DIY,  Yard & Garden

Unique Telephone Pole Pergola

Our strategizing and researching pergolas has been going on for quite a while! The area we wanted to cover is quite large and needed a unique shape to really showcase space. This is how our telephone pole pergola came to life.

We found that materials were adding up fast when designing our dream pergola. As luck would have it, we were gifted some telephone poles. Some very large and heavy telephone poles. To be honest I wasn’t sure about Brad’s theory with all of this and it took quite a bit of convincing to get me open to his idea.

So we put a plan together and got to work! Operation telephone pole pergola was on! We used the auger on our tractor to dig the holes. I couldn’t imagine doing half the work on our property without it! We are very aware of where our gas, electric, sewer and water lines are. If you have any doubt about yours, call for locates before digging!

After some trial and error we figured out how many pavers we needed to move out of the way. This area was laid last summer so it made for some sweat and tears to dig it up. It probably would have been easier to move the fire wood and table. But, it was downright hot that weekend! Like, the kind of hot that has you cursin’ in languages you didn’t know existed. I just wanted those dang poles in the ground so we could move on 😎

Setting the poles

Each log was placed in front of it’s hole. And, just like a good old fashioned Caber Toss, the both of us hoisted those bad boys into their new homes!

I was done with the whole telephone pole pergola thing at this point. But, with the promise of a good wine we finished the evening by lifting the two extra long and extra heavy top beams.

Day 2

The following day we had some cloud cover. This did help a little with the excessive heat. But, unfortunately it was due to the wildfires our state is dealing with this year. We finished cutting and nailing the roof pieces and that was it for the day. The air quality was just too bad to do much more outdoors.

We ended up waiting until the following weekend to finish up with the stain. Yes, it’s dark! Our usual go-to stain was discontinued so we went with something similar. But, the plan is for it to weather and fade into a beautiful dark auburn to match the barn trim and treehouse. Not sure if it will lighten to that degree and I’m happy if it says a little different.

I absolutely love that Brad insisted on creating the roof line to match the pavers and curb. Can you guess why we call this area the “Baby Grand”? It has always reminded us of the shape of a piano!

And, here is our finished telephone pole pergola! Can’t wait to string bistro lights all around it. Do you have a pergola? How did you build it?

Oh, this area will be enjoyed for many more years to come!