A waterproof cover for my pergola was going to cost $700. It is a square piece of waterproof fabric with tabs. I refused to buy it on principle. Instead I made one out of a 10' x 12' fly tent. It was $50. And it works.
Using ratchet pulleys and D-rings I turned a $50 fly tent into a waterproof pergola cover in 1 hour. And you can too. I'm going to teach you.
I'm not spending $700 on a piece of fabric that doesn't even have enough pizzaz to get me in the back door of the Met Gala. To be precise, $745.80 CA ($560 US) would have been the total for a 12' x 12' cover for my 12' x 12' pergola.
The same cost outrage a few years ago led me to build my own Restoration Hardware outdoor furniture which a lot of readers have built for themselves since.
I built this pergola last summer with the Toja Grid bracket system. You buy the very expensive brackets, shove posts into them and you're done. I bought a shade cloth as well, but with the extreme heat and rain this summer I wanted a cover with more sun & rain protection.
NO MORE WET CUSHIONS EVER
Yes please, that is what I want. I would very much like to not have to run outside at 1 o'clock in the morning to cover the furniture because it started pouring rain without warning.
IN THE VIDEO BELOW for instance IT IS 1 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING.
No rain was forecast for days. I checked at about 8 p.m. As I was going to bed I heard rain. Lots of it.
If I hadn't just added this cover I would have been running out into the pouring rain in my pajamas, scrambling to cover the furniture.
INSTEAD I was running out into the pouring rain in my pajamas, scrambling to video the cover working.
You can see it in action performing the way it should. Rain flowing to and dripping off 2 ends of the cover, with nothing dripping off the other 2 sides.
Table of Contents
How to Make a Waterproof Pergola Cover
Materials
FLY TENT
The size of tent depends on the size of your pergola. Ideally, my 12' x 12' pergola requires a 12' x 12' tent. However, I could only find a 10' x 12' tarp so that's what I went with.
PULLEYS
Ratchet Pulleys make tightening the tarp easy.
THESE are the same pulleys I love and use for my grow light setup.
D-RINGS
D-Rings are what you'll screw into the pergola to clamp the pulleys to.
Canadian Links
🇨🇦 Fly tent
🇨🇦 D-Rings
American Links
🇺🇸 Fly tent
🇺🇸 D-Rings
Tools
- Drill
Instructions
I already had a shade cloth (an expensive shade cloth) over my pergola, but the shade it provided wasn't heavy enough and rain could get through it.
I WANTED SOMETHING TO PROTECT EVERYTHING UNDERNEATH THE PERGOLA FROM RAIN.
This is that thing.
- Throw the tent over the middle support bar of your pergola. If you don't have one just skip this step.
2. Attach ratchet pulleys to the corners of the tent. One clip on the tent, one clip to the pergola corner. I have corner brackets so I could clip to that. If you don't, you'll need to install D-Rings on each corner.
3. Once the tent is secured to all 4 corners, pull each pulley to tighten it up. Now you can move onto the sides.
4. Water needs to flow OFF of the tarp so it needs to be tight and 2 sides need to be a few inches lower than the centre so water doesn't pool.
I originally had a shade cloth on my pergola so I could reuse the hardware from that, but I needed to move them. In Step 3 you can see the original shade cloth brackets on the upper beam.
I removed that hardware and secured them on the underside of the beam on two opposing sides of the pergola as you can see in Step 4. This lowered the tent's edges by a few inches allowing water to flow off.
Time out break when it started to rain in the middle of installation.
5. For the 2 remaining sides, I secured the topline along the middle using the same method of pulley's and a D-ring.
This is seeming a lot more complicated than it actually is.
6. Once all the pulleys are in place, tighten each one little by little to get the cover as flat and tight as possible.
Hint: The cover will stretch a little bit so keep your lines hanging for a couple of weeks to make tightening it easy. Once it has stopped stretching, tuck the cords away. I ran my cords along the underside of the top beams.
Test it Out
You can spray a hose onto your cover to see where the drip line is to make sure nothing is getting wet underneath. If it is, adjust as necessary. You may need to increase the pitch of the cover by lowering the sides more.
When I made it rain (heh) on mine the water poured off onto the dining table and splashed onto the back of the sofa. I pulled the table back a few inches to solve the problem.
And there you have it. How to make a waterproof pergola cover for $50 out of a tent. Sticking it to the man, one DIY at a time.
Why did you swap out your cob pizza oven?
