We've been in our new house for over a year now and I'm finally making progress on our first upgrade: Patio Expansion! While I liked the design of the house a lot, the patio was only 15 x 6. We've hired one of the concrete contractors that does work for Newmark and Lennar and he expanded our patio out to a full 15x15 with footings and rebar. Now we could have stopped there, but we really wanted a nice pergola to go over it and that's exactly what Lawn Master Outdoor Living delivered.
We had been searching all over for a reputable contractor when we saw a nice pergola at Home Depot and found out about a company that takes orders from much of Texas ( Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio ), manufactures all of their various products at a central facility and then delivers/installs on site with dedicated installers.
I first contacted the company via email and was promptly called by a knowledgeable employee. During the conversation, I was asked to email some pictures of the job site and this prompted an all but finalized design right over the phone. I love it when things are that easy!
Lawn Master says that they typically deliver within 10 days but my project took longer due to my desire to have the project be fully legal. Lawn Master had no problem pulling permits with Cedar Park and making that happen. Time expectations were set up-front so that wasn't really a problem.
There was one hiccup before deployment: My city's building inspection department wasn't happy with the choice of 2x8 double headers for a 13' span. The inspector wanted a third post. Yuck!
I did some googling and found some discussions saying that city's are now treating attached pergolas as decks in case fireman are climbing on them during a fire. This meant the design had to assume 50 pounds per square foot. Wow! Well, Lawn Master worked it out to use 2x10 double headers instead of a third post with no extra charge.
Finally, install day! A crew of three workers arrived on time with a trailer full of lumber and knocked the whole project out in 2.5 hours. It was obvious just by watching that they knew exactly what they were doing. The building inspector came by the next day and signed off on the work. All in all, a very nice experience.
So if you live in North, Central or East Texas and you are looking for a Pergola or Pavilion ( I saw some real nice ones if my budget would have only allowed ), I highly recommend that you check out Lawn Master Outdoor Living.
Now I need to find a really good mason for the next phase of the project. The concrete was mostly to provide a good foundation for the patio. What we really want is stone.
2 comments:
I totally enjoyed reading about your pergola from Lawn Master Outdoor Living.
We also received our info from Home Depot and are getting ready to call the number on their brochure to set up an appointment.
A couple of questions:
You mention finding a reputable contractor, and you contacted the company directly via email...
Is that the same method we will be going through when we call the number on the Home Depot brochure?
Did you do this all without Home Depot connection? Just wondering if I could put on my Home Depot charge card?
How do you find a contractor as great as the one you used? Not many would be willing to play the permit game with the city. In fact I think the brochure even mentions the buyer is responsible for all premits.
Any suggestions and words of wisdom would be truly appreciated. Your picture looks awesome. I hope to have one within the next month or so.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you in advance.
David
Hi David-
I had picked up a flyer from Home Depot and at the time blew off the special services guy at the store. One day I was ready to pull the trigger so I sent an email to Lawn Master. Whether you talk to the special services desk, call the 800 # or send an email, your still going to end up talking to the same people so I don't think it really matters.
Lawn Master sent a rep out and when we met I asked about permits. This is when he told me that they did it but he had to find out what the specific charges were for my city. He also said that it could take some time as they researched the process used by my city.
After a week or so had gone by I received a phone call from Lawn Master with the final quote. I verbally approved it and he asked me what store I wanted to use. Lawn Master then called the order into the store and I went to the store to pay for it and pick up the special services receipt.
I don't know much about the Home Depot card but I imagine you could use it. Personally I used my VISA card.
I didn't pick a contractor, Lawn Master sent a crew out to do the work. I don't know if they were subcontractors or employees or how many different crews they have. All I can attest to is that the guys they sent out to do my specific job were really good.
I hope that answers all of your questions. Feel free to ask more.
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