Less than most people expect, if it's a traditional one. An open pergola — posts, beams, and spaced rafters overhead — filters the sun rather than blocking it. The shade is striped, it moves across the space through the day, and at two in the afternoon in July there isn't much of it. That's the look people fall in love with in photos, and it's a real architectural asset. It's just not a roof.
If what you want is to sit outside in the heat of the day, or stay out when it starts to rain, you want one of two things: a louvered system that opens and closes, or a fixed or retractable canopy. Both are still pergolas. They just do a different job.
We install all three, and the consultation usually starts with this question rather than with materials.
StruXure Cabana X. An aluminum pergola with motorized louvers. Open them for full sun, angle them for shade, close them and the roof sheds water. It's the closest thing to a pavilion that still reads as a pergola, and it's what we recommend when the goal is using the space through a Virginia summer and into the fall.
Pergolux. Aluminum frames with fixed or retractable canopies. Lighter visually than a louvered system, lower cost, and a good fit over a dining area or a grill run where you want consistent shade without a full roof.
Site-built wood. A traditional pergola we frame on site to match the deck or the house — the right choice when the pergola is there for architecture and definition rather than weather protection. It takes the same upkeep as any exterior wood.
A traditional open-rafter pergola filters sunlight rather than blocking it — the shade is partial and moves through the day. For full afternoon shade or rain protection, Whitmer Decks installs StruXure Cabana X louvered pergolas, which open and close, and Pergolux canopy pergolas.
An aluminum pergola with rotating overhead louvers. Open, they let in full sun; angled, they cast shade; closed, they shed water like a roof. Whitmer Decks installs the StruXure Cabana X system across Northern Virginia.
Sometimes. The deck framing has to carry the pergola posts, and most decks weren't built for that load. Whitmer Decks inspects the structure and footings first; reinforcing is often possible, and on a new deck the pergola is simply framed in from the start.
Often, yes — particularly when it's attached to the house or includes electrical. Requirements vary by county. Whitmer Decks files permits in Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, Prince William, Alexandria, Vienna, Herndon, and Leesburg.
It depends on the system — a site-built wood pergola, a Pergolux canopy, and a StruXure louvered roof are very different price points — and on what it's going over. Whitmer Decks designs to your budget during a consultation at the property rather than publishing ranges.
Yes. Whitmer Decks designs electrical in during framing, when it's easy to run, even if the fixtures are added later.
Yes. Whitmer Decks builds year-round.
Call (703) 425-DECK or request a consultation through the website. A Whitmer Decks designer visits the property, looks at where the sun falls, and designs to your budget.
