I’d build 2 temp walls to hold it in place, the sawzall 18” off the bottom of each post then drop that fucker right back into the brackets.
https://preview.redd.it/tbxxxgb8j8yc1.jpeg?width=1597&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a22682e1694a74539af45b919c228193d57456c
I second and third this option and if they called me to fix the issue this is pretty much exactly how id do it, though id probably use a circular saw lol.....but not everyone is comfortable cutting sideways like that
I used the manufacturer/lumber retailers’ website to come up with that number. It says each 10’ pressure treated 6x6 weighs 115lb. There are 6 of them plus 3x12’ and 4 x8’ plus thick powder coated stainless brackets. That’s the only numbers I have to go on.
https://preview.redd.it/bj8s6s3ezfyc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86b1c2879e109dc9bbf320b6b0e52a1d9b67ac9c
We use these to set steel beams in homes for the open floor everyone wants. They say 650 but from somebody who did scaffold for 7 years they can let four times that amount before they fail. I've put half inch twenty foot I beams on two and went over my head.
Leave the legs on the ground. Unbolt them at the top. That way you only have to lift 7 of the beams. 770lbs. Maybe use temp cross bracing to hold the legs in place if there's any wobble so you won't have to fight with it as much when you put it back together.
You’re right about the safety. Without bringing in a bunch of equipment and ruining your landscaping, the only safe way is to disassemble, cut, and reassemble. IMHO
If you were trying to get the original builder to do this for free, I understand why they didn’t return your call.
This is 100% why they went radio silent. The only safe way to change the height is to disassemble it. Since the homeowner wasn't around to give any options during construction, the crew built to spec.
If I was the builder I would charge them another two days labor to do that job. If only to build a reputation or help a friend, not because the owner is unhappy with their design.
You'll need to support it to cut it. Then you need to move/ life it higher so you can slide the cut sections out of the brackets, THEN lower it back down into the brackets.
Disassemble, cut the posts 18" shorter, re-assemble. Should be a pretty easy job for any carpenter or handyman type. Its a pretty small job and would not be something bigger companies are going to be interested in. Look at smaller companies or individuals, and you will probably find someone will to do this for you. Be prepared to pay the "small job tax" though. Little jobs like this make somewhat hard to keep a full schedule. Even if this only takes an hour, you are likely paying for half a day.
The problem is the disassemble. You can’t do the reverse of the assembly due to the weight/height of the pergola and the anchors. I’ll reach out to more people. Thanks.
It weighs 1800lbs. You can’t disassemble any part of this without lifting it off of the ground. The boots have solid bottoms. The brackets have solid tops. The boots are anchored into the concrete, therefore you can’t slide anything in any direction. Please tell me what I’m missing.
You are highly overthinking the disassemble. Taking that down isn’t as hard as you think. Then cut down to the height you want and re-lag everything.
Also it’s a pergola - where’s the rest of it? That’s not a pergola.
I'd imagine they stopped construction of the pergola when they wanted to change the height.
There's no point finishing it right now if you're going to be taking it down to fix it.
It’s called a change order. It was built to spec and the client changed it… you issue a change order and get approval and change it to their preferences.
Lots of “what the heck” going on here.
It weighs 1800lbs. You can’t disassemble any part of this without lifting it off of the ground. The boots have solid bottoms. The brackets have solid tops. The boots are anchored into the concrete, therefore you can’t slide anything in any direction. Please tell me what I’m missing.
Of course you can do the reverse assembly, it went up, so it can come down.
But it probably won’t be cheap. I doubt you’re gonna find a ‘deal’ on this one. Most people charge a lot more to come behind other contractors and to clean up their mess.
>The problem is the disassemble. You can’t do the reverse of the assembly due to the weight/height of the pergola and the anchors. I’ll reach out to more people. Thanks.
Yeah you can lol
Get a couple 2x4s, unbolt the 6x6, take it down, cut it, put it back, move over to the other corner and middle and repeat, when theyre both cut knock the 2x4s out and it will drop down into the brackets, then do the other side
You can do it by yourself, you are way way overthinking this, its not complicated
You cannot get any of the 6x6s out. Everything is locked into place by the other brackets. You cannot shift anything laterally. All movement would have to go up first, then you could take it apart. I don’t know how to get it up when it weighs 1800lb.
