What Is The Purpose Of A Pergola?

Do you feel dissatisfied with your yard's underwhelming appearance? Would it have more style or a cozy corner to accommodate hosting? Then, a pergola might solve your problems.

With outdoor living spaces having a truly grand moment, the popularity of pergolas has skyrocketed in the last couple of years. Experts estimate that the global pergola market will grow at a CAGR of 11.0%.

But do you know what lies behind this increasing popularity of pergolas?

If your answer is providing aesthetic value, you're right. However, the utility of a pergola goes way beyond appearance. The multipurpose installation offers protection from outdoor elements and privacy from neighbours.

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It creates a space for relaxation and hosting and gives you the perfect opportunity to extend your living space.

Sounds worth investing in?

Then, read on as we dive into the details of pergolas, including their purpose, benefits, and how they differ from other structures, to help you learn more about this beautiful construction.

What Are Pergolas?

Pergolas are outdoor structures consisting of pillars or vertical posts that support sturdy open lattices or beams on the roof. Pergolas can be freestanding or attached to the side of your garage or house.

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Typically, pergolas consist of weather-resistant materials combined with metal, stone, or wood. Most commonly, homeowners use pergolas to create shaded walkways, support climbing plants, and designate gathering spaces.

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Pergolas are excellent at blocking harsh sunlight. At the same time, they let enough air and light peak through to create a welcoming and functional environment.
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In addition, pergolas come in several different types. They can be found in different materials, aesthetics, colors, and styles. If none meet your preferences, you can tailor the shade structure to satisfy your unique needs.

How Do Pergolas Work?

The open, airy structure of pergolas may make you wonder how exactly they offer shade or protection against harsh weather conditions.

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The answer lies in its ingenious construction.

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A pergola utilizes battens or rafters to create an "open lattice" structure that maintains a free flow of air while offering shade, which is one of its primary purposes.

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It enables you to adjust the dimension of these elements to create additional shadows without affecting the airflow, depending on how and when you use the space.

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For instance, if you have a freestanding pergola, consider positioning it north-south. This will provide the best shade and allow you to adjust the angle of the rafters and battens to change the amount of shade you receive.

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By adding extra rafters or crossbeams, you can also increase the amount of shade and reduce the heat entering the space.

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Alternatively, you can add battens to create a lattice/grid. This is particularly beneficial if you plan to use the pergola during the day when the sun is overhead and the beam's dimensions have less effect.

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In addition to providing shade, the role of pergolas extends to creating visual interests and defining outdoor spaces. They provide unparalleled flexibility when it comes to their usability.

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From using them to cover a hot tub or pool area to putting them over your deck or patio, there are many ways to get the most out of your pergola.

What Is The Purpose Of A Pergola?

Now that you know what a pergola means, let's explore its purpose.

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For many, the purpose of a pergola is purely to add aesthetical value to a property. Others use this construction for a multitude of pursuits.

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It can add grandeur to a lackluster backyard, create welcoming, purposeful spaces that leave you in awe, and add a focal point to your backyard.

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Besides adding architectural interest, pergolas can help you create specified areas for different purposes. For instance, you can use a pergola to create an outdoor kitchen, dining, or entertainment area to curl up and enjoy your favorite book or movie.

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Shade, comfort, and shelter- all are functions of pergolas.

Here, we have segmented the critical purposes of pergolas into five sections. Take a look!

1. Add Affordable Beauty To Your Property

When researching "What is the purpose of a pergola?" you have likely also wondered about its prices.

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Luckily, compared to their counterparts, pavilions and gazebos, pergolas are much more affordable. Pavilions and gazebos can easily cost over $4000. However, depending on the material and personalization process, the average cost of a pergola can be anywhere near $3,500.

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If you manage to build the structure yourself, the cost can go even lower. Do-it-yourself pergola kits are readily available these days, and they are affordable, ranging from around $1,500 to $2,000. Depending on the square footage you aim to cover, these kits can be incredibly affordable.

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Alternatively, if you wish to invest in high-end pergolas, it may cost you nearly $7,000. The wide price range of these structures means there's a pergola for every space and budget.

2. Increase The Value Of Your Home

So, are pergolas worth the investment?
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In short, yes. The hospitable nature, shade, and beauty integrated by a pergola can add significant market value to your home.

