plain from the outside. I literally spent HOURS this weekend researching pergolas/arbors but I couldn’t find anything wide enough – we need 8+ feet to get around the door – and I was almost pulling my hair our. I figured it would be too hard to DIY but this plan looks amazing and I can’t wait to see how you execute it. I might be right behind you building one. The only modification I’d want to try is extending some sort of post down to give a vine something to creep up on.

    Reply

  45. Todd says

    I am really interested to see your approach to building your own curved braces because I am hoping to build a bracket support portico over my front door and want the similar design to what you’ve shown.

    Also, I’ve recently finished adapting our arbor/pergola in the back of our house. As you’re looking for a vine, I suggest considering Confederate Jasmine and Carolina Jessamine as two nice, flowering, evergreen vines. Confederate Jasmine has a particularly fantastic smell when it’s in bloom- like vanilla.

    Reply

  46. Megan says

    Perfect timing! Not more than two days ago, I squealed loudly while shoving an iPAD into my husband’s face to reveal a Pinterest post of a pergola over a garage. I really want to do this on our house (including the greenery for extra credit) to help set us apart from the rest of the houses in the neighborhood. I will definitely be referring back to these posts whenever we get around to tackling this project. However, there are about a million other outdoor tasks that need to be crossed of the Master List before moving on.

    Reply

  47. alg says

    OK, totally off topic. So unlike me… haha.
    I’m half-loving-half-freaked-out-by those little looping clips of Fred Armisen & Snow White. They’re, like, trippin’ me out, man.
    How’d you do that? And please tell me I’m not the oldest person on the planet for not already knowing… My 42nd birthday is coming up & I’m already depressed enough ;)

    Reply

  48. heather says

    This is entirely random as far as growing, but I’m all for edible landscaping. Did you know you can vertically grow (climbing) squash, cucumbers, etc? I would be inclined to forget the flowers and grow vegetables every year haha. Then again, I am biased. I don’t purposly grow anything I can’t eat.

    Ain’t nobody got time for that. (YoutubeIt)

    Reply

  49. allison says

    I just really need to get this out there: thanks for making links open in a new tab! :) It really makes my blog-reading (and procrastinating) more pleasant!

    Reply

  50. Bren says

    Love your blog! I even read the comments all the way to the end because there’s even more good info there. :D That carport is awesome. I just walked thru my garage (ugh, what a mess, man, what a mess) and thought wish this was a pergolaport!

    Reply

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