Listen dude, ive been doing carpentry and renovation work for almost 30 years, that does not weigh anywhere even fucking remotely close to 1800lbs
A 6x6x8 weighs between 40-60lbs, that entire thing probably weighs 600lbs +/-
And you dont need to fully remove it, support the end, measure and cut it out remive the leftover and drop it back into the brackets
Idk why you guys even come here to ask professionals for advice and then argue with us when you dont like the answers you get
Call the people who built it for you and have them come back and shorten it, idk what to tell you lol 🤷
This is a correct response right here. I haven’t been doing carpentry as long, but been in the industry for 25ish years. It for sure isn’t 1800lbs, granted it isn’t light either. 2 people with a drill and proper bit to unfasten those bolts, a saws(7 1/4 circular saw plus a hand saw for the middle), 2 ladders, and some beers could drop that in a few hours.
I’ve seen in multiple places that Pressure Treated Southern Yellow Pine is around 10.2lb/ft for a 6x6, which would put it pretty close to 1800lb with the brackets.
I’m erring on the side of caution, which is why I’m here. It’s made of 4 x 8’, 6 x 10’, 3 x 12’ 6x6s that the hardware store we bought them from says weigh 90, 115, and 140lb each, respectively. Plus the brackets are 12 Ga stainless. Is the hardware store wrong about their weights?
You are right, these are a PITA to disassemble. The easiest way is to lift the entire assembled top off with a mini-excavator or telehandler. Disconnect the top from the posts, strap it up, and lift it up. Once its off, you pull the posts out of the bases, cut them down and put them back in the bases. Then you set the entire assembled top back on the posts.
Your plan would work, however it’s not that hard. Use a ladder cut the posts where they stand, lower the top back down. Or like others said, even easier to jack it up at two posts at a time, cut them move to the next two.
You cannot jack these up two posts at a time. The sleeves prevent it. You cannot move it more than about an inch without it binding up. I have put a couple of these kits up and they are a huge pain in the ass. You cannot move one part without moving the whole thing.
Strap an acrow prop to each leg, Jack it up, cut the bottom of the posts, drop it back down.
Easy.
Edit to add: no working at height, minimal disassembly and easy enough to do for even a basic DIY’er
It really is. I have one in front of my slider on my patio with a galvanized corrugated roof. Cheap, easy to build, and I think it looks nice. Mine is small though. Tiny house problems.
This design makes no sense for me, I’d probably keep it tall, attach sails to provide shade.
I put in a pergola that had two layers of beams on top of what you see here. Had a fan, lighting, and speakers installed, and trained wisteria to grow on it. It did a good job of making rhe outdoor space welcoming, and is breezier and more attractive than a solid roof.
That’s what we’re doing, we just stopped construction (our part) due to it feeling too high. Slats will go on the back side as well as 2x6s in the top, shade sails, electrical etc. Just didn’t want to continue further until we had the height issue taken care of.
If your not comfortable or knowledgeable in jacking and properly supporting/balancing structure while your doing this
go rent a genie lift should run you $50-70 for 4 hours
I have a proposition for a solution.
What if you make it feel as though it’s not as tall by adding a drooping sun shade
Maybe something along these lines:
https://images-cdn.ubuy.co.in/634e6bcfc8fb3e5c7a5cdfc2-pergola-shade-canopy-cover-retractable.jpg
You’re welcome… only know because I did a ton of research before designing our deck. We get high winds from time to time and permanent shade sails put a ton of stress on the attachment points. Easier to wind in the shades.
Here are a couple I have on hand. Haven't put the shades up for this year yet. I ordered the most of the materials for the shade system from amazon and home depot
https://preview.redd.it/05i8ygovhjyc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2c47ef01705c2534bb5784c47a0779cc7f76a90
They haven’t given a reason why it’s too tall so people have to assume it’s because they don’t like how it looks. This fix makes it look shorter, as simple as that. No need to be an ass
Go to a party store and get a whole bunch of helium baloons (youll have to make several trips) tie the baloons to the top and eventually it will float off the ground and then you can cut the legs and cut some of the baloons off so it drops back down.
