How to Install a DIY Timber Frame Pergola Kit; Setting the Posts & Beams 6/12

 

 

 

You can see now the post is just sitting over the knife plate itself and then you don’t see the knife plate. Here you can see the final post going up. We have made sure everything is drilled and ready to go and it just drops right over the knife plate. We then lift the post up, over and they just lock down in with the dovetail.

 

Mouseover the above illustration to see Western Timber Frame's The Dovetail Difference™ slide down for easy assembly.

 

This massive mortised dovetail joint connection system we call “The Dovetail Difference™” throughout our timber construction process creating very strong, rigid joints. On the test pictured above, this pergola kit didn’t give until it hit over 11,000 lbs.!!!

 

 

Once your posts and beam end extensions are up just take a rubber mallet and just pound them down. Pound them down nice and tight just so they are flush with the top. And then we have already got each post and each beam pre-drilled. Make sure that the beam end extension that the mallet is on is in line with the layouts so that you are not putting the wrong 12” beam extension on the opposite side of the rafter layouts. Then we end up taking the lags that we provide and go ahead and put those in. Notice all the lags and bolting is done up above where it is not in the view of the finished project.