From a chair on the patio the two look alike: beams, rafters and stripes of shade. The difference is at the house. One hangs from the wall on one side. The other touches nothing but the ground.
That one difference decides what the wall must be made of, how many posts stand on your patio and what the town asks for. This guide goes through each point, and through the middle way that brick and stone walls call for.
Two ways to hold up the same shade
| Question | Attached | Freestanding |
|---|---|---|
| What carries it | A ledger on the house, and posts on the far side | Its own posts on every side |
| Posts by the door | None on the house side | A row of posts near the house, or the whole frame out in the yard |
| The wall | Must be right for a ledger | Not touched |
| Water | Flashing above the ledger keeps rain out of the wall | No joint with the house |
| Where it can go | Against the house | Anywhere the lot rules allow |
| Permit, in general | Treated as part of the house. Usually needed. | Depends on the size and the town |
Neither one gives more shade than the other. The rafters do that work, and they are the same on both.
How an attached pergola meets the house
The ledger is a board fixed flat against the house. The house side of the pergola rests on it. Three things make an attached pergola right:
- The ledger is bolted to the house frame. Not to the trim, and not only to the outer skin of the wall.
- Flashing sits above it. Flashing is a strip of metal that sends rain out and over the board, so water does not run behind it into the wall.
- The far side stands on posts. Those posts need the same solid base as any other post.
Swipe the drawing sideways to see all of it.
Before a ledger is planned, we need to see the wall: what covers it, where the door and the windows are, and what is in the way, such as gutters, vents and utility lines. That is why the photo list asks for the house wall and the door.
What you gain is an open patio by the door, with no posts on the house side, and shade that starts right at the wall. See attached pergolas for the full service.
Brick veneer, stone and older painted walls
Brick veneer is a single layer of brick in front of the house frame. It is a skin, not the structure. So when the wall is brick veneer or stone, we usually set posts next to the house instead of hanging the pergola from the wall.
The result looks attached and is not. A row of posts stands close to the wall, the beam runs along the house, and the wall carries nothing. Nothing is fixed to the brick.
Paint is one more thing to check. A home built before 1978 may have lead paint. For a pergola that matters only when the pergola attaches to a painted wall.
If your home was built before 1978, tell us when you send photos. Until our lead-safe certification is in place, we build freestanding at those homes and do not attach to painted walls.
How a freestanding pergola stands
A freestanding pergola carries itself. Every post needs something solid under it, and there are two ways to give it that:
Swipe the drawing sideways to see all of it.
- A footing in the ground. Concrete, dug below the frost depth that the local code sets.
- A steel post base on a slab. The base is anchored to an existing concrete slab, when the slab is thick and sound enough.
Loose pavers cannot hold a post. On a paver patio, a footing goes under each post. The post base also holds the wood off the concrete, because water harms wood from the end grain, and the bottom of a post is end grain.
No house holds a freestanding frame square, so it has to do that itself. That is the job of the knee braces between the posts and the beams. A frame with no bracing can start to lean.
What you gain is freedom. The pergola can stand over a patio away from the house or at the back of the yard, and the house wall stays as it is.
Permits, in general
This is general information, not legal advice. The town or county has the final word, and so does your HOA on its own rules.
- Attached. A pergola attached to the house is treated as part of the house and usually needs a permit.
- Freestanding. It is a detached accessory structure. In North Carolina, one with any dimension over 12 feet must meet the building code, so many towns and counties ask for a building permit above that size. A smaller one may still need a zoning permit.
- Posts next to the house. Ask the office how it treats a pergola that stands beside the house and does not touch it. Do not assume.
If your project needs a building or zoning permit, the written quote says so, and who files it is agreed in writing before any work starts. The full list of questions is in do you need a permit for a pergola.
Which one fits your house
- Attached fits when the patio is against the house, the wall is right for a ledger, you want no posts by the door, and the permit step is fine with you.
- Freestanding fits when the place to sit is away from the house, or when you want the house wall left alone.
- Posts next to the house fit when you want shade at the door but the wall should not carry it: brick veneer or stone, or a painted wall on a home built before 1978.
Look up before you decide. Windows, gutters, vents and the roof edge can leave no good place for a ledger, and then posts are the simple answer. The material matters too: read wood vs aluminum for how each one meets a wall.
What to photograph
For this choice the wall matters most. Send the whole space from two corners, the ground surface up close, the house wall and the door, and anything overhead or in the way. Add the rough width and depth of the space, and the year the house was built if you know it.
Send them on the photo quote page. Tell us which way you lean, and we send a free written quote. Every pergola, pavilion, privacy wall and repair is quoted after we see photos.