A pergola isn’t a must for your house. However, when you have it, that would make your home more astonishing. Plus, you will get more spaces to chill out. Your patio will also be more beautiful with a pergola.
Since you can now have a kit directly installed on your roof, you need to learn how to attach a pergola to a roof. The answer is in the article below.
How to Attach a Pergola Just Below the Roof Line of House
Attaching a pergola can be done in several ways: over the roofline, on the roofline, or below it. In my experience as a home renovator, the most common method is attaching it just below the roof soffit using a ledger plate, which offers a sturdy and aesthetic solution.
However, this requires ensuring enough clearance between the roof soffit and any doors or windows beneath. Attaching directly to the roofline may necessitate using roof risers, which add complexity but provide additional height for the pergola.
Hence, it is impossible to directly attach a pergola to a roof (but below the roofline). Pergola kits are primarily used to have them stuck on or over the roofline.
Even so, if you want to make a pergola roof below your roofline, here’s what you can do:
- First, determine the size of your pergola. Measure it first, then purchase the kit or the required timbers (including the posts and beams). Don’t forget to purchase the screws and nails to secure the timbers later. Tips: typically, you will not need to purchase such screws and nails if you purchase a kit instead of the timber.
- Then, attach the posts. First, attach the posts placed near your house wall first. Then, following it, place the pergola universal bracket to support the two horizontal headers you will need to support the other vertical beams.
- Once the posts and headers are installed, you should attach the vertical beams, the next procedure you should know when attaching a pergola to a roof.
- Once you’re there, consider putting a corrugated plastic sheet to avoid your pergola getting wet from the downpour. You may add horizontal beams to improve your corrugated plastic sheet stick.
- Additionally, you can paint the timbers to make your pergola look better.
Attach Pergola to Shingle Roof
If you’re planning to add a pergola without using four posts—attaching it directly to the roof—you need to proceed with extra caution. Based on my own installations, the first step is to mark and measure where the risers will go, then remove any interfering shingles.
It’s crucial to use heavy-duty ledger boards and brackets to ensure stability, particularly when working around existing gutters. Seal all holes properly to avoid leaks, and consider using specialized hardware designed for such installations to avoid damaging the gutters.
- Measure and mark where you want to put the headers’ risers on the roof. Typically, you need to put 2 risers. So, when you’ve got the right position for the risers, detach the shingles around the area. Make a hole using a saw and screw the risers to the roof.
- Make sure you finish it by sealing the hole using a waterproof seal.
- Once you set the risers, you can put the saddle to support the header on the roof side.
- Prepare the other posts and header, then start putting your beams on the headers.
That’s the procedure for attaching a pergola to a roof. Are you ready to add to your house? It’s not that difficult to do it yourself. Just follow the procedure, and you’ll be there!
