Outdoor Living
Pergola vs patio cover
Should I build a pergola or a patio cover?
A patio cover has a solid roof, so it keeps rain off and gives you a room you can use in weather. A pergola has an open rafter top, so it filters sun and keeps the sky. Pick based on whether you want to sit outside during a storm.
The question underneath the question
People usually ask this as a budget question, and it isn't one. They do different jobs.
If the goal is 'we want to use this space in July', a pergola may be enough — shade at the right time of day, airflow, no enclosed heat. If the goal is 'we want to be out here when it rains', only a cover does that.
What a cover commits you to
A patio cover is roofing work. You are opening an existing roof and asking the new joint to stay watertight for decades, which is why it usually needs a permit and why the flashing detail matters more than the finish.
It also darkens the rooms behind it. A solid roof over a patio takes light out of whatever windows face it — worth walking inside and looking before deciding.
What a pergola commits you to
Less, structurally, but not nothing. The beam spans still have to be sized properly or it sags, and if it attaches to the house it still needs flashing.
Shade is a design decision rather than a given. Rafter spacing and orientation decide how much sun gets through and when, so it's worth being specific about which part of the day you actually want covered.
You can have both
A common answer on larger patios is a covered section for the table and an open pergola section beyond it. Rain shelter where you eat, filtered light where you sit.
One keeps the weather off. One keeps the sky. Decide which you're buying.