Technicals
Now the fun part for all you technically adept buyers…
One of our biggest points of pride is that when engineers come to see our product, they buy our product. We ask our clients to pay us a visit (or ask for a site visit), then go and compare the sheer quality difference between a Mr.Pergola system compared to, literally, any other pergola on the market, Bar None! Mr.Pergola comes on top.
We studied our competitors, even went as far as buying competing products to see what works and doesn’t for the North American market. We came up with our own solution…. 2 different systems for 2 different use cases. 3 Season and 4 Season….
Well over a thousand hours of engineering went into our design and development, add another small fortune for testing and validation by 2 engineers who signed off on the design.
3-SEASON PERMANENT PERGOLA
3-SEASON PERMANENT PERGOLAFirst, the most solid permanent 3-Season Pergola. Where you can support some snow (3-4inches), but is built to be left open in winter. As the pics below show, we use high grade steel and aluminum. Double powder coated for superior protection. We DO NOT use Stainless Steel to build our corners, they are simply not as strong as steel.
One way to see the strength of any pergola is by looking at the corner brackets… since corners give strength. Most of our competitors use flimsy bent sheet metal with #12 screws to make a corner (pic below)… we use 10g steel and 6 Grade-8, half-inch bolts, (yes half inch/ Fastenal: 11588102 ) for each corner. See pics below. Our unique corner bracket also has a 4”x 4” HSS underneath going down 12” to help against the wind. The electroplated black zinc bolts of the posts (3/8” x 5”) keep the entire frame in place. We’ve installed our pergolas by lakes, rooftops, rivers, by highways and never, ever, have we had any problems. In the rare cases where need be, we created an additional bracketing system to shore it up further, where we can stand up to constant Cat4 Hurricane winds (156mph-251km/hr). There is simply no other pergola that can stand up to Mother Nature like Mr.Pergola can. Period. Should your project require any further support brackets against even higher winds, we’ve got you covered as well.
4-SEASON PERMANENT PERGOLA
Now for the 4-Season Pergola… It’s nothing short of a Beast! The only pergola in the world that can handle 3 feet of wet snow, which means you can use it carefree all winter long. We see other companies talking about Snow Load in weight (ex: 6000lbs-11000lbs), but this is misleading. SNOW IS HEAVY! A few thousand pounds amounts to a few inches of snow…none come close to 3 feet (ex:22,000lbs on a 16×16)! … for the record, our snow load capacity is 88 pounds per square foot. That’s double anyone else’s claims. The difference between our claims and our competitors is that we have our pergolas tested by specialized engineering firms and a minimum of two engineers signed off on it. We don’t simply put some weight on the pergola and make a claim, we invested, heavily, so that we can guarantee our claims!
Remember we can go up to 20ft between each column. Whether width or projection. Where others stop at 12ft depth, we keep going to 20ft deep. A 20’x20’ pergola is still installed with only 4 columns or attached with two at the front and wall mounted at the back. (See beam thicknesses below).
The 4-Season pergola is of course a little more expensive given the quantity of materials we use. aluminum and steel are sold by weight, period. The corner brackets are quarter inch (1/4”) thick double coated steel, properly covered to last, frankly, as long as you want it. There are no points of failure. We studied what others have done, found the weak points and solidified our system, essentially learning from their mistakes and weaknesses. There is a reason we can go up to 20ft wide and 20ft deep with only 4 posts/columns…and why our louvres (blades) can surpass the frame by 4ft, without dropping/bending. See images below and request a sample!
The 4-Season pergola option is perfect for those who want to use their patio in winter because they have an outdoor kitchen, love to BBQ, want to store their furniture without having to cover it or simply enjoy taking a break outside in winter with a firepit and either a hot chocolate or a cigar…
100% Waterproof
CUSTOMIZATION
Our classic pergola can be customized like no other. We can do anything from height extension, L-Shaped, extended louvres or extended sub-frame for more coverage when you have a smaller footprint to work with. The attached pergola is an option if your home’s exterior can support it. We have special mounting brackets for this purpose.
