The wood is very lightweight. There are short ends that bolt separately and could possibly sag. The stain on it is for aesthetics only. Therefore we stained it to help seal and preserve the wood even though cedar is naturally resistant. We wanted a reddish brown stain to match our trim. We also poured peers to raise the posts up to frame large living room window views to the backyard. Worked out great! Fairly easy build and we love the look.

The kit was delivered to our driveway earlier that expected. We like the quality of the product and attention to detail. We hired someone to put it together and he was impressed with the thorough instructions and accuracy. One of the braces split when being installed. I called for a replacement and had it in a short time. Very helpful and friendly customer service. Our friends are impressed at the quality and price. So are we!

Hi and I'm happy with the pergola. All came out well, I had my son in law and a friend put it together, definitely one needs two persons to do it. I'm in South Florida, where hurricanes are a normal and though we have not been hit by a biggie in a few years, every year we do get one, so we drilled down some sort of anchors and if it comes, we will tighten the poles and some of the cross-bars with adjustable wraps. Finally I will try to paint it with wood protection, Winmax I think it's called, every year. Ah, I'm also going to have a manually retractable Canvas roof built because the sun is burning hence difficult to enjoy in the afternoons. I'm happy and the Pergola is on top of a cement slab in my backyard, not on grass. I recommend it!

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

Just put up 4 days ago and received it's christening the next day with 2 days of on off heavy rains. Looks terrific. Only issue I had was with the sealer. Used the One Time and it took several days for it to sink in and dry and some places did not absorb. I had 2 guys put it together...took under 4 hours. Although in the home improvement biz for a very long time, this is the first time they put up a kit. They were quite impressed and plan to offer it to their other customers. Being white cedar from China, I'm curious to see how long it holds up to the coastal Carolina winds and sun.

We love, love, love our new Pergola. We are Retired Seniors and took our time for assembly, it is very hot in Texas this time of year ;-) We decided to add an additional coat of Cedar stain prior to assembly and honestly it didn't take much stain as it was nicely finished when received so we could have forgone that step, it was not necessary. Assembly went very well, if something doesn't line up just loosen the hardware and retry, everything should go together well and did. The hardware was very good quality as was the Cedar wood, first class all the way. We recommend you watch several YouTube videos even if it is not your exact model for tips others have found along the build, it helps. We are recommending this as a nice project to do together and have the satisfaction of saying WE built this ;-) Get yours now before the tariffs ;-( Very happy in Texas with our new Pergola.

My husband put it together by himeself. I love it. The only drawback is I bought it to have some shade over my patio furniture and it does not provide any shade. So now I have to buy some kind of cover to put in the top to get shade. Otherwise it's very well made and makes the backyard look so peaceful next to the pool.

The package was delivered on the day promised. It was put in our driveway so we opened the boxes an carried the parts to the back yard, which was supper easy since the parts are light and sturdy. My 16 year old grandson did most of the work because I am limited on how much I can lift over my head. We did the assembly is less than a day and it looks great and really sets off our concrete patio. to

Overall I am satisfied with this product. I would have given 5 stars if the bolts and nuts would have been higher quality. They can be easily cross threaded if you are not careful. A few holes did not align on the short pieces but were fixed by drilling out a little. I would recommend this product and would buy it again.

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.