After it was shipped, I seal coated all the wood parts before the set up. It took 3/4 of a gal of sealer. I had a 3rd party set it up. Well worth the extra cost. Here in Texas with it +85' in the sun all day in July. Looks GREAT. Only concern are the concrete anchors in a plastic support without washers. I wish that they were made of aluminum or steel. And I wish that they added a stain touch-up kit. I did chip a few spots. That's on me.

The wife and I purchased this item and had it put up in 6 hours spread over two days. We initially waterproofed the boards and laid them out to dry. Some boards were warped but we were able to bend them back into shape and fit the pre drilled holes. I highly suggest getting the BOLT app to watch a 3D representation and instructions to build the pergola along with the booklet. Pay attention to where the holes have to be facing up on the cross boards. The instructions recommend hand tighten all bolts till the end but we squared and leveled the base and tightened all bolts before adding the top boards and cross boards. Then for privacy we added curtain rods with curtains.

My 83 year old husband and myself were able to assemble this ourselves with minimal effort! We love it and many people can't believe how well it turned out and we were actually able to do it ourselves.

I love my new pergola!!! Delivered sooner than expected. My contractor put it up by himself in about five hours. His only comment is that some of the holes didn't line up.

This pergola looks just like the picture. It came in great shape, no issues. I paid for the installation and a two man crew came and installed it in two hours. It's solid and very sturdy. We have not anchored it yet, but plan to. The color is very pretty too.

I needed shade on my back patio and decided to go ahead and make a larger purchase with this Cedar Pergola! Sam’s had by far the best price on the Internet it did take a day to completely put it together another day to actually seal the wood but it’s beautiful and we love it !!!

I bought this a week ago and I love it. I paid to have it put together and they were done within an hour. It's a great addition to my back yard.

We had the delivery person put it in our garage and we sealed it before assembling. (tip: seal it before assembling. I put on a second coat after it was assembled and it was so much more difficult trying to crank my neck and have my hand fit between the slats. Plus it got so messy.) It took my husband the weekend to put it together. It's helpful to have a 3rd person when connecting the two ends together with the long piece on top otherwise it gets a bit tricky. We did have some pieces that were warped,cracked and dings in the wood, but it's wood, so were not too bothered by it. He did mention that some of the top slats did not line up so had to drill some holes, but mostly assembly wasn't too difficult. It's a pergola so you won't really get much shade unless you have either vines growing on top or some kind of shade canopy. We get full sun for 8+ hour during the summer so had to buy a canopy for it. We really love it. It looks more expensive than it is. Ours did have a strong cedar smell when it came. It was pre-stained and color is really a nice rich color that would compliment any backyard.

It was just myself and my husband that put this together. Not easy but at least all the parts were there and we didn't have to do any cutting. Same as some of the other reviews about the alignment. Some of the pieces were slightly warped. Did seal the wood again before assembling. It's not going anywhere even with the gusty winds and we didn't drill the base into anything. Happy with the way it looks and free shipping.

It’s nice from afar. The quality is only mediocre and this shows when up close. I chose to have the installation done by the professionals and they reported they often had this complaint.