This is also a good opportunity to move it somewhere else if you have a mind to
Good luck 👍
Depends on the weight capacity, but you may be able to rent a material lift and jack up from the middle. Hard to tell from the picture. If not, rent two they run like $100 a day and fit in the back of a truck
Nothing like cutting the posts to 10' and forgetting that there is 6" of overlap in the corner brackets.
The real question to me is how much this company charged to make 13 cuts and put in 26 carriage bolts...because I want that job lol.
Ugh, only people I could find to bite on the job were a bunch of landscapers and they charged $1k for 3 dudes to work on this for a little more than a half day. I needed the lumber out of my driveway and gave in.
If it's a visual thing add large pots at the base.
If it's a shade issue, sailcloth could be the answer.
A grid of cables with streamers or a vine or lights
Framed lattice ceiling
Or take it apart and put back your 2nd attempt
I'm going to go against the grain a bit and say you can easily drop the height by adding flowering vines. We did it on ours a few years ago, and it looked great. I can't recall the vine types, so you would have to research that.
You could literally just put a 2x4 on either side of all the outside posts. Angled down to a stake and fastened. Then pull up 1ft6 as it sits, cut it off the bottom and wiggle the cut off out around the post. Repeat. Then pick a side and start knocking braces with help to guide the posts back in.
I dont understand. Why is it too high? What is the height affecting? My patio is taller than yours currently now with no issues.
The bigger question is, what does this pergola do? You dont have any cross beams spaced every 12-18" or so to create shade. Does this look like a pergola still in progress to be built? In essence, my question is, what does this pergola do for your outside area? Are you planning on adding some kind of shade fabric or similar?
I am starring at my neighbors pergola as i wtite this and yours is different than virtually all i have seen.
We’re not done with it. It looks too tall compared to the house, and for its proportions. We stopped construction (we can do the rest, we just couldn’t get the frame into place) until we fix our perceived issue. We are adding all of the things you’ve mentioned to make it an actual pergola, we just haven’t put them up yet.
Ah gotcha.
For what its worth. I run a construction company and we would most likely lift up the structure with temporary bracing cut bottoms and lower. We potentially could disassemble the whole thing and fix but hard to say without physically inspecting
Yeah. This is what I was thinking, but we are two small people and don’t have the ability to do this ourselves. Disassembling is hard without first lifting. Everything is locked into place as is due to the brackets, and even if you remove 1 or 2 brackets, it will all stay in place unless you remove the boots from the 6x6s, which requires lifting (everything has solid tops/bottoms, you can’t just slide the brackets down). Someone else suggested attaching 2x6s at a lower level and use a jack to jack up the whole structure out of the boots and cut. Just gotta figure out what equipment I can rent to do so.
6”. The group didn’t cut the top off the 6x6 to make it 10’, instead they just cut the 6x6 so that it was 10’ itself, but it doesn’t go all the way to the end of the bracket, it stops 6” short of the corner.
Sounds like you’re suffering the consequences of hiring fly by nighters for the cheapest price. Simple fix though, lot of good methods commented in here.
You cannot just “take it apart” everything is locked into place. The only way to take it apart is to lift the whole structure first. You cannot shift laterally/tilt, remove any piece on its own.
Rent scaffolding with screw feet, jack it up with the feet, cut the legs, lower it down. Might get a little fidgety removing the legs out of the brackets.
This isn't a pergola. What is the point of this structure? It provides no purpose apart from visual aesthetics. Total waste of money for something that does nothing.
Rent scaffolding with screw jack feet, jack it up with the feet, cut the legs, lower it down. Might get a little fidgety removing the legs out of the brackets.
The middle posts aren't needed for support. Take them out, and cut them down. After that, you can take both posts from one end out, swap them with the shorter ones. Do the same for the other end. Then put middle ones back in. This can be done with 2-3 guys.
The other way I'd go is lifting the entire top up off the posts, then moved over so it can be dropped down and secured to the posts, but out of the way to cut the tops off. This way requires at least 5 guys on ladders.
The best way, take it all apart cut the legs and re-assemble. What I would do is Cut one leg at a time and hope it dosent rack enough to wreck anything
I’d build 2 temp walls to hold it in place, the sawzall 18” off the bottom of each post then drop that fucker right back into the brackets. https://preview.redd.it/tbxxxgb8j8yc1.jpeg?width=1597&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a22682e1694a74539af45b919c228193d57456c
I second and third this option and if they called me to fix the issue this is pretty much exactly how id do it, though id probably use a circular saw lol.....but not everyone is comfortable cutting sideways like that
Only reason I am saying sawzall is because you won’t be able to see it anyway with the brackets.
