How to build a Pergola – Step Five

The next step in installing your pergola is one of the most important. Fascia brackets are the method by which your pergola will be attached to your home. They form a strong bond between your house roof and your pergola, making sure that both your home and your pergola will not be affected by any weather or the weight of your structure.
Step Five-Installing Fascia Brackets
Fascia brackets are designed to take the load of your pergola back into your home’s roof and make sure that this load is not borne by the house fascia.
It is very important to install your fascia brackets correctly to ensure sufficient structural support for both your pergola and your home. Fascia brackets and stiffeners are installed at 1200mm centres.

Install rafter stiffener
To install rafter stiffeners to your house rafters you will need to temporarily move your existing roofing so that you can have access to the rafters. Rafter stiffeners are lengths of timber that are used to provide additional support to the house rafters. Fascia brackets attach directly onto them.
Getting access to the house rafters can be achieved by unscrewing the metal sheeting or lifting up tiles. If you have a sheet roof, use an off cut or a couple of short props to make a cave like area to work in. However, be very careful not to crease your sheets in doing so.

Once you have access to the house rafters, use 75mm bullet head nails to fix the 70 x 35 rafter stiffener to the house rafter in a zig zag fashion with a maximum spacing of 100mm
Cut slot in fascia
Using a pencil, draw a line on the inside of house fascia lining up with the outside face of the 70 x 35 stiffener you have just installed. Use a straight edge to follow the outside edge of the stiffener around the house gutter and onto the outside of the fascia and mark this point. Cut a 60 x 7mm vertical hole through the house fascia starting just underneath the gutter. Before you cut anything double check that your first hole is located beneath the gutter’s lowest point.
Install end fascia brackets
Slide the bracket up through the slot you have just cut so that the outside face of the “T” section is flush with the outside of the gutter. Once the bracket is in position, drill holes and insert bolts through the rafter stiffener and rafter using 4 x M10 bolts.

Install the two end brackets first and use a string line to make sure the remaining intermediate brackets are all level. Once you have installed intermediate brackets, you can refix the house roof and proceed to the next step, installing the beams and bottom chords.

How to build a Gable Roof Pergola – Step Six – Installing Beams & Bottom Chords
How to build a Gable Roof Pergola
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