I didn't get it covered at the end of the summer a couple of years ago so it got wet, froze and the entire lime plaster and insulation layer cracked. I decided to try a Gozney Dome and so far I absolutely love it. But I do miss my cob oven.
Good to know, Karen. Thank you.
Brilliant! I knew my procrastination on buying a shade cloth would pay off! Now just need to wait out the 100 degree heat to install it!
You need and igloo as well as a shade cloth at that temperature! Wait a minute... ...Ice, 100°, well it would be good while it lasted.
Darn. I came to comment that not only are your DYI’S engineeringly genius but always chic, elegant, modern and classy. Never slipshod or home made looking. It’s a gift you have that’s shared generously with us and I’m immensely grateful. Thanks again.
I am getting a refresher of your backyard and notice some new items. I see a tomato trained up a post and a white box attached to another post. What is that white box on another post? I notice solar lights low on each post, so you have electric in your gazebo? Asking about the amazing chandy light overhead
Hi Gigi! Thanks so much. I really need to do an update post on the backyard since it's changed a bit in the past year! The white boxes on opposing sides of the pergola are wireless speakers. And the lights on the posts are motion activated solar lights so when I let Lip out at night and he walks around they light up the backyard where he walks. The black drum light hanging in the pergola is a plug-in hanging lamp. Because it's a light meant for outdoors and this very purpose it has a very long cord, that just runs to a plug. Hope that helps! ~ karen
Well, how freakin' cozy is that?! I love the sound of rain on a tent. Also, currently figuring out how to make my own event tent out of a giant tarp so I don't have to rent one for 2-gd-thousand dollars, so I feel ya on not overpaying for waterproofed plastic!
Genius!
You the woman... sticking it to the man. Nicely done.
One word, Karen - "Genius"
‘Sticking it to the man, one DIY at a time.”
Please use that as a catch phrase forever. I will buy a tee shirt. I may buy three.
Me too!!!
Karen, I hate pergolas. It stems from a time that I was being poured on and I raced to get under cover. Only the cover was a PERGOLA. And I was wetter than ever!
Stop messing around and roof that baby. Then relax in sweet
waterproofedness.
I have a not so crazy idea.. why not build a tough to catch the rain water from edges of the Pergola tent cover?.?.?
You're AMAZING! I have to ask, did you pull the table OUT from under the pergola so the water hitting it wouldn't splash the couch? Or were you able to push it in enough? That seems impossible, but I don't put anything past you!
I need this right now - a big hole had to be cut in our pump house (we use well water) since it is inside a cute little house and, of course, the well pump needs work as it is 20 years old. So hubby cut a hole in the roof (right over the pump-about1 foot square and through the peak of the roof, of course). I told him he could add a cute little cupola over the hole so when the pump goes again, he just has to flip the cupola over. He is in the process now but it rains every day and of course, the hole is directly over the mechanical metal parts of the pump. A tarp is blown off no matter how heavy weights are put on top. THANK YOU again for your ideas. It won't be used for a pergola but an emergency hole over a necessary roof for life in our house!
I definitely have patio envy - your space is so pretty, functional, and relaxing looking. What a great feeling it must be after you've worked so hard. Hope you get to enjoy it often...
Your rain falls down?!
This has been the summer of rain lashing the top of my windows that are protected by an 8 foot deep porch roof.
This is a fantastic backyard, looks amazing. Great DIY rain cover. I want one but grapevines prevent this so no sitting under my pergola in rain.
I love your pergola & noticed these kits year after my labour intensive pergola went up.
Is that a new pizza oven I see?
Planning to use the pergola kit myself here at the cottage soon. (Fingers crossed.) And like you, also noticed the new pizza oven, and immediately wondered if I missed a post about the retirement of the old one?
I LOVE your pergola. I have been searching for my own option that won’t cost a million dollars to have, and of course you have the solution! What kind of wood and stain did you use? And is the base attached to your patio?
Thanks!
Hi Beth, it's actually pressure treated 6x6s with no stain. It *should* be attached to the ground, but I don't want to drill into my slate stones. It's so heavy that I don't worry that it's an issue. ~ karen!