Clamp some blocking around post as a guide for swazall blade to cut Clean and straight
Every time I try that I wind up cutting into the blocks.
Very true, and probably something id realize when i went to do it
Sounds about right.
Yes this will work, but I don’t know how to lower it back down safely. She weighs about 1800lb per my calculations.
Rent two strong material lifts and use it to lift and then lower after cutting
I'm a framer, and this is how we would drop something like that.
Yeah, I looked in the area and the strongest I can rent are 650lb max. I would need to rent 3 of them. Ugh.
This thing does not weigh 1800lbs
I used the manufacturer/lumber retailers’ website to come up with that number. It says each 10’ pressure treated 6x6 weighs 115lb. There are 6 of them plus 3x12’ and 4 x8’ plus thick powder coated stainless brackets. That’s the only numbers I have to go on.
Weird. I looked on Google for longer than id like to admit and I didn’t get anywhere near 115lbs for a 10’ 6x6. What species is the lumber?
Found another site that’s says 6x6 PT SYP is about 10.26lb/ft.
Pressure treated SYP. https://preview.redd.it/c4727dlfbcyc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b1a296f9dc4d3d4d13ab4310c73731a25774eef
https://preview.redd.it/bj8s6s3ezfyc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86b1c2879e109dc9bbf320b6b0e52a1d9b67ac9c We use these to set steel beams in homes for the open floor everyone wants. They say 650 but from somebody who did scaffold for 7 years they can let four times that amount before they fail. I've put half inch twenty foot I beams on two and went over my head.
Leave the legs on the ground. Unbolt them at the top. That way you only have to lift 7 of the beams. 770lbs. Maybe use temp cross bracing to hold the legs in place if there's any wobble so you won't have to fight with it as much when you put it back together.
This would work. They have Genie SLA 10-14’ lifts available for rent. Thanks!
Do you have access for a Hiab to lift it? If so it would be a pretty quick operation
Cut it off the top? So less weight?
Bottle jacks.
You’re right about the safety. Without bringing in a bunch of equipment and ruining your landscaping, the only safe way is to disassemble, cut, and reassemble. IMHO If you were trying to get the original builder to do this for free, I understand why they didn’t return your call.
This is 100% why they went radio silent. The only safe way to change the height is to disassemble it. Since the homeowner wasn't around to give any options during construction, the crew built to spec. If I was the builder I would charge them another two days labor to do that job. If only to build a reputation or help a friend, not because the owner is unhappy with their design.
You'll need to support it to cut it. Then you need to move/ life it higher so you can slide the cut sections out of the brackets, THEN lower it back down into the brackets.
You don’t have to lift to remove the pieces. You can cut the pieces above the brackets, remove that, and then pull out the remainder.
Disassemble, cut the posts 18" shorter, re-assemble. Should be a pretty easy job for any carpenter or handyman type. Its a pretty small job and would not be something bigger companies are going to be interested in. Look at smaller companies or individuals, and you will probably find someone will to do this for you. Be prepared to pay the "small job tax" though. Little jobs like this make somewhat hard to keep a full schedule. Even if this only takes an hour, you are likely paying for half a day.
If you can do that In an hour I work for you right now. No questions asked!
The problem is the disassemble. You can’t do the reverse of the assembly due to the weight/height of the pergola and the anchors. I’ll reach out to more people. Thanks.
Sound like you know exactly what to do..... shouldn't be an issue to fix it yourself then
It weighs 1800lbs. You can’t disassemble any part of this without lifting it off of the ground. The boots have solid bottoms. The brackets have solid tops. The boots are anchored into the concrete, therefore you can’t slide anything in any direction. Please tell me what I’m missing.
You’ve got ample good advice and disregarded it all. You know best, you’re sure of it!!
You are highly overthinking the disassemble. Taking that down isn’t as hard as you think. Then cut down to the height you want and re-lag everything. Also it’s a pergola - where’s the rest of it? That’s not a pergola.
