So this was my first time doing everything myself — from picking up the pergola at the warehouse to finishing the installation in a customer’s backyard. I thought it’d be a pretty straightforward day… it wasn’t .
The customer’s whole backyard was under renovation, and I was in charge of the pergola part.
The trouble started right at the warehouse. Our van was too small to load directly from the dock, and the forklift couldn’t reach in. I just stood there for a second, trying to figure out how to make it work. In the end, I parked right at the warehouse entrance, called the customer to confirm, and decided to take off all the protective film and load the boxes one by one. Each box was so heavy — you really feel it in your arms after the third one. A couple of them got some tiny scratches during the process, which I hated, but there wasn’t much choice. By the time everything was finally in the van, the whole morning was gone. We didn’t get to the customer’s place until around 1 p.m.
Unloading went much better, thankfully. We’ve got a small lift tool on the van, and that saved us. I honestly thought we wouldn’t be able to finish that day — usually wooden pergolas take me two or even three days. But this one was a quick-install modular type. The post connections snapped together nicely, no drama there. The only time-consuming part was the louvers — that part always needs two people: one passing, one fixing. It’s repetitive but kind of satisfying when it starts to come together.
Once the main structure was up, I double-checked everything — post spacing, top and bottom alignment, diagonals. Everything had to be perfectly square. I’ve seen what happens when it’s not — one customer before couldn’t even fit the accessories on one side because it was off by a few millimeters. I didn’t want to repeat that mistake.
By the end of the day, the pergola was standing solid and straight. I was tired, sweaty, and had dust all over me, but it felt good — that kind of quiet satisfaction you only get after a long day of fixing problems with your own hands.
Anyway, that’s my little story. First full project from warehouse to installation — not perfect, but definitely proud of it.
by Similar-Run-7323
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