What is the difference between a patio and a pergola?

A patio is the paved surface you stand on; a pergola is the open framework of posts and beams built above it for partial shade. Green Scene often builds the two together, laying the patio in pavers or stone on a compacted base and sizing the pergola to the furniture underneath.

How much does a patio with a pergola cost?

It’s priced by size, materials, and whether the cover is open beams or a solid roof, plus anything added like a fire pit, kitchen or lighting. Green Scene doesn’t post prices for these. Jose Garcia measures on site, and you get a free written estimate, itemized if you already have plans.

Which direction should a pergola face on a Tennessee lot?

Whichever direction shades the hours you’ll actually use it, which is why orientation to the sun is on Green Scene’s planning checklist. An evening dining spot needs cover from the west, while a morning coffee corner may not. The site visit checks where your house already casts shade first.

Will my HOA need to approve a pergola or covered patio?

If your neighborhood has an HOA, expect its guidelines to govern style, materials and colors for a structure like this. Green Scene designs within those restrictions from the start, matching the addition to your home’s architecture, so what goes to the association for review already fits its rules.

Can you use a covered patio year-round in Middle Tennessee?

Mostly, yes; that’s the reason to put a roof on it. A solid cover keeps rain and summer sun off, so the space works in far more months than an open patio. Green Scene plans covered additions for all four seasons, and a fireplace or fire pit beside it extends the cool ones.

Do you need a permit for a covered patio in Spring Hill or Brentwood?

A covered addition generally does, and Green Scene pulls it. Spring Hill’s Building Codes and Inspection Department works from the 2018 International Residential Code, and Brentwood’s Codes Section accepts permit applications electronically. The office for your address is sorted out before construction is scheduled.

Pergolas & Covered Patios in Franklin, TN

Free written estimate

Tell us what the yard needs. The office calls back to set up a visit.

A patio is the paved floor. A pergola is the open frame of posts and beams over it, and a covered patio adds a solid roof so you can stay out through a summer storm. Green Scene builds all three, often together, for homes in Franklin, Brentwood, Spring Hill and other Williamson County communities. The floor is pavers or stone on a compacted base, built the way the company builds any paver patio and hardscape.

A covered addition is the bigger undertaking. It’s a structure tied to the house, so it needs a building permit, and in most subdivisions the HOA has a say in how it looks.

What should you decide before the estimate?

Green Scene’s checklist for a covered patio runs six lines:

A budget, even a rough one
The architectural style of your home, so the roofline and posts look like they belong
Your HOA’s guidelines and restrictions, if there’s an HOA
Materials: stone, wood and the colors
The size and scope of the addition
Which way it faces relative to the sun

That last line is the one people skip. A pergola that shades the table at noon may do nothing at 6 p.m., when you’re actually eating out there, so the site visit checks where the house already throws shade before a post is placed.

Do pergolas and covered patios need a permit?

A covered addition does, and Green Scene pulls the building permit as part of the job. Each town runs its own office. Brentwood’s Codes Section takes applications electronically; Spring Hill’s Building Codes and Inspection Department enforces the 2018 International Residential Code.

The HOA is the other approval. Green Scene draws the design inside the association’s rules on style and materials, so you aren’t falling in love with a roofline your neighborhood won’t allow.

What went into the Westhaven backyard?

A pergola, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit and an artificial putting green, all in one Westhaven yard in Franklin and all lit for use after dark. The pergola shelters the seating and grill against the house, and the green takes up the lawn in front of it.

It’s a fair picture of how these yards fill in: a structure first, then the things people want near it. The green has its own page under backyard putting greens, and the night lighting falls under exterior lighting.

A wood pergola over patio seating and a grill beside a stucco house, with an artificial putting green in the foreground. — Westhaven, Franklin: pergola, outdoor kitchen and putting green in one backyard.

How big should the patio under a pergola be?

Size it from the furniture out. A dining table needs room for chairs pushed back with someone walking behind them; a ring of chairs around a fire pit needs clear paver behind each seat. Green Scene’s entry-level patio package was 300 square feet, a useful yardstick when you’re picturing what fits.

Curves stretch a small footprint. The round pit below sits inside a low curved seat wall, which gives a modest patio more seating than loose chairs would.

A round stone fire pit on a circular paver patio, partly wrapped by a low curved seat wall, with iron chairs and flowering shrubs in a mulch bed. — A curved seat wall around a round pit makes a small paver patio seat more people.

Who keeps you posted while it’s built?

Antonio Estrada handles customer service, and he keeps homeowners updated through construction and after it, so schedule questions and change requests go to one person. Teresa Garcia runs the scheduling from the office on Mealer Street in Franklin, the town she grew up in.

Shade over the patio, drawn to match the house