Danni, I'm trying to find a contractor for a pergola. Would like to know whatever you can tell me about the acrylic sheet you've found. Price? Are plexiglass and acrylic the same? Agree about it needing to be rated for UV exposure. Will appreciate hearing from you. Rosie

I make awnings and canopies for a living. We routinely make screen panels, too. Generally, they zip onto a canopy/awning and have a weight rod that is inserted through a casing stitched to the hemline of the screen. The weight rod won't work for you since you swag the screen to the sides when you aren't sitting out there. I suggest you purchase lengths of chain cut to the lengths required. Pull it through a casing and it will bundle up effectively enough to permit "swagging". You may want to add a few ties along the length that will allow you to secure it and prevent too much billowing in windier conditions.

This is the one I am building from Cedar. I stained it. Personally I love the look at feel of rough cut cedar. I used to be in the Seattle area so I'm familiar with the weather. I think that if you made a stripping top like mine you angle the joists and cover the stripping with a sheeting to have the water flow. But I would probably make a blind system that could be pulled from one header to another to keep the water off when necessary. If it is a solid top, you'll be fighting the debris on the top of it all the time.

When there is wall space directly above the windows it's nice to use 3 separate rods. Without any wall space, such as your window, I'd use a single rod over flat part above the windows. Treat as a single window instead of three. This is assuming you'll use some type of panels or curtains. If you were doing shades of some type, I'd use 3 shades.