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If you listen to experts, landscape improvement projects can raise the value of a property by 15%. Although you may not recoup the entire cost of installing a pergola, according to Forbes, the average ROI can range between 50% and 75%.

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Installing a pergola allows you to take advantage of the current boom in outdoor living spaces. It adds character to your property while being enjoyable and valuable.

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Pergolas are also incredibly long-lasting. With proper maintenance, they can easily last for over a decade.

3. Create A Pleasant, Hospitable Outdoor Spot

Whether you plan to host a barbeque with your family or a small gathering to celebrate a special occasion, a pergola will help you create the most hospitable outdoor spot.

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Well-decorated pergolas draw people in with their beauty. They incorporate a fun, stylish, and attractive feature to any landscape, party, wedding, or cookout.

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With their inclusive design, pergolas encourage friends and family to connect while protecting their privacy from prying eyes. Furthermore, their unique structure allows you to add screens, drapes, and latticework to the installation to enhance the welcoming environment.

4. Turn Your Yard into a Charming Haven

The undeniable beauty of pergolas adds a charming touch to any patio, pool area, or yard, and the possibilities of enhancing this beauty are endless.

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Firstly, you will have the option to personalize the pergola's material, picking from fiberglass, vinyl, wood, and aluminum. Depending on your choice, these materials can add a rustic, classy, modern, or elegant touch to your pergola structure.

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You can further decorate the structure by growing roses, hanging plants, wisteria, grape vines, and honeysuckle.

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If you wish to add warmth and romance to the construction, drape some tiny lights around the posts and beams and hang pergola curtains through the beams.

5. Personalize The Amount Of Shade You Receive

As previously mentioned, pergolas aim to protect you from outside elements, like harsh sunlight and rain. They provide relief during hot, humid days while allowing air and some sun rays to fill the space.

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Although pergolas don't offer complete shade, their versatile structure allows you to customize the shading options. For instance, you can add a retractable canopy to enjoy various levels of shade based on the sun's location.

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Besides a retractable canopy, there are several other ways to enjoy full sun coverage under your pergola while giving it a personality, such as adding plants, fabric, and bamboo.

Why Are Pergolas So Popular?

From the aforementioned points, you have likely gathered the answer to "the question, What purpose does a pergola serve?"

Pergolas are ideal for creating shade, enhancing the appearance and value of your property, and building a fun outdoor living space.

However, these are not the only reasons why approximately 700,000 Instagram posts have highlighted this outdoor structure.

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This luxurious outdoor embellishment, which originated in ancient Egypt, has stood the test of time and has become the go-to outdoor structure for thousands of homeowners.

Why? Let's take a look at the main reasons behind pergola's soaring popularity:

1. Pergolas Are Attractive Garden Structures

Suppose you are a gardening enthusiast searching for support or a sturdy home for your plants. In that case, a pergola will be a perfect addition to your floral haven.

Compared to other garden structures, pergolas are much sturdier and capable of withstanding harsh weather.

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The feature-rich structure supports a wide range of climbing plants, which allows you to add more life to your beloved plants. For a fragrant and colorful outdoor space, you can use a pergola to support wisteria, clematis, and honeysuckle.

2. Pergolas Extend Your Home's Living Space

The pergola's purpose is to boost the market value of your home and extend your home's living space.

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The versatile and luxurious space can serve as an extension to any outdoor area, including patios, garages, porches, backyards, entryways, etc. It will connect your home's exterior and interior spaces seamlessly while adding an element of luxury to the property.

3. Pergolas Provide Privacy

Like fences, pergolas can make your space feel more intimate and secluded. They enable you to enjoy the outdoors without worrying about nosy neighbors and curious passersby. Moreover, you can increase privacy by adding side curtains or screens.

4. Pergolas Come In A Variety Of Designs

Pergolas come with unlimited design and personalization options. Apart from the core construction of the structure, you can personalize every part of a pergola, from its roof and sides to its color and materials. It enables you to turn your outdoor sanctuary dreams to life.

5. Pergolas Are Available In Several Different Materials

Another reason behind pergolas' popularity is the variety of distinct materials they are available in. It makes finding a pergola for every home's design and different weather conditions easy. Also, it allows you to choose between high and low-maintenance structures.

