Pergolas or shade options on patio?
 

I am looking for information from anyone who has had a pergola installed on their patio. Who do you recommend? Or perhaps other shade options...any ideas? I guess one needs to get ARC approval.

Large offset cantilever umbrella (not a round umbrella).

I was interested in that option also. I will check that out. Any pros & cons?

I have an 11 footer which covers just about my entire patio mainly for my grill. It survived hurricane IRMA without problem closed of course :) . I did get a heavy (250+ lbs) base (you fill it with 6+ bags of play sand).

The only downside I have found is we have a little BAT that makes his home in it when it's closed so when I open it he ends up on TOP and isn't happy in the sun and flies off :D It was a lot cheaper than any of the other options.

Edit: It can be turned and angled so it blocks the sun and the rain when it blows in where a pergola likely couldn't have. The whole thing was around $350 including base, sand & umbrella. Not as pretty as a pergola but quite effective.

This is the one we got: Amazon Umbrella

And the base: 260# base

If anyone gets this make sure you get absolutely dry sand from INSIDE a store (Home Depot stores it inside) and fill it using a funnel or you will go NUTS.. DO NOT use water.

Aha! The bats. We’ve gotten bats in our small round umbrellas when they are down. Also a neighbor across street got several bats in their offset umbrella. Wonder why they like the umbrella.

we had them up north...great shade and high winds never bothered them

down here if I were to put one in I would do what TV does at the pools...give that a look see

A more expensive, permanent option would be a retractable awning, manual or automatic. Limited protection when the sun is coming in at an angle, but I imagine not much different than a pergola in that regard. Side curtains, drop panels and screens are available options.

Pergola
 

Built 2 years ago by D&D Village Construction............love it, have had no issues and would recommend it and the company.

Another option might be to check out architectural panels made by Parasoleil.com (Denver, CO). Their panels come in several different colors and dozens of patterns. The pattern allow sunlight to come through, and create a
shadow pattern on the patio. Very creative. Parasoleil panels of often used as “architectural cladding” on the side of buildings for design and creative appearances.

We had one built two weeks ago and are thrilled with the outcome. We used Bruce Forrester. 248--310-0178. He did a great job we are happy to recommend him. He builds only with cedar. He stained ours white to match our trim. His prices were very reasonable.

I don't get the appeal of a pergola. It doesn't fully protect you from sun, it certainly doesn't protect you from rain. It's an expensive holey roof. Maybe people like stripes tanning?! I love our cantilever umbrella.

I also was considering a pergola so I talked to several neighbors. Two mentioned how the frogs loved them, and frog poop was an ongoing cleanup. For me...no pergola.

Pergolas do not provide shade or protection from rain. We have one on the patio, 12 x 14 , and it is cute. I have put a very small umbrella under it and the combination if better than just the pergola. It is cosmetically appealing (to me) but, if you are looking to maximize sun and rain protection, it is not a solution. But it does offer some charm and overall I’m glad we have it.

We went through this process earlier this year. A lot has to do with the placement of the pergola in relation to the position of the sun and where you want shade as a pergola with slot top spaced three inches apart does not provide total shade, a must in my opinion during late spring and summer. We opted to purchase a large (11foot Span /diameter) umbrella which provides the shade required and can be rotated/angled to block sun as it moves throughout the day. We purchased a very good cantilever umbrella for $1,200 versus spending $7,000 for the pergola we wanted. We’re glad we purchased the umbrella.

Another option is a Santa Fe Pergola that Magellan installs. It looks like a lanai from the inside but a pergola outside. It is a pergola with a ceiling and screen