Types of Pergola Roofing

As not a very common concept, pergola roofing may be somewhat of a mystery to most people. How do you have a pergola with a roof, without the pergola simply becoming… rafters for the roof? Well, there are a couple of explanations for the use of terms that make sense once you sit down and think about it, and doing so can lead to some interesting pergola roofing options.

The first of these is to simply be referring to the pergola slats as a “roof”, even though they aren’t actually a roof at all. In this case it becomes clear that the term “roof” is being used to describe what is simply a “pergola”. While a pergola isn’t actually a roof at all, it does make sense to abstract the top of the pergola as such. It does cover the area below it, although that coverage isn’t complete. Well, that’s easy enough to understand.

Looking Through Other Pergola Roofing Ideas

The other way is to actually incorporate the look of a pergola with the functionality of a roof. This is a bit more tricky, since one of the main aspects of a pergola are the design of the runners. These have gaps between them that help to accentuate the form of the pergola and let more light in. Of course they don’t serve as a roof very well, since the gaps are well… gaps. Roofs generally aren’t full of such gaps.

However, you can preserve that look while adding the functionality of a roof still. It requires using transparent materials such as glass or plexiglass. These materials allow the light to stream through between the rafters, while they also keep it covered well against rain and even snow. By building your pergola this way, you can get the interesting natural lighting without sacrificing protection from the elements.

With treated glass or plexiglass, you can even get protection against UV rays from the sun. This way you can spend more time enjoying the warmth of the sun without having to worry about getting a sunburn or damaging your skin over time.

Adjusting to the Environment

You can also facilitate protection from UV rays by dictating how your pergola shades the area below. The runners on top of the pergola are generally long in the vertical dimension, and narrow in the horizontal. This means that as the sun is lower in the sky, the amount of shade will increase, but when the sun is higher in the sky the shade will decrease.

In general, this is the exact opposite of what you want when it comes to shade. The hottest times of day are in the middle generally speaking, when the sun is at it’s highest point in the sky. This is the time most pergolas will cast the least shade.

You can prevent this from being such a problem by tilting the pergola slats when they are oriented North and South. This can be an interesting area of pergola designs, helping to set apart your pergola from all the other more standard builds. It can also help to increase the amount of sunlight you get early in the day, while increasing the shade later.

Your Pergola through the Seasons

As we progress throughout the year, the sun also changes it’s inclination in the sky. This has much the same effect on a pergola as the time of day, only oriented perpendicular. This is because (in the Northern hemisphere) the sun is climbing to the apex of the sky in the summer. That means the sun is at the furthest North in the sky on the summer solstice. In the winter, it’s lower in the Southern sky.

This means that for pergola runners that are oriented East and West, they will cast different shade depending on the season. You can take advantage of this fact to help you better plan out your shading through the year. During the winter, it’s nice to have more sunlight to warm the house and spirits of you and your family. In hot summer months though, the opposite is true. The more shade the better.

If you have a pergola with adjustable slats, you can tilt the slats south in the winter to allow more light to pass through the pergola when it’s needed most. Then by tilting the slats North in the summer, you can increase the amount of shade.

Pergola Materials and Pricing

It may seem a bit counter-intuitive to use man made materials for pergola construction, but it can make sense in some cases. While wood is a natural material that is easy to work with, and looks good when outdoors. Metals can look foreign in natural environments, but you can use this to your advantage to make your pergola unique and stand out. It can also allow you to do things structurally that wood simply can’t accomplish due to it’s lower strength to weight ratio.

Care needs to be taken to ensure that you don’t make it stand out like a sore thumb though. Blending into the environment is one of the mainstay design elements of pergolas. Aluminum or steel can be treated or finished to be less obtrusive. Taking away the shiny finish and replacing it with a dull black or dark color can help it look more like wrought iron, which is well suited for outdoor applications both from an aesthetic standpoint, and a weathering one. Also, using aluminum or steel can increase the pergola price quite a bit. So be sure to plan out your budgeting accordingly.