Pergolas, Gazebos and Sheds in Hamilton

Attached pergolas sit tight to the wall, feel like part of the house and need one fewer row of posts, but they need a proper ledger and are more likely to need a building permit. Freestanding ones can go anywhere, over a fire pit or at the end of a path, and are easier to approve. We look at the wall and the patio and tell you which suits your house.

Yes. That is where a deck and a patio work best as one project: the deck comes off the house at door height, stairs step down to a patio cut into the slope, and a low wall holds the grade. Read how on our deck builders page and the sloped backyard page.

We build it on a concrete pad. A shed on blocks or patio stones racks out of square within a few winters as the ground heaves, and then the door sticks and the roof leaks at the corners. Our pads go on compacted gravel with wire mesh, thicker than a walkway, with the grade sloped away so the floor stays dry.

Big enough for the mower, the bikes and the patio furniture, or a workshop with a window and a bench. We build on site, so the size is set by your yard and the City's rules on lot coverage and setbacks, not by a kit. We measure the space and check how close to the fence it can go.

Pressure-treated lumber for posts, beams and framing, cedar where the wood is seen and touched. Both can be left to weather grey or stained, and we tell you how long new pressure-treated wood needs to dry before the first coat. For a floor you never stain, composite decking under a pergola is the answer.

A pergola over an existing patio is usually a few days once the footings have set. A gazebo with a new pad or stone floor, or a shed with a poured pad, takes longer because the base cures before the carpentry starts. Your written quote comes with a timeline and a start date.

Fall is a good time: the pad or the footings go in while the ground is still workable and the carpentry is done on cool days. Once the ground freezes, footings cannot be dug and a pad cannot be poured, so a late booking may be split, with the ground work before the freeze and the structure finished when the weather allows.

Yes, and we would rather you let us. A gazebo at the end of a muddy strip of grass never gets used; a flagstone path, a step where the grade drops and a bed of shrubs around the base make it part of the yard. The same crew does the pad, the path and the planting: one quote, one start date, one clean-up.

The size and the roof, the wood and whether it is stained, the base it needs, extras such as screens, benches, railings and lighting, the path and planting around it, and access to the backyard for materials and concrete. Each is a line on the written quote, which is free.

When it helps, yes. A pergola over an existing patio or a straightforward shed can often be quoted from photos and a few measurements sent by text or email. A gazebo with a new stone floor, a sloped yard or a project that ties into a deck gets a visit so we can check the grade and the access.

Sometimes. A deck attached to the house, or used with a pool, needs a building permit from the City of Hamilton; a small freestanding deck close to the ground may not. Sheds and gazebos depend on their size and where they sit on the lot, and an attached pergola is treated more like a deck. We check whether yours needs one before we quote, and a free Ontario One Call locate comes before any footing is dug.