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.

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.

I ordered this online and paid way more. Saw it in my local store for $799 and they had a few in stock. So of course I purchased it. It took my guys about 3.5 hours to put it together (they are professionals) and it looks amazing. Highly recommend and if you can get it in store DO IT! This Pergola is excellent quality and will last! I’m very happy with my purchase!

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.

This took 4 people approximately 6 hrs to put together. The paper instructions were lacking. The app could not find the exact model. With that said, one board was cracked and one piece of hardware was missing. Still, would buy again because it looks great and the price was right.

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.

Happy as a clam with our pergola, got it up in one day with help from a friend. Did my homework on the "Chinese Cedar" (C. Lanceolata) and which settled my concerns about longevity compared to western red cedar. Granted, I wouldn't mind having the wrc but wanted a kit and, quite frankly, those were w-a-y more expensive. And yes, there are cons, but not enough to offset my overall elation with the look. Pros: • Looks great! Absolutely love the color of the stain! • Lightweight pieces, very easy to handle • Installation not too terribly difficult and for 'most part' was hiccup-free • The electrical is rather nifty; not high tech, but nifty nonetheless. Cons: • Not at all a fan of the post bases, not enough meat to make me feel comfortable with anything more than a breeze. Recommend purchasing stronger ones, such as Ozco 54208 Laredo (Amazon) or similar from Simpson. • Very high # of pcs, made pre-sealing a real pain. I get why they do it that way but, still a pain. • Instructions were okay but could have been a little more spelled out. Found a couple of vids online but none showed the level of detail I wanted and omitted some very important aspects. We actually messed up and installed our posts facing wrong direction, but with some crazy ingenious luck, I was able to make it work so you'd never know it. • Yes, a number of the perlins and 1-2 of the beams were bowed but pulled out when fastening, for the most part at least. • The touchup pen was a joke – don't use it, will actually look worse. Instead, ask mfr to send you a small can of matching stain (they'll do for free) right after you purchase and before you get – you're going to need it. Tips/Suggestions: • As much of a pain as it was with the really high number of pieces, I still very much recommend sealing in the comfort of your garage. We put a min of 3 coats on every surface, 4-5 coats on the up-facing pieces. We brushed on Polycrylic satin and are very happy with the results. Sawhorses for finishing, and various 2x4's (or similar) on the concrete for drying. • Take your time during installation and pay attention, as you surely don't want to get that puppy standing only then to find out you did something wrong. Voice of experience ; ) • Purchase decorative, structural post bases as mentioned above. We are also crazy happy with the decorative screens we purchased – they really "made" the whole thing! (Freedom Sprig from Lowes) • See the nifty brace I installed – and stained to match : ) – from which to hang my plug-in outdoor ceiling fan (Lowes). I also put a small piece of plywood atop the center to hopefully prevent melting of the shade cover (purchased elsewhere) due to heat rising from our fire pit table. • Contractor's coming next week to install code-approved electrical since you're not supposed to bury extension cords, nor are you supposed to leave them plugged in for long durations. Am still going to leave what came with the pergola on there for greater flexibility though.

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.

Our Pergola arrived in two long heavy boxes and contained all the wood, nuts, bolts and screws needed for assembly. There were a couple of minor places on the posts where the wood had split, but no other damage. We were able to hide the split wood against a wall. It took about 6 hours to put together with 2 people and we were feeling the pain by the end of it. The instructions were a little hard to follow and the pieces were not clearly marked, and that is the reason for only 4 stars. All in all, it is a beautiful piece when fully assembled.

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.