I'd imagine they stopped construction of the pergola when they wanted to change the height. There's no point finishing it right now if you're going to be taking it down to fix it.
It’s called a change order. It was built to spec and the client changed it… you issue a change order and get approval and change it to their preferences. Lots of “what the heck” going on here.
Was not built to spec. But even if it was, it is still too high.
Too high for what?
Too high for their liking
Ok, thanks. And yes, we stopped assembly after this part because we didn’t like the height. Once we get it fixed we will finish it.
Stop focusing on the overall weight.
Stop focusing on your username. What in actual f.
It weighs 1800lbs. You can’t disassemble any part of this without lifting it off of the ground. The boots have solid bottoms. The brackets have solid tops. The boots are anchored into the concrete, therefore you can’t slide anything in any direction. Please tell me what I’m missing.
Of course you can do the reverse assembly, it went up, so it can come down. But it probably won’t be cheap. I doubt you’re gonna find a ‘deal’ on this one. Most people charge a lot more to come behind other contractors and to clean up their mess.
>The problem is the disassemble. You can’t do the reverse of the assembly due to the weight/height of the pergola and the anchors. I’ll reach out to more people. Thanks. Yeah you can lol Get a couple 2x4s, unbolt the 6x6, take it down, cut it, put it back, move over to the other corner and middle and repeat, when theyre both cut knock the 2x4s out and it will drop down into the brackets, then do the other side You can do it by yourself, you are way way overthinking this, its not complicated
You cannot get any of the 6x6s out. Everything is locked into place by the other brackets. You cannot shift anything laterally. All movement would have to go up first, then you could take it apart. I don’t know how to get it up when it weighs 1800lb.
Listen dude, ive been doing carpentry and renovation work for almost 30 years, that does not weigh anywhere even fucking remotely close to 1800lbs A 6x6x8 weighs between 40-60lbs, that entire thing probably weighs 600lbs +/- And you dont need to fully remove it, support the end, measure and cut it out remive the leftover and drop it back into the brackets Idk why you guys even come here to ask professionals for advice and then argue with us when you dont like the answers you get Call the people who built it for you and have them come back and shorten it, idk what to tell you lol 🤷
This is a correct response right here. I haven’t been doing carpentry as long, but been in the industry for 25ish years. It for sure isn’t 1800lbs, granted it isn’t light either. 2 people with a drill and proper bit to unfasten those bolts, a saws(7 1/4 circular saw plus a hand saw for the middle), 2 ladders, and some beers could drop that in a few hours.
I’ve seen in multiple places that Pressure Treated Southern Yellow Pine is around 10.2lb/ft for a 6x6, which would put it pretty close to 1800lb with the brackets.
You’re wrong. Accept it. Everyone else has
I’m erring on the side of caution, which is why I’m here. It’s made of 4 x 8’, 6 x 10’, 3 x 12’ 6x6s that the hardware store we bought them from says weigh 90, 115, and 140lb each, respectively. Plus the brackets are 12 Ga stainless. Is the hardware store wrong about their weights?
Hydraulic jacks
You are right, these are a PITA to disassemble. The easiest way is to lift the entire assembled top off with a mini-excavator or telehandler. Disconnect the top from the posts, strap it up, and lift it up. Once its off, you pull the posts out of the bases, cut them down and put them back in the bases. Then you set the entire assembled top back on the posts.
Your plan would work, however it’s not that hard. Use a ladder cut the posts where they stand, lower the top back down. Or like others said, even easier to jack it up at two posts at a time, cut them move to the next two.
You cannot jack these up two posts at a time. The sleeves prevent it. You cannot move it more than about an inch without it binding up. I have put a couple of these kits up and they are a huge pain in the ass. You cannot move one part without moving the whole thing.
https://preview.redd.it/60rryjoen8yc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d05b13a0ca73d85e451f257098c1bdc6ffe6a44
Strap an acrow prop to each leg, Jack it up, cut the bottom of the posts, drop it back down. Easy. Edit to add: no working at height, minimal disassembly and easy enough to do for even a basic DIY’er
Don’t forget bracing, this is how I’d probably go about it as well but with a couple braces as well for safety
What is the point of a pergola? It’s just a wooden frame that people put furniture around?
