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.

I purchased this product from Samsclub.com on 5/13/2022 after seeing it in my local store. What the advertising DOES NOT MENTION are the facts that one must waterproof the product in order to maintain its warranty and it can only be mounted on a concrete patio or on concrete footers at one's own expense. Due to the pergola size and the number of individual wooden pieces, waterproofing this bulky and large product is a major task (or nightmare). If I had known that it wasn't waterproofed by the manufacturer, I would have never bought this product. It's only stained. Additionally, I have a paver patio that the company told me over the telephone that they didn't recommend mounting on pavers. I would have to install concrete footers bought at my local hardware store. The recommended BILT phone app that alleges to be simple, is merely an animated video that is totally unrealistic in most cases. For example, it shows the pergola moving around like a flying carpet when putting the posts into the base for permanent locational measurements and marking purposes. It took 3 adults to move this BEAST at best. 4 adults would have been better. The app states words to the effect, "With the assistance of another adult", blah, blah, blah. No way in heck unless the 2 adults are 6'5" or above and are power lifters. Another serious matter is the alignment of pilot holes, or in some cases, the lack thereof. Due to slight warping, purvin and joist holes don't even come close to alignment. More drilling and aligning that I didn't need. The last joke on me was that the installation instructions state that the product can be assembled in 7 hours. When working by oneself at times, it takes about 7 hours to install the joists alone... another 6-7 hours to align and secure the purvins on top. So, whoever rated this product as "Highly Rated", must be Sam's Club paid advertisers. So, after intermittent rain showers and other work stoppages, I completed this project on June 6, 2022. It looks nice, but so much for the 7-hour completion promotion, even with 2 people. Oh, and did I mention that the seller offers installation assistance for a fee? I was afraid to ask for the cost but I had to wonder if there was some sort of "planned difficulty" in the design build of this product in order to promote business with a partner to assist the customer with the installation? Maybe it was just a "supply chain" issue due to the pandemic... LOL

This is a very good value if it is stocked at your local SAM's. The two long, heavy boxes fit into my mini-van with the seats taken out. In Southern California, the climate is very sunny all year around, so I was concerned about the stain finish's long-term durability, even with a protective clear sealer applied, as is recommended. Clear sealers may waterproof the substrate, but will provide very little UV light protection. I wanted this to last for years with easy maintenance, so I painted all the pieces with three coats of high-grade house paint before assembling it. Three coats were required to completely cover the silver color with a pure white. Also, the kit comes with very spaced out wood strips across the top, so there is almost no shade provided with the standard kit. I was able to place two additional strips between each pair - so now it is like a patio cover with noticeable shade. With the added strips being painted too, three gallons of paint were needed in total.

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 love it. It arrived quickly and on time. The installers ( Lynn and Dave from T&T ) were friendly, funny, so cooperative and there quickly. They were done in under two hours and did a wonderful job. By the next day, we had our table and chairs and a little decor and we have been enjoying it daily.

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.