Thanks for the input and suggestions. If I want to sandwich the posts between the 2x10s, I will either have to bury less post, lower the "roof", or buy longer posts. Which is the best option? Are 2x10s necessary, or would 2x8s function (and look) well? I would love to put in a detail like oval windows, but to keep costs down, this may be a diy job, and we don't really have the skills to pull it off. I'm the family handyman, so I'll be relying on my husband for help with the heavy lifting and supplying the direction myself. He would rather be playing golf. Once the thing is up, I'll look at making panels of square trellis to insert in the spaces along the back, which faces a street (corner lot). I'm thinking of skipping the readymade lattice and making my own, so I'll have to figure out the details of framing and attaching it to the posts later. Someone on one of the forums posted some photos of a pergola they built attached to their house, using fir, I think. Would it be reasonable to use PT for the posts and fir (or something else) for the rest? I'd love to use cedar, but the cost is more than I care to spend. Here's the site where it will go. The foreground has been ready for it for two years, the plantings near the house are still quite small.

Are you sure the "Water Seal" you refer to is an oil based (requiring a petrochemical to clean the brushes and NOT soap and water)? Is it "transparent" and has no color listed or shown on the can? There is no need to "strip" or "sand" the Thompson's Oil based TRANSPARENT Water seal Product because the paraffin soaks into the wood and is not on the surface. It has no pigments in it that rest on top of the wood. Therefore there should be no "peeling" or "chipping" of the surface and no obvious wear other than wear to the wood itself, usually near stairs and door and very slight in most instances. If its the Thompson Oil Based Transparent product you used, there is no need to strip or sand. You may want to clean the surface (IF it is visibly in need of it) with something like diluted Clorox Exterior house cleaner to remove pollen, dust, dirt and any surface mildew (mildew spores are transported by the wind and there is always some on the surface, although it probably hasn't "stuck" to it. Its basically a spray or brush on job and rinse with a garden hose. Let it dry fully for at least a day (two is better). then you can apply your new oil based deck product. I suggest you wait at least one full year for the beading of water to stop and even two years is OK. My front deck got the Thompson's two years ago and I will stain it with an oil based stain this year. It requires minimal cleaning....I may just use a garden hose with a firemen's nozzle. The deck gets full sun all morning so mildew is very hard pressed to survive there. Best stain, IMO are oil based TWP. The main thing to watch for is to avoid "soap and water cleanup" because that is a water based, possibly latex deck product. You wouldn't think to put latex paint on your indoor hardwood. Latex wears like crap to foot traffic. A true stain soaks the color deep into the wood and is not a "paint pigment" that sits on top of the wood. The whole problem with deck preservation has been caused by the VOC controversy which tossed a lot of good products out of the market by legislation. The emphasis on water based products opened the door for a lot of "new" water products with "paint stains" which are not stains at all. Unfortunately, those products require stripping because they wear out fast, leaving some areas bare and have adhesion problems as they age. Stripping is more work than the refinishing. ALWAYS google the Material Safety Data Sheet of the product you are considering so you know exactly what it is. Be careful that most big box stores sales clerks are "selling" what the store has in stock. That is why they get paid. The best products used by Contractors are available through building supply vendors that cater to builders and carpenters and not the general public consumer. They do not refuse to sell to the general public, but "quality" is their life blood, not quantity of sales based on huge purchasing contracts supplying a nationwide chain. Wish you good luck. Don't be swayed by the claims of 6 year and 10 year lifespans. If its a water based paint pigment product, it will look like hell for half of those claimed "lifespans", Most people would prefer a true stain that can be reapplied easily without having to strip the deck. And. if you have to strip the deck, how do you strip the railings and balusters? I've done it....took a pressure washer and two days to complete. Then I started reading and wised up on the number of really crummy products that are available, being pushed by big box stores and consumer agencies that prioritize water based over oil because of an "environmental" bias. The idea behind using an initial Thompson's Oil Based Transparent on a new deck comes from a highly ethical, lifelong contractor/carpenter who needed a workable solution for customers who couldn't decide how they wanted there decks treated during an age of great confusion. The Thompson Transparent has an effective anti-fungal and gives good service up to two years. When you compare to other oil based products costing three times as much, many of them also recommend restaining after two years. BTW, oil based paraffin products do not support fungus.

I saw where they made frames out of 2x4's and attached wire mesh inside the frames. They hinged the panels together,(4 panels about 3'x6'), and angled them similar to a room divider. The wire mesh was used to grow vine type plants. They anchored them down so the wind wouldn't catch them. I would use an exterior friendly wood such as redwood or cedar for the ground contact to keep rot down or mount them on stakes to keep the frames off ground if using something like fir or hem fir.

Thanks for the input! I had no idea the pictures weren't right side up--they look it to me on the thread! Are you still seeing them sideways or upside down? This isn't really the main "hang out" since we usually congregate out by the garage. We have dogs so while we will be replacing the ugly fence, we won't be eliminating it all together. We put in an electric fence ourselves that does our two acres, but it's nice to have a fenced in area with three dogs as well. I like the idea of a patio, but I've never put one in and neither has hubby. Would be a bit of a learning curve and I'm not sure he wants to scrap the whole deck idea all together. I was hoping for a deck with some type of large egress--either a big wide stairwell or a way to have it with no railing stepping down to the flagstone path (we already have those stones) plus a side walkway over to a small flagstone patio by the red barn? Right next to the red barn gets shade in the afternoon--the rest of the deck wouldn't for a few years (tree had to be cut down that gave us some shade--I'll be planting a new maple soon). Location is upstate, NY, and I definitely don't want more painting or staining in my future! We removed the aluminum siding on the house a few years ago and had it painted last year. I hand painted 30+ spindles, top & bottom rail, and the deck of the porch. Plus I personally have painted all 3200 sf of the house myself inside! Ugh--no more!! Any other pics or ideas are welcome! Thanks again! Sarah from Albany, NY