This was painful to assemble, dealing with warped wood pieces and hardware that didn't line up, screws that loved to cross-thread, and instructions that were changed and changed again leading to re-assembly after assembling once because a direction was missed or a pilot hole misaligned. Realize if you get this you'll need two people, 6' ladder, tools and lots of time and patience. When built it looks fine even with the imperfections. But what really bothered me was that the photos show an integrated electrical outlet with a plug on top for lights that feeds through the post. Nope - you get a surface mount power strip with very little weatherproofing.

I bought this item (in store) recently and thanks to a good friend was able to make a lot of progress in assembling. I had seen the comments and reviews here that indicated that assembly of this Pergola is basically a two person job. I can confirm that is the case and that you will also want to take your time to sort through the pieces and go slowly so you don't have to (hopefully) disassemble and reassemble parts. Even if you do take your time though poor identification/labeling of the various parts will likely mean you will have to work around issues or wind up do the dis- and reassemble dance. To explain - the parts have stamped identification numbers on the ends. Yay. What they lack though is good solid indicators of which way parts should be oriented. There are multiple parts, such as the corner posts, that should be oriented with an eye towards "inside" and "outside" so that the posts face each other as they should and more so that the pilot holes that were drilled in the posts are where they are supposed to be. If you miss this orientation you'll wind up having to drill holes in the pieces (posts as an example) because the pre-drilled pilot holes are on the wrong side of the posts. The pictures that are in the instructions and the written instructions don't at all make clear this issue so you are left not knowing of this until you are much further along and chances that you'll want to deal with the required rearranging of the parts (after you disassemble and reassemble) are not very high. Similarly, the beams that you assemble for the length across the top area have predrilled pilot holes that are meant to allow you to easily screw (lag bolt) the rafters down. If you didn't know in advance to look for those pilot holes and make sure you orient the beams properly you'll find that you will need to drill new pilot holes and may have a tougher time getting the parts aligned and spaced out as they should be. Myself and my friend were lucky enough to get one side right so we could use the spacing from that side to get things closer to correct but then I was left having to mark what should have been the bottom of the opposing beam with marks where the pilot holes were (which were at that point on the bottom of the beam). Buyers also need to be aware that this item comes in 10 foot length boxes. That may confuse buyers because the longest length for this Pergola is 14 foot. This is accomplished by having the pieces overlap/butt up against other pieces in strategic spots. (For example, where you see the curved arch supports coming up from the posts to the beams). This is also done for the boards that run across the length of the top. Those come in two parts (some of the other parts come as 3 parts that are joined together) and are joined pretty much in the middle, one angle cut meeting another angle cut. Assembling those pieces can be a little tedious but at least the pieces are smaller and lighter for handling during most of the time you are working with them. In the end, I'm happy with this item, though will be a bit frustrated with needing to oil/stain and seal it to protect it.

Love my pergola! We bought this on clearance out of season and just love it. It's now been in our backyard for 4 years and still looks great. It's the centerpiece to our outdoor space and kitchen. Gets tons of complements. Not difficult to put together, but did take two full days with just myself and my tiny wife. We didn't anchor it to the foundation, but it has never moved and it has been in very big storms. Love the barnwood color too. Blends in very well. Recently added the Sam's Griddle that is in store on sale. Note: We were quoted $5000-$7,500 to have a similar pergola built locally.

Not bad for the money. Sturdy. Looks nice. Only problem we’re the predrilled holes didn’t always line up, some of the wood was splintered and the stain wasn’t wasn’t done evenly. But again, minor imperfections that I don’t mind. Was done with 3 people in an afternoon. Can’t wait to decorate with lights and enjoy.

Easy to assemble, beautiful and elegant look for any yard.

This was such a great price! Decent assembly. Took longer than expected but we are extremely happy. Sturdy and an unbeatable price.

I bought this on 7/8/23 It's very stable , it's real solid wood, I got it at a great price, $633.99 . I will be adding a galvanized tin covering to the too soon . Love it , my lil get away!!!!

We shopped around and when we saw the Backyard Discovery Somerville Pergola, we knew it would give just the look we wanted for our patio. It looks like it was custom made for our space. It took some time and concentration to assemble but the finished product was worth it.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I built a patio in our back yard and we added this pergola to that space. It is now a beautiful feature that is also functional with the power ports. I was able to sting some colorful outdoor lights around the top of the pergola so we can set the mood after dark. I was also able to build a removable projector mount that allows us to watch movies projected onto a nearby wall. We're really enjoying the space more than we imagined! Building the pergola was a little challenging at times because a couple of the long bolts cross-threaded into their respective nuts...so they ended up locking up and stripped the threads. There were a couple of extra nuts/bolts so it wasn't a major concern. However even with the extras, there was 1 long bolt that I simply have to live with knowing that it didn't fasten completely/tightly. All-in-all, I am very satisfied with this pergola and would definitely recommend it to others.

Purchased this Pergola on-line, it was delivered in multiple boxes. We have a long steep driveway and the delivery company dropped the boxes at the bottom of the driveway. Not acceptable since other companies have delivered to our doorstep. For the price the pergola is good value for money. The instructions are easy to follow and for the most part it fits together fairly easily. Its a 2 person job and I was able to assemble it over the weekend with my wife. Some of the bolts used to hold the base to the top are a bit short, longer bolts would make it easier to assemble and provide more threads for the nuts to hold on to. We live in southern CA and the slats provide some shade, I recommend adding a Pergola Shade Cover for additional protection.