No wonder this is a best seller. Well made. The posts are solid even though they have cedar panels on the outside and lots of 2x2s inside to make they solid. But you have to use your own judgement in using the manual to fit your own needs. I put up the basic frame first and keep making sure the 4 posts are perfectly straight before the next step. Also, DON'T screw in the 4 braces early, as they suggested in the manual, until the very last step. Because as you take a step to make one post straight, the other posts shift. As careful as I was to make sure I do the braces last, I still had to redo all posts! To lift up the entire structure to secure the post footing with concrete screws is unrealistic because by then the pergola is already too heavy. It is like a table already. Why would you fasten down an 600 lb dining table?

Very good quality cedar wood and hardware with this kit. With moderate skills, you can assemble in one day. The pergola was delivered to my driveway in two long boxes. A nice looking product after assembly. If you are going to seal or add another coat of stain, doing so before assembly makes the project easier.

We love the look and style of this pergola and would definitely recommend this product. Do bear in mind however, that it DOES need two people to set up and if you are not handy with tools, its going to take you 4-6 hours or more to set up. As has been mentioned, the hardware can be a little tough as all the bolts/screws have been painted, but my husband was able to make them all work. Find screws and bolts that work together (some pairs worked together better than others) BEFORE you get on the ladder! We also had a few slightly warped boards which made some of the fitting a little tough but we were able to make it work and it didn't affect the look of the finished product. We thought we were going to have to make some recuts but boards that didn't fit at first fit as it went together. Also someone mentioned its not cedar but pine. My husband said the same thing: smells like pine, light weight wood and we had a little sap on the boards. Overall, we LOVE it and it really is a beautiful addition to our yard.

Pleasantly surprised by the accuracy and condition of the contents of the shipped pergola. No missing parts and all components were in excellent condition. For such a large amount of wooden parts I expected to find some pieces in either warped or cracked condition. However every thing was in great shape and all parts fit as designed. No holes were miss aligned and all hardware worked as designed.

Received the pergola, checked boxes, everything seemed to be in order. Now the hard part, putting together. Well surprisingly easy, only drawback was the 93 plus degree heat we had to put up with, so we took it slow took 3 days because of heat. Otherwise all went smoothly and it looks very nice for the price. Yes it is a cedar out of China, and since we weren't sure how we were going to like it, the price was right!

We purchased this one as it was cedar and was the size we needed. As many others did, I stained it all before putting it together. The stain that is on it is not intended to be anything other than color. My wife and I put it together in about 5 hours. If your not mechanically inclined minimally or not all that strong, then a 3 rd person would help. We did it with two and just on a few occasions did it become tricky. My biggest complaint it that the barrel nuts that were sent were hard to screw onto the long bolts. About 4 of them we never got to work at all. We still put them in the holes but they are not tightened down. Also some of the 2x2's were slightly bowed which requires you having to pull them into square to attach. Bottom line: Not too bad for the money. If you want a bulkier hand made pergola, your going to spend around 4K to have it done. This one is good enough for now.

Overall I feel this was a great value. A well designed pergola at a reasonable price. Assembly was straight forward with clear directions. Did it by my self over a couple of Saturdays could have done it in a 1/3 of the time if I had a helper. Very satisfied with finished product.

no special tricks here other than follow the directions! you will likely need to make some "on the fly" adjustments/re-calibrations, as the pieces do not always line up otherwise it took me about 6 hours total over 2 days. the need for a 2nd person really only comes into play when you go to make it stand upright...the rest of the assembly is a one person deal...maybe the helper can hand you supplies to help with efficiency but other than that...no real problems

This is a nice, solid pergola. Not too hard to assemble. We had a handful of teenaged boys figure out the assembly with a little adult guidance. Took about 4 hours. We had created some concrete pedestals for anchoring in advance which worked well. It looks good and is quite nice for the price. The reasons for only 4 stars are the hardware and shipping, Some of the screws for the top pieces are a bit cheap and strip easily. We ended up replacing some with higher quality ones. For the shipping it took double the expected time and we received no advanced call about the curbside delivery as promised. I just happened to look out the window and see the truck. If I hadn't been home, they would have just left it on the curb unattended. Other than that, it's a solid item and would consider buying again.

I bought this a month ago and assembled it with very little help. My wife helped me with the tape measure laying out the post locations. I assembled the two narrow end sections then my wife and daughter helped holding them upright as I added the longer beams. I added the rafters myself. Took about a day to complete. The only drilling I needed to do was on the 2 x 2 runners on the very top. Many of the holes were predrilled in the wrong location. I installed this on a concrete patio and it is rock solid. I added a Coolaroo fabric sun shade on the top.