The most common pergola materials include:

• Wood: Wooden pergolas are sturdy and have no trouble blending in with the outdoor environment.
• Vinyl and PVC: These pergolas are low-maintenance, long-lasting, affordable, and able to withstand extreme weather conditions.
• Metal: Metal pergolas are well-known for being highly durable and customizable.
• Brick: These pergolas might be expensive, but they are straightforward to customize and last a lifetime.
• Aluminum: These pergolas have the same advantages as vinyl pergolas but are more corrosion-resistant.

6. Pergolas Don't Have Size Limitations

Many believe that the purpose of a pergola isn't fit for yards with limited space. However, the truth is, unlike gazebos, you can design pergolas to fit almost anywhere.
With the help of a professional team, you can personalize a pergola to fit your yard like a glove without making it appear cramped.

7. Pergolas Are Flexible and Versatile

One of the reasons why pergolas are considered a multipurpose marvel is its versatility. For starters, you can find pergolas in two installation options:
• Freestanding: These pergolas allow you to bridge the gap between your home's exterior and interior. With this configuration, you can extend your pergola as far from the house as you wish. Furthermore, you can install these pergolas on different surfaces, including decks, grass, and wooden surfaces.
• Wall-mounted: Wall-mounted pergolas also sit well on various surfaces. They tend to be safer, considering they don't rely on the strength of pergola pillars.

8. You Can Attach A Pergola To Other Outdoor Structures

The function of pergolas is as versatile as it can be. For instance, they allow you to attach the pergola structure with other outdoor structures, like gazebos, to cover large spaces. Also, you can use the pergola's partial roofing structure to shelter the gazebo or an already existing seating area in your garden.

9. Pergolas Are Easy To Install

Pergolas are available in easy-to-install DIY kits, which don't require top-notch skills for setup.

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Contrary to other outdoor structures like gazebos, pergolas tend to be easy to configure. Still, if you face any trouble during the installation process, pergola builders and sellers are always available to help.

Are Pergolas Good For Shade?

When you search "What is the purpose of a pergola?", one of the first answers you will receive is providing shade.

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So, yes, pergolas do offer shade from sunlight and rain. The real question is how much shade it can give you.

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The shade provided by a pergola can vary based on the structure's beams, sizes, and placement. With the correct installation technique, you can enjoy the gentle sun in the morning and calming shadows in the afternoon, giving you the best of both worlds.

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Here, we examine how much shade a pergola can provide and the ways you can enhance it.

So, read on!

How Much Shade Can A Pergola Provide?

A pergola provides shade similar to a tree. Although the shadows are not ideal for full coverage, they can keep you cool and out of the harsh sun rays.

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The more branches and larger leaves a tree has, the more shade it will provide. Likewise, smaller pergolas with widely spaced, thin slates offer less overall shade. In comparison, larger pergolas are better at keeping you cool.

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That being said, irrespective of what type of pergola you purchase, there are several ways to enhance the shade.

How To Enhance Your Pergola's Shade?

One of the nice things about the role of pergolas is that you can easily modify it depending on your needs.

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You can configure the pergola to allow more sunlight to shine through in the spring and autumn seasons, while you can increase the shade during summer with a few changes.

1. Vines and plants

A popular way to increase the shade of your pergola while enhancing its appearance is to allow climbing and hanging plants on the structure. You may have to wait for the plants to grow, but once they are in full bloom, sitting under the pergola will feel like sitting under a tree as the sunrays filter through, and the slight breeze stirs the air.

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The popular vine and plant options for pergolas are:
• Grapevine
• Wisteria
• Ivy
• Honeysuckle

2. Fabric

If gardening is not one of your hobbies, you can always invest in outdoor fabric to put over your pergola. It will provide just enough shade to keep you cool while brightening up the space. Plus, you can remove the fabric whenever you wish.

3. Pergola curtains

Pergola curtains are specifically for pergolas. You can use the curtains to cover the roof and the sides of the structure. In addition to shade, these curtains will add more sense of privacy to the spot and allow you to enjoy a stress-free private pergola paradise.

