A hammock in your own backyard is an awesome treat. If you have big, sturdy trees in your backyard, setting up a hammock is not a problem.
But in the absence of trees you could set your hammock up on a pergola. A pergola is an archway or garden structure that adds character and life to your backyard or garden.
Lately however, pergolas are becoming not just a decorative structure but also a functional part of the house. A large pergola is more suitable for attachment to the house. To build and attached it, just follow these simple steps:
• Using lag bolts, attach a ledger board to the house.
• Determine the right location for the two posts using cross measurements.
Make sure you have enough space to allow your hammock to swing by measuring the distance of your posts to your house.
• Create two holes to place the posts. Fill the holes with cement then place two post holder brackets on each hole.
• Once the cement dries, place a post on each hole and secure them on the post brackets using large screws
• Sandwich the posts by leveling two beams at the top. Secure them with hex bolts, nuts, and washers.
• Put joist hangers to the ledger boards using screws.
• At the top of the beams, screw on hurricane tie brackets.
• Place one end of the rafter through the hurricane tie brackets making it sit on top of the beam and the other end into the joist holder. Once in place, screw the rafters.
• You can place lattice on top of the rafters as a design
You can also attach your pergola on an existing deck if you cannot attach it to your house.
Setting up your hammock
So you have your pergola set up and attached to your house. The next step is placing the hammock.
This part is a bit tricky because you need to determine the right distance between your hammock and the ground.
It would be best if you seek recommendations from the hammock manufacturer or vendor.
Normally, hammock stands are just one horizontal pergola with two beams but since you attached the pergola to your house, it now has four corners where you can choose to hang your hammock.
An ideal placement would be one end on one of the cemented posts and the other end attached to a post in your house. This will allow you to balance the weight carried by the hammock.
Follow the following steps to set up your hammock:
• The distance of your hammock from the ground will depend on the height of your pergola. If you have a hanging distance of say 14.5 feet best to place your hooks about 4 feet above ground.
• Best to use a hammock tree hook made of zinc. You can purchase this separately but often comes with the hammock you purchased.
• Drill a hole on the post where you plan to place the hook. Your drill bit should be 2/3 of the size of your hook.
• Depth of the hole should be the same as the length of the hook screw.
• Set up your hammock and relax.
Building Permit
Normally, you don’t need a permit to build pergolas because they are open structures and they don’t have roofs.
However, every city and state has their own building codes and guidelines so you might need to check those before you start building.
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