The Modern Pergola is not as customizable, it must remain a square or rectangle. It can still be attached.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? Classic Vs Modern
| Features | Classic Pergola | Modern Pergola ( Integrated Gutter ) |
|---|---|---|
| 6063 Aluminum Beams | 3-Season | Louvres open in winter |  |
| Additional Support Beams | If necessary or desired for lights/heaters | |
| Extrusion Profiles | 6″ | 6″ |
| Aluminum Post 6061 | | |
| Support/”Brackets”-Thickness | 1/8″ | 1/4″ |
| Compatible Accessories | | |
| Internal Reinforcements | 16ft | |
| Dynamic charge (constant wind-closed louvres) | 208KM/HR | 208KM/HR |
| Internal Reinforcements | First snow fall only (2-4″) | 36″/88lbs |
| Features | Classic Pergola 3-Season | Louvres open in winter | Classic Pergola 4-Season | Louvres closed in winter |
|---|---|---|
| 6063 Aluminum Beams | 3-Season | Louvres open in winter | |
| Additional Support Beams | If necessary or desired for lights/heaters | |
| Extrusion Profiles | 6″ | 6″ |
| Aluminum Post 6061 | | |
| Support/”Brackets”-Thickness | 1/8″ | 1/4″ |
| Compatible Accessories | | |
| Internal Reinforcements | 16ft If requested for TV/ Heaters etc | |
| Dynamic charge (constant wind-closed louvres) | 156mph/HR | 156mph/HR |
| Internal Reinforcements | First snow fall only (2-4″) | 36″/88lbs |
DYNAMIC CHARGE : WIND
Here is what a professional test profile looks like, showing the forces being excreted on the pergola. This image is from one of the pages of the report produced by Concept Para Design, one page of many.
(448 N/m2 wind perpendicular from one side / 12.2625 m/s2 of gravity).
Our wind rating tests are not done by renting a big fan as some other companies do…and then proudly display it on video as if it’s an actual test…NO!
We took the necessary time (and expense) to work with Designers and Structural Engineers to ensure we pass any test. We began this process after selling our first pergola for a famous restaurant in NYC. We passed those stringent tests with flying colors. We are currently working to pass the necessary wind rating of a Cat 5 Hurricane, with our Cat 4 positive results in rear view mirror. We are certified by ASCE 7-16 Standards everywhere in the Continental United States, except for the bottom third of Florida where we are still working on getting up to 180-200mph wind loads.
Our tests are done by professional firms specializing in Structural Engineering and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Should you have a major commercial (or residential) project requiring further approval or technical assistance, we have the right firms to work with. They have already signed off on many projects. If you are buying a standard pergola and still need permitting, we have the design specs/shop drawings to send over. We’re here to help.
STATIC CHARGE: SNOW LOAD
Snow load calculations are done using sophisticated software and entails hours upon hours of calculations. Further, following the Canadian Building Code of 2015, which is a recognized and accepted global standard, the tests and engineering work doesn’t end until we achieve a minimum of 24” of wet snow (36” of powder snow), plus a classified buffer. We further tested and passed the American ASCE 7-16 Building Code Standard.
We took the necessary time (and expense) to work with designers and mainly engineers to ensure we pass any test.
Inside Out Test
Inside Out/Mr.Pergola
Outside In-1/Mr.Pergola
Mr.Pergola Corner Test
Mr.Pergola Corner Aluminum Cover
Competition Corner
Now compare our corner bracket to what you get from our competitors (actual image from competitor pergola), a folded piece of sheet metal with a few #12 screws. Just by looking at this pic, you know the top (louvres) are not substantial. Their louvres are also made of SHEET METAL, NOT EXTRUSIONS.
See comparison pic below. Whereas our louvres can handle 195kg of snow each (16ft-4-Season Pergola with adequate frame reinforcements), Sheet Metal can barely handle its own weight.
WHAT IS ASCE 7-16:
ASCE 7-16 is a standard published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that provides minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures, including loads like dead, live, soil, flood, snow, rain, ice, earthquake, and wind.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Purpose:
ASCE 7-16 serves as a foundation for structural design, providing engineers with the necessary tools and guidelines to determine design loads and assess load combinations for various types of structures.
Scope:
The standard covers a wide range of loads, including:
Dead loads (weight of the structure itself)
Live loads (occupancy loads)
Soil loads
Flood loads
Tsunami loads
Snow loads
Rain loads
Atmospheric ice loads
Earthquake loads
Wind loads
Load Combinations:
ASCE 7-16 also provides guidance on how to combine different loads to ensure the structural integrity of buildings under various scenarios.
Risk Categories:
The standard uses the concept of “Risk Categories” to determine acceptable design criteria and factors of safety when calculating Wind, Snow, Flood, Ice, and Seismic forces that a structure may experience throughout its lifespan.
Updates:
ASCE 7-16 is an update to the previous edition, ASCE/SEI 7-10, and incorporates new seismic maps, wind speed maps, snow load maps, and provisions for tsunami design.
Importance:
ASCE 7-16 is a key part of the building code in the United States and is adopted by many jurisdictions.
The base foot of our system is extremely solid. You can hold your pergola on 4 pins because of the thickness of our post and the base system. The extra corners on the post give it immense strength, simple more corners = more strength. (actual parts, not photoshopped)
3 Season Base Foot System
4 Season Base Foot System