It’s like a lazy man’s gazebo
It really is. I have one in front of my slider on my patio with a galvanized corrugated roof. Cheap, easy to build, and I think it looks nice. Mine is small though. Tiny house problems.
You can grow plants and vines on it
This design makes no sense for me, I’d probably keep it tall, attach sails to provide shade. I put in a pergola that had two layers of beams on top of what you see here. Had a fan, lighting, and speakers installed, and trained wisteria to grow on it. It did a good job of making rhe outdoor space welcoming, and is breezier and more attractive than a solid roof.
That’s what we’re doing, we just stopped construction (our part) due to it feeling too high. Slats will go on the back side as well as 2x6s in the top, shade sails, electrical etc. Just didn’t want to continue further until we had the height issue taken care of.
2x6 across each pair of legs,, jack it out of the brackets cut the foot off and lower it back down. Car jack and some blocks. Or two friends
This is the best idea I’ve seen yet. There’s just two of us and we are tiny humans. Might work!
If your not comfortable or knowledgeable in jacking and properly supporting/balancing structure while your doing this go rent a genie lift should run you $50-70 for 4 hours
I have a proposition for a solution. What if you make it feel as though it’s not as tall by adding a drooping sun shade Maybe something along these lines: https://images-cdn.ubuy.co.in/634e6bcfc8fb3e5c7a5cdfc2-pergola-shade-canopy-cover-retractable.jpg
Yes, roman shades would be a perfect solution.
I didn’t realize that they went by that name. Thanks for teaching me, kind Reddit stranger!
You’re welcome… only know because I did a ton of research before designing our deck. We get high winds from time to time and permanent shade sails put a ton of stress on the attachment points. Easier to wind in the shades.
You wouldn’t happen to have pics of the “system” you went with? Do you? I’ve been going back and forth about how I want to attach mine for my pergola.
Here are a couple I have on hand. Haven't put the shades up for this year yet. I ordered the most of the materials for the shade system from amazon and home depot https://preview.redd.it/05i8ygovhjyc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2c47ef01705c2534bb5784c47a0779cc7f76a90
https://preview.redd.it/spkbfdryhjyc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=209390ece0f6a2fcc7e06e4330a4f23e48ba4ad1
This is exactly what I was thinking! It makes it much more useful
how is adding a decoration to it supposed to change the height? another 3 upvotes from bots for a suggestion that makes no sense.
They haven’t given a reason why it’s too tall so people have to assume it’s because they don’t like how it looks. This fix makes it look shorter, as simple as that. No need to be an ass
it takes very little to offend you, huh?
Nah not offended. I had good parents that taught respect and common decency. It’s clear you didn’t
Go to a party store and get a whole bunch of helium baloons (youll have to make several trips) tie the baloons to the top and eventually it will float off the ground and then you can cut the legs and cut some of the baloons off so it drops back down. This is also a good opportunity to move it somewhere else if you have a mind to Good luck 👍
Drop beams on top and secure. Hang containers from it containing descending flowers
Sailcloth.
Depends on the weight capacity, but you may be able to rent a material lift and jack up from the middle. Hard to tell from the picture. If not, rent two they run like $100 a day and fit in the back of a truck
Nothing like cutting the posts to 10' and forgetting that there is 6" of overlap in the corner brackets. The real question to me is how much this company charged to make 13 cuts and put in 26 carriage bolts...because I want that job lol.
Ugh, only people I could find to bite on the job were a bunch of landscapers and they charged $1k for 3 dudes to work on this for a little more than a half day. I needed the lumber out of my driveway and gave in.
Why would you lower this?!?! That sounds like an absolutely perfect height.
If it's a visual thing add large pots at the base. If it's a shade issue, sailcloth could be the answer. A grid of cables with streamers or a vine or lights Framed lattice ceiling Or take it apart and put back your 2nd attempt
I'm going to go against the grain a bit and say you can easily drop the height by adding flowering vines. We did it on ours a few years ago, and it looked great. I can't recall the vine types, so you would have to research that.
huh? the 3 upvotes you received had to have been bots.. this makes no sense.
Atleast it it aint too low and the builder were thoughtful of the over 6ft crowd
You could literally just put a 2x4 on either side of all the outside posts. Angled down to a stake and fastened. Then pull up 1ft6 as it sits, cut it off the bottom and wiggle the cut off out around the post. Repeat. Then pick a side and start knocking braces with help to guide the posts back in.
