Overall, the finished pergola was very satisfactory. The pieces all fit, the directions were clear and concise, and assembly was pretty straightforward. One issue that cost us time and money was the 7 1/4" bolts used for the first steps were not threaded far enough to allow them to tighten the initial cross pieces. They would bottom out in the barrel nut with nearly a half inch to go. We had to purchase stainless steel nuts to use instead of the supplied barrel nuts. Despite this frustrating start to our assembly, the rest went fairly well and we're satisfied with the finished product. However, I'm sure that a less experienced builder would have major issues with this quality control issue.

The manufacturer added a plastic cap at the top of the 4 posts, but didn't lengthen the bolts. The caps are affixed with nail gun staples and must be removed for the bolts to fit through the width of the post and top crossbeams. Unfortunately you find this out (if you figure it out) right the most critical and dangerous part of the assembly. Normally this would only subtract a couple of stars, but my wife insisted on holding it while I went for a tool and we had a bad crash as she shifted on the ladder. She's okay, but the pergola had a piece broken. Also they had packed before the stain dried and pieces had styrofoam glued to the beam. Taking it off required solvent that removed stain as well.

If you're thinking about buying this pergola, think again. Poorly made. Very unstable after put together. If I have it a good shove I'm sure it'll all come down. Also a lot of the top pieces, the purlins, don't match up. Some are cut too short so there are gaps. I was thinking about building my own but saw this in sale and thought it be great but was wrong.

We are very happy with this pergola. Although it was a little tricky to do over a pond, we got it done. We had no problems putting together, instructions were clear as well as numbered pieces. We did have a problem with a side board peeling, but called CS and another is being sent out.

My wife and I just began fixing our new backyard up. This Pergola has been a great addition and we can't wait to see it with plants and other furniture around. Wood seems solid and well put together. I sealed with a clear sealer so didn't lose color.

We were looking to buy this pergola 2 years ago from Sams CLub when the price was $799.00....in 2022 the price rose to $999.00. Being a craftsman, i could have easily made a project out of this pergola, but in today's world, i'm sure if i would have bought the wood, screws, stain, etc myself...+ my time and supplies...that it would have equaled the cost! Overall, the unit went together easily - one person could do it with some sawhouses and supports, but erecting the unit was definitely a 2 person job. The instructions were clear and the pieces labelled inconspiciously. Overall, a very nice accent to out yard!

Took a while to find one in stock at my local Sam's club, but jumped on it when it came in. Took it home, and immediately applied waterproofing to all of the boards prior to assembly. The next day, after everything was dry I assembled the whole pergola on my back deck in about 4 hours, then moved it into position and used some different brackets to secure it down. It has transformed my back deck and we will be spending a lot more time outside because of it.

Perfect

Nice addition to the side of the house where we had to get many trees cut due to pine beetles killing the trees! We NEEDED something in this space to take up the terrible empty spot created by the tree cutting. We weren't invested into hauling lumber ourselves and trying to figure out how to build the thing so when we saw the great price point of this product, especially as compared to having someone come in to build one, we figured we couldn't go wrong. Just my husband and I put it together (60 y/o couple) over two days about 4-5 hours each day. We did lay out and organize the parts in the garage first and applied a coat of wood sealer. The lumber is very light weight and wondering about the long term durability of it, but we are planning to keep it sealed and hope it lasts a long time.

Love the pergola but very hard to assemble. The bolts weren’t long enough to use with all of the washers. We finally gave up on the washers and assembled without it. I wish the hardware was better. That is my only complaint. Better hardware would have made assembly easy and we could have used the washers.we will see how long it lasts without washers.