- 1). Plan your outdoor arbor. It should be a square or rectangle with a large post on each corner. Mark out the plan for your arbor on the ground or concrete area where you will install it.
- 2). Set a metal post base at each corner if the arbor will be set on concrete. Mark the center anchor hole with a carpenter's pencil. Remove the base, and drill a pilot hole in the concrete at the mark. Make the hole. Place the base over the hole, and secure it with an anchor bolt.
If the arbor will be on the ground, dig a post hole at each corner. Mix concrete according to the package directions, and fill each hole with it. Set in a pre-cast pier with base attached. The pier base should be 3 inches above the concrete and level. Let the concrete dry and cure. - 3). Set a post in each base. The tops of the posts should all be at the same height. You may have to cut them to length before nailing them. Drive galvanized nails through the bases and into the posts.
- 4). Check to make sure that each post is 90 degrees to the ground by using a level on two adjacent sides. Drive wooden stakes on opposite sides of each post, and clamp them in place with two temporary braces.
- 5). Enlist the help of an assistant to place a 6-by-6 wooden beam on top of two of the posts on one side of your arbor. Check that it is level. Drill a hole 9 inches deep on each side of the beam. Drill it through the beam and into the center of each post. Bolt the beam to each post, using a 10-inch lag bolt. Repeat to install a beam on the opposite side of the arbor.
- 6). Place 4-by-4 wooden rafters across the top beams. Space them evenly. They should be long enough to overhang the beams. Drill a 6-inch pilot hole through each rafter, near the end and into the beam below. Bolt the rafters to the beams with 7-inch lag bolts.
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