I love this Karen! if I had a need for a patio cover, I’d 100% use this. However, I’ve been thinking of hanging some outdoor curtains around my patio which has a pergola with a roof and I’m kind of on the fence about what to use. Do you think this cover might work or would it be too heavy & thick for outdoor drapes? Normally, I order canvas drop cloths on the cheap on Amazon, wash them 2 to 3 times in hot water with bleach added, they end up soft & gorgeous and can be used for a lot of things besides protecting floors while painting. I’ve also used a lightweight outdoor mesh that allows air to pass through yet offers added shade (at 118°F even my beautiful potted cactus garden wants into the air conditioned house.) I was out there today potting a rare unicorn for me, a “not a cactus” but a houseplant.) My constant bird buddy was on my shoulder & you know it’s hot when your pet cockatoo is panting like a standard poodle that’s just run a golf course. He’s a drama queen but he’s not a malingerer so I got him indoors before we both passed out. Yeah, it was stifling hot.
So, your shady patio WITH A KOMODO GRILL/SMOKER THAT I COVET was egging me on to make some kind of curtains for the hell zone. Plus- it’s an El Niño summer which means we get sudden thunderstorms that are more famous here in Vegas than Wayne Newton, Lady Gaga & U2 combined. You have not really experienced Las Vegas until you’re at The Bellagio and a flash flood hits. Nobody ventures outdoors when The Strip floods. We also get snow right here in my yard during the winter months. Tourists are prepared for sun and poolside service, so it’s super fun to drive to the casinos to take pictures during a white Christmas, of the saddest faces ever.
So I love love love your pergola cover - it’s classy like you AND your Komodo grill.
Love your post! You could write and make money doing it!
Oddly enough I am a writer. I come from a long line of journalists (father’s side) that dates back to The American Revolution. I have broken the age barrier in this lineage by living the longest by reaching 66. My grandfather, a journalist and novelist died at 39, my father, also a journalist died at 41 - both had survived serving in world wars. I was 7 when my father passed. Although he had been shot down over France and wounded in Italy his most meritorious survival story was living through my mother’s 2 attempted murders of him. She was one of those people who needed things done her way & apparently he didn’t. I was from his same mold and for this, she detested me. Plus I wasn’t male. Pissed her off. You did not want to get her “angry.” How I survived that woman is only due to her dying when I was young. I was finally diagnosed with autism as an adult (explained a lot of things & was a great relief to have that diagnosis) my oldest son is autistic and a brilliant writer & musician. My other son also has Asperger’s Syndrome and is a gifted writer and musician. I wish I had musical talent but nope.
I learned carpentry and automotive repair from my stepfather who taught me all about power tools. He was a good guy. My favorite place besides Costco is Harbor Freight. Nobody else here in my house can identify anything to do with home repairs. My husband is a retired attorney and he’s not “handy”. At all. In fact, he dumped my miter saw and tile cutting bench saw during a move because he couldn’t see any way they were at all useful. I’d laid a whole lot of tile while he was away on business when my boys were little. Mr Pamela of The Desert came back to new floors. He must have thought the tile came pre-cut. I make my own frames for my paintings and weirdo art so I must have a miter saw. Ugh. Threw them away! Wtf.
See how I’ve gone on way too long? Don’t shoot me, I’m not the piano player.
Here in hot, dry Tucson I have a colorful shower curtain hanging on one side of our ramada using IKEA’s stainless steel curtain wire with curtain ring clips. Very easy install, easy to slide open and close, inexpensive to replace shower curtain when needed.
I am with you on sticking it and principles! It takes a certain kind of people to watch 55 second videos on DIY pergola rain covers working. I am one of those people. Well done. Again.
Very clever. Love your creativity when it comes from making due on a frugal budget. I'm with you when it comes to "sticking it to the man!"
Wow!
You’re miraculous!
THAT is really cool!!!
Well done you!
And the pulleys and so forth look SO good- like they were a part of it from the start!
I totally am going to do this👍
I’m assuming when the waterproofing wears off (it normally does after a year or two), you can just unratchet those pulleys and spread some carnauba (real) or (fake) paraffin wax on it?!! And you’re done!👏👏
Question: will that iron pergola kit work for longer pieces of wood? Like 20’x20’?
Thanks! 🙏
You’re a stud, girl!!
Tuffy, Thanks for the heads up on need to re-apply waterproofing. I moved from sea level to 5,000 ft and the impact of the sun intensity has been a challenging surprise. Having to pulleys in place will make it a lott easier to use the wax!
I dare say your backyard is Design Magazine stunning. And yes I did read the blog posting detailing your past efforts to create it near rivaling the building of the pyramids at Giza. You'd think they'd make an affordable 12x12 tent rain fly.......... but what you did looks great and the pulleys are a brilliant choice. Major kudos kiddo.