4. Automatic pergolas

Automatic or smart pergolas can be heavier on your pockets. However, you want to eliminate the hassle of putting up curtains and plants. In that case, they can be an ideal solution.

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As the name indicates, these structures have slats that can be closed or opened with a click of a button.

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Alternatively, you can install a motorized sunshade over the pergola. Similar to smart pergolas, these structures expand and retract with a remote control.

Where to Position Your Pergola?

Your answer to "What purpose does a pergola serve?" will ultimately determine the ideal position of your pergola.

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If your goal is to create shade, then you can place the pergola anywhere that doesn't receive constant sunlight. For instance, you can install it against your home or under a tree. Alternatively, suppose you wish to use the pergola to support plants and vines. In that case, you must ensure the structure receives limited sunlight.

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So, consider what you desire to achieve with the pergola and its structure, take note of the potential installation spots in your yard, and observe how much sun these areas receive during different times of the day. This will give you a good idea of what your pergola's ideal spot looks like.

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Also, if you want to enjoy the maximum shade, take note of the size of the pergola slats. Same-size, equally placed latticework slats offer nearly the same shade no matter which side they face. However, with other pergolas, consider placing the larger slats vertically to the sun's path during the summer months.

How Do Pergolas Differ From Other Shade Structures?

While pergolas are excellent at providing shade and protection, they are not the only outdoor structure with which to adorn your yard. Several other outdoor structures share an uncanny resemblance to pergolas and even serve some of the same functions as pergolas.

How can you distinguish between these structures without clarification when shopping for pergolas?

Here, we highlight the critical differences between pergolas and other famous outdoor structures to help you see the distinctions.

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• Arbor:

The most noticeable distinction between arbors and pergolas is their size. Arbors are smaller outdoor structures that act more like doorways. Gardeners often use them to support plants, separate areas, and create a welcoming environment. Compared to pergolas, arbors are less efficient at providing shade from the sun and rain. They can sometimes include a bench but primarily serve as open structures.

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• Gazebo:

If you ever need clarification on a gazebo and a pergola, closely examine the structure's roof. Gazebos typically feature an entire roof structure, while pergolas have a partially covered roof. Also, most gazebos are freestanding, whereas you can attach a pergola to various structures. Lastly, gazebos tend to be more expensive and durable than pergolas.

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Cabanas:

Cabanas are more similar to gazebos than pergolas. Both have a closed roof, compared to the pergola's partially open roof. Cabanas are also freestanding, durable structures that can be costlier than pergolas. One thing that differentiates cabanas from gazebos is the former's three walls and one opening. Gazebos typically have all of their sides open.

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Shade Sail:

Unlike a pergola, a shade sail is not a complete structure but a cloth sheet material. Generally, you must attach it to three or more existing poles, such as trees or deck railings, to create a space shielded from the sun, rain, and other elements. Shade sails are economical and practical options for creating temporary shade. At the same time, pergolas are suitable for creating a dedicated shaded space for years to come.

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Carport:

Unlike pergolas, carports are not typically used for hosting guests or creating an aesthetic yet functional space. Instead, people use carports to create dedicated shelters for their vehicles. Standard carports have covered roofs and open sides. They can be freestanding or wall-mounted. While they are valuable structures, their objective differs from a pergola's purpose.

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‍Pavilions:

This is another outdoor structure that shares many similarities with pergolas and gazebos. Like gazebos, pavilions have covered roofs but completely open sides. Pavilions are less intrusive and tend to be long and rectangular. Also, unlike gazebos, pavilions don't have attached floors.

Enhance Your Yard's Functionality With Valley Cover's Top-Tier Pergolas

From serving as a cozy corner to host your guests to giving you just enough shade to enjoy the summer breeze, there can be multiple answers to "What is the purpose of a pergola?”.
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Hopefully, after reading today's blog, you have a good idea of what pergolas are, their objectives, and how they differ from other outdoor structures.

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Still, if you have any further questions about pergolas, don't hesitate to contact Valley Covers. With a team of dedicated professionals, we specialize in crafting and installing functional, visually stunning, and personalized pergolas that blend seamlessly with your home's surroundings.

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Our designs feature durable materials, intelligent climate sensors, heaters, LED lighting, and automated openings.

So, wait no longer, and visit us today!