One of my favorite things about pergolas is how unique they can be.
Each one, while built on the same principles, can look vastly different. Take the rafter tailsthese are the decorative edges where the rafters cantilever outside the pergola’s four-sided frame. They’re a focal point, and spending a little time designing them is a good way to distinguish the entire structure. I gave lots of thought to the simple rafter tails in my pergola how-to article in PM’s May 2009 issue. That one’s a swooping semicircle combined with a miter cut. From a design perspective, it’s pleasing to view, and the semicircle is an uncommon pergola detail. I added a miter cut (or clip cut) because I enjoy it whenever I see each rafter soldiering one after the other. This patternI’m officially naming it the Clipped Circleis easy to lay out and replicate accurately for every rafter.
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