Which structure fits your yard?
A pergola is open overhead, with beams and rafters that cast dappled shade and let the sky show through. A pavilion is a freestanding structure with a real roof, shingled or metal, that keeps the table and the furniture dry. A patio cover is a roof that extends off the back of the house. An arbor is a smaller frame over a path, a gate or a bench, often with something climbing on it.
Wood, metal or both?
Cedar, usually Western red cedar, is the classic pergola wood: light, stable and good-looking left to weather silver or stained. Pressure-treated pine costs less and takes stain well. Aluminum never needs refinishing, and steel can span farther between posts, which opens up the space underneath. Many builds mix them, with cedar rafters on black steel posts or a metal roof on a timber frame.
Ways to finish it
Size it for what goes underneath, whether that’s a dining table for eight or a pair of Adirondack chairs. Closer rafters or a lattice top give a pergola more shade. Louvered roofs open and close. A pavilion can take a ceiling fan, recessed lights and a TV, and stone-wrapped column bases make the posts look substantial. String lights across a pergola are the simplest upgrade of all.
Built on solid footings
Every post sits on a concrete footing below Davidson County’s 12-inch frost line, with a bracket that keeps the wood off the concrete. A roof catches wind, so a pavilion’s footings and connections are sized for uplift as well as weight. Metro Codes limits rear-yard structures to 700 square feet or half the home’s footprint, whichever is larger, so a big pavilion is worth checking with them early.
Planning it with the patio
The easiest time to add a pergola is while the patio is being built: the footings go in with the base, the posts land exactly where they should, and gutters on a pavilion can drain where the patio already sheds water.
Sources
- Metro Codes, accessory structure permitting instructions — rear-yard size limits
- Metro Nashville ordinance BL2025-898 — frost depth