My neighbor drunk-purchased a bunch of grape vines and gave me 6 of them. I'm trying to figure out a way to play them in my backyard. We have an open spot that gets good sun that we'd like to use. We would like to get an archway-type arbor/trellis and put two vines at either end, and make a sort of 'walkway' with three of these.
Would something like this work: https://www.amazon.com/Pergola-Assemble-Climbing-Garden-Decoration/dp/B0764DWHGH/ The description suggests that it could work but I don't' want to go through the trouble of installing something now and having it collapse or otherwise fail. I'm concerned that it might be too flimsy.
There are ones like this: https://www.wayfair.com/outdoor/pdp/dura-trel-bakersfield-vinyl-arbor-dtrl1064.html But of course they are obviously much more expensive - about $500 for 3 vs. $100-150.
If I had to go with the second one I would probably ask my landscaper to do the installation so I don't screw it up, which adds cost of course - on the other hand I'm kind of skeptical of the first one, that I could just push the stakes into the ground and that would be strong enough to support the plant. The concern I have is that I'm sure everything would be fine NOW, but when the plant grew, it might be unstable/flimsy, and by that point it would be difficult to "start over."
Would appreciate any ideas -- thanks!
Hi! We had an inspector come through and said our grape arbor would need reinforcing soon, though didn’t provide details. Any advice on how to keep this thing standing up for years to come? It currently feels pretty sturdy but some of the wood is starting to look a little worn.
I'm brand new to woodworking and I've never built anything like this. Here is a sketch of what I want to build, with labels and dimensions:
https://i.imgur.com/f1N9iC1.png
- My first question concerns the joints between the bearers and the inner posts:
https://i.imgur.com/235ljuR.png
The posts have this rabbet that the bearers are seated in (more obvious if you look in the blue circle). If you look in the orange circle, I'm placing the bearer planks end-to-end and then attaching them to the post with four bolts (purple dots). I'm doing this because it seems unlikely that I'll be able to find 26'-long planks for my bearers.
But since the posts are 4x4, this means that my bolts will have to be centered no more then 0.875" away from the edge of the planks. Will this create a joint that is too weak for my purposes?
- My second question concerns the rigidity of this structure:
https://i.imgur.com/bBR5r7O.png
A lot of arbor/pergola videos I've watched have this 2x4 rafters on top of the bearers. Then, there are 2x2 battens on top of that. I'm skipping the rafters and just laying the 2x2 battens (25 total) on top of the bearers. Will this be rigid enough?
- What type of wood should I use? Redwood and cedar look nice, but seem expensive. Some pressure-treated wood seems to have a weird pitted texture. Is there a wood that will stand up to the elements (perhaps with some stain or sealer) that will look nice?
I watched it on KABC.
This was the shade structure before the fire (photo from google maps) https://i.imgur.com/2j5Ben2.jpg
WTF were they thinking.
Hello. My wife and I're building a grape arbor in our back yard and have a few concerns and questions. Is this the place to go?
Specifically, we are near Pittsburgh (USDA Zone 6). Our back yard has some pretty tall privacy trees around it, unfortunately, so the arbor would receive only about 7 hours of direct light a day in the summer.
Can anyone recommend a good species to plant? We'd like grapes that are edible by themselves, but I'm already an avid beer brewer and it'd be nice to be able to add wine to the mix.
Also, I have several hundred feet of oak lumber that's about 70 years old and probably treated with arsenic. Would this be picked up by the grapes?
Thanks!
Hello. My wife and I're building a grape arbor in our back yard and have a few concerns and questions.
Specifically, we are near Pittsburgh (USDA Zone 6). Our back yard has some pretty tall privacy trees around it, unfortunately, so the arbor would receive only about 7 hours of direct light a day in the summer.
Can anyone recommend a good species to plant? We'd like grapes that are edible by themselves, but I'm already an avid beer brewer and it'd be nice to be able to add wine to the mix.
Also, I have several hundred feet of oak lumber that's about 70 years old and probably treated with arsenic which I'd like to use to build the arbor. Would this be picked up by the grapes? Thanks!