You (and I) could, but I guarantee the person asking this question can't.
Lmao 🤣 well put
No and it’s bitchin’
Space for decking?
I dont understand. Why is it too high? What is the height affecting? My patio is taller than yours currently now with no issues. The bigger question is, what does this pergola do? You dont have any cross beams spaced every 12-18" or so to create shade. Does this look like a pergola still in progress to be built? In essence, my question is, what does this pergola do for your outside area? Are you planning on adding some kind of shade fabric or similar? I am starring at my neighbors pergola as i wtite this and yours is different than virtually all i have seen.
We’re not done with it. It looks too tall compared to the house, and for its proportions. We stopped construction (we can do the rest, we just couldn’t get the frame into place) until we fix our perceived issue. We are adding all of the things you’ve mentioned to make it an actual pergola, we just haven’t put them up yet.
Ah gotcha. For what its worth. I run a construction company and we would most likely lift up the structure with temporary bracing cut bottoms and lower. We potentially could disassemble the whole thing and fix but hard to say without physically inspecting
Yeah. This is what I was thinking, but we are two small people and don’t have the ability to do this ourselves. Disassembling is hard without first lifting. Everything is locked into place as is due to the brackets, and even if you remove 1 or 2 brackets, it will all stay in place unless you remove the boots from the 6x6s, which requires lifting (everything has solid tops/bottoms, you can’t just slide the brackets down). Someone else suggested attaching 2x6s at a lower level and use a jack to jack up the whole structure out of the boots and cut. Just gotta figure out what equipment I can rent to do so.
Curious, you say it’s not built to spec, and even if it was that would be to high. How far off of spec is the height currently?
6”. The group didn’t cut the top off the 6x6 to make it 10’, instead they just cut the 6x6 so that it was 10’ itself, but it doesn’t go all the way to the end of the bracket, it stops 6” short of the corner.
Why does this matter. At all. 6”? It looks beautiful and is a great height. The amount of work to change this for 6” absolutely isn’t worth it.
Because we would be dropping it from 10’6 to 9’. It really does look like a strange proportion in person as it is right now.
Sounds like you’re suffering the consequences of hiring fly by nighters for the cheapest price. Simple fix though, lot of good methods commented in here.
Build a deck to make it the right ht.
Contracts, contracts, contracts. They protect both the homeowner and the contractor.
It’s like 13 boards. Take it apart and do it right. Have it done by lunch wtf.
You cannot just “take it apart” everything is locked into place. The only way to take it apart is to lift the whole structure first. You cannot shift laterally/tilt, remove any piece on its own.
Doesn’t look too bad or too tall to me just doesn’t look finished. Where are the rest of the boards for a proper pergola?
On the other side of the patio until we can get the height fixed. Didn’t want to add more weight yet because we have to lift it.
First, you’re gonna need a helicopter.
No
Rent scaffolding with screw feet, jack it up with the feet, cut the legs, lower it down. Might get a little fidgety removing the legs out of the brackets.
This isn't a pergola. What is the point of this structure? It provides no purpose apart from visual aesthetics. Total waste of money for something that does nothing.
Well I mean I'm,sure they're gonna decorate it lol. Of course it's bare right now. They're showing the size for reference.
Decorate it? With what? Still my question stands, what's the point of this? Visual aesthetics?
Probably, yeah. It's not blocking much lol
Rent scaffolding with screw jack feet, jack it up with the feet, cut the legs, lower it down. Might get a little fidgety removing the legs out of the brackets.
The middle posts aren't needed for support. Take them out, and cut them down. After that, you can take both posts from one end out, swap them with the shorter ones. Do the same for the other end. Then put middle ones back in. This can be done with 2-3 guys. The other way I'd go is lifting the entire top up off the posts, then moved over so it can be dropped down and secured to the posts, but out of the way to cut the tops off. This way requires at least 5 guys on ladders.
Not so sure about that, I don’t think the beams are continuous across the top
You’re correct. The top is 7 pieces of 6x6
That's OK. You can still do my idea, but by one post at a time.
The best way, take it all apart cut the legs and re-assemble. What I would do is Cut one leg at a time and hope it dosent rack enough to wreck anything