Pergola or patio cover of wood or aluminium with retractable canopy

Pergolas and patio covers come in all shapes and sizes, made from various materials such as wood, aluminium and iron and with various types of roof, such as a fixed shade sail, a harmonica retractable canopy that you can slide open and shut, waterproof or not, with a fixed roof of glass, wood or plastic sheets (although this is more of a veranda) or with a slat roof that you can open or close.

Of course, there are expensive and cheap pergolas, and there is almost always a difference in quality. But a cheaper pergola for your garden is not necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on what your expectations are...

There are also pergolas that you can easily install yourself and other complex shelters that are better left to a professional.

How to choose between all these possibilities? On this page, we will try and help you guide in that choice and we will show you the different possibilities that we can offer you in order to build your own pergola or to choose a good terrace roofing which you can possibly have installed by a professional.

When you are looking for a pergola or roofing, one of the first questions you will probably ask is: What exactly does a pergola cost? Pergolas start at a few hundred euros and can go up to 20.000 euros, it all depends on your wishes and expectations.
Our advice, first determine the maximum budget that you wish to spend and only after that, start looking at what kind of pergola this budget will allow you to buy. Be careful with the cheap pergolas, they can quickly become expensive.

I myself, a very long time ago, once bought such a "cheap thing" (still paid 700€) at a construction market, looked nice, a bit rickety, though. Once at home, I mounted it and screwed it into the ground. Later in the evening there was a big storm and not even 10 minutes later the pergola was folded in half 500 meters further in the neighbour's meadow!

This experience has by the way, been my main motivation to look for possibilities to buy or build a high quality and beautiful pergola for a reasonable budget!

So, when choosing a pergola, pay attention to the quality first. Choose a solid construction. After all, a pergola stands outside all year round in all seasons and weather conditions and it would be a bit of a waste of money if you would have to buy a new pergola every year.
To give you a first impression of the prices of a pergola, here comes a list of the general possibilities:

A solid wooden pergola: from 500€ to 2000€ including retractable canopy.
Iron or wooden pergola (DIY quality) from 200/300€, personally I don't recommend this...
Attached metal patio roof with fixed canvas: from €500 (don't lean to it, it might fold...)
Aluminium pergola: from 1500€
Pergola with slatted roof: from 5000€

An important part of the cost of a pergola is the transport and possible installation costs. We have beams up to 6 meters (allows you to use less posts) , but unfortunately transport for these lengths is very expensive. (Thats why beams and post at a DIY market are not longer then 245cm)

Maximum prices do not really exist, you can always make a pergola as big and expensive as you want!

Please read anything you would like to learn at our page: How to build a pergola