Having some tea or coffee with your family and friends in your yard with warm sunlight is a pleasant feeling. Pergolas or covered patios are the familiar places in our yard to have these sessions.
Pergolas are freestanding outdoor structures usually made as a shaded walkway, passageway, or a sitting area for you and your family to have a fun tea-time conversation. Covered patios are outdoor structures with a roof that are generally attached to a house. Now here occurs the main question, which one is better for your yard?
Covered patios are a better option than pergolas for your yard, even though they are more expensive. Covered patios give you more privacy and are flexible to use in any weather conditions.
Now many of you may still have questions about it. So, I have decided to share more information about both pergola and covered patios. The information will contain a detailed description of both products, their pros and cons and at the end, we can again discuss which product is better and why.
Pergola
Pergola is a garden or an outdoor structure usually made as a shaded walkway, passageway, or a sitting area for you and your family to have a fun tea-time conversation. They are usually made of 4 vertical pillars, with or without a roof, depending on your choice.
Pergolas can be a free-standing structure that provides a sitting area or is attached to a house or a building for a pool or a garden. Pergolas also have a great architectural design and are designed and built precisely.
Pros
Easy to set up
Pergolas are very easy to set up, and if you have some time of your own, you can do it as a DIY project. It’s usually easy and less time-consuming to build a pergola since the only hard part of the project is to set up the four posts or pillars. Once the pillars are ready, you can get the work done in a few hours.
Affordable
Pergolas are cost-effective and can fit into your budget smoothly. The materials are affordable and might only cost you some extra money if you hire a carpenter.
Add value to your home.
If well maintained and designed, pergolas increase your outdoor spacing and add more value to your home and property, attracting more people.
Cons
Maintenance
Since pergolas are mostly made of cedarwood, they will need to be cleaned, treated, and repainted over time to make them always look fresh.
Termites
Termites never like to see us leading a peaceful life with our furniture intact. But it is less likely to have termites in your pergola if it is regularly maintained, cleaned, and repainted.
It might not add value to your house
If the pergola is not made with quality materials and not maintained and designed well, it might also negatively impact people, and they wouldn’t be putting a value on it.
Covered Patio
A covered patio is an outdoor structure but with a roof that is usually attached to a house. The roof can be designed separately or be an extension of your home. They can be left open on three sides or have one side open with the rest being enclosed. Some covered patios are also designed with a sliding door that can be closed during bad weather while you can still enjoy your outdoor space.
Pros
Extends space and can be used in any weather conditions
Patios can extend your home space and can be used as an outdoor kitchen or dining room. It also gives you the flexibility to use in any weather conditions and makes your patio last longer. When you have guests home, you don’t have to worry about the mess inside and use your covered patio as an entertainment hall.
Adds value to your property
Since covered patios are an extension attached to your house which is permanent and long-lasting, investing in it is always good since it adds more value to your house and property.
Can be customized to your designs
Covered patios can be customized in as many ways as possible since the only barrier is your creativity. You can design your covered patio to be a kitchen, dining hall, entertainment hall, play area, garden area, and many more. You can even use different materials to build your patio including wood, stone, concrete, etc.
Cons
High Budget
Since covered patios are an attached extension to your home rather than a free-standing structure, they can be the high end of your budget.
Re-design can make a home for flies in your wallet
While most people are satisfied with their covered patios, some might not get the exact result as they expected. This results in re-designing and constructing which requires tearing it out and building a new one increasing the cost two times more than expected.
More to maintain
Since it’s an addition to your home, it has to be maintained and cleaned regularly.
Which One is Better for Your Yard, Pergola or Covered Patio?
Moving to the last part of the article, it’s time to decide which one is better for your yard. Also if you haven’t read the above part yet, make sure you do since that’s what decides the best here.
- While pergolas can be affordable and cost-effective, covered patios can cost you more because they are an extension to your house whereas pergolas are free-standing structures.
- While both pergolas and covered patios can add value to your property, covered patios are considered better since they become a part of the house but pergolas are separate free-standing structures.
- Covered patios give you the flexibility to use it in any weather conditions but Pergolas doesn’t have this advantage since it is more of an open structure.
- Pergolas are easy to set up and can also be a DIY project but a covered patio requires more time and labor.
- Re-designing a pergola will cost you a little or none at all whereas covered patios can cost you a good amount.
- Pergolas need to be cleaned, treated, and repainted over time but the covered patio only requires to be dusted off.
- Covered patios give you more privacy though both happen to be in your yard because the pergola is an open space.
