Pergolas & Shade
Handis pergolas and shade is the outdoor-carpentry trade for everything that turns a bare deck or patio into a usable summer room — Western Red Cedar pergolas (attached to the house or freestanding), powder-coated aluminum louvered pergolas with adjustable blades, covered patio covers with metal-panel or polycarbonate roofs, hexagonal and octagonal cedar gazebos, cedar privacy screens and lattice, and shade-sail post-and-mounting systems — from $800 for a shade-sail anchor set to $30,000 for a large motorized aluminum louvered pergola. The PNW summer is short, the sun angle is high from June through August, and the wet deck the rest of the year asks for a roof that drains. Five sub-services below cover the budget shade fix, the cedar pergola most Seattle yards ask for, the louvered system that lets you tilt the blades shut when October rain returns, the full covered patio cover that turns the deck into a 9-month room, and the privacy screens that handle the neighbor's window. Handis self-performs every cut, post-set, beam-raise, and rafter install. Structural permits on attached and covered structures get pulled and coordinated by Handis. Any line-voltage lighting or ceiling fan on a pergola routes to a licensed Washington L&I electrician.
Services
Pergolas & Shade Pricing
Final pricing depends on size, material (cedar vs aluminum louvered), attachment (attached to the house vs freestanding), roof type on covered structures, and the structural permit scope. Each child page lists detailed pricing for that sub-service. Permit fees on attached and covered structures pass through transparently as a named line item. Any line-voltage lighting or fan circuit is invoiced separately by the licensed electrician. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us what you want shaded — the deck, the patio, the hot tub, the property line — and the rough footprint, and we will quote it with the permit and any electrician scope called out separately.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Pergolas & Shade
Most Seattle backyards ask for one of two things — a cedar pergola that reads as honest natural wood weathering silver into the rain, or an aluminum louvered system that closes its blades when October arrives and opens them again in June. Both are good answers; they solve different problems. A pergola is open-roof shade infrastructure; you sit under it for the dappled light and the wind break and the visual ceiling, and you accept that rain falls through. A louvered pergola adds the controlled-roof element — the blades pitch shut and shed water through an integrated gutter, then open back up when the sun returns. A covered patio cover is the full step up — a solid roof, a 9-month outdoor room, and a permit pulled because the structure is bearing roof load. Handis runs all three honestly and tells you on the first call which one your yard, your deck, and your budget actually want.
Estimate
Tell us what you want shaded (deck, patio, yard, hot tub, property-line corner), the rough footprint (a 10-by-12 measurement off the deck or a sketch of where the posts could land), the material preference (Western Red Cedar pergola, aluminum louvered, full covered patio cover with a roof, gazebo, privacy screen, shade-sail post system), whether the structure attaches to the house or stands free, and the budget range. We name the permit scope and any licensed-electrician scope on the estimate so you see the full project cost up front.
What Our Customers Say
Recent pergola and shade reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.
12x14 freestanding cedar pergola over our flagstone patio in Magnolia. Handis dug the four footings with a power auger, set 6x6 cedar posts on Simpson ABU anchors, raised the 4x8 beams with a post jack on a Saturday, and had the rafters trimmed and the chamfer routed on the tails by end of Sunday. Reads exactly like the inspiration photos we showed them. Two summers in and the cedar is right at that silver-grey we wanted.
Aluminum louvered pergola attached to our second floor deck off the master bedroom in Bellevue. The blades open in summer, close in October when the rain returns. Handis ran the structural permit through Bellevue, coordinated the Struxure dealer-install for the louver motor, and the electrician sub trimmed the line-voltage feed. Three days of work, one inspection visit, no surprises.
Covered patio cover over our concrete patio in Kirkland — 14x16 metal-panel roof with integrated gutter tied to the existing downspout. Turned what was a wet-9-months-of-the-year concrete slab into a usable outdoor room we use through October. Handis pulled the Kirkland permit, the inspector signed off on the ledger-to-house attachment, and the rain has not landed on our heads since.
Cedar privacy screen along the property line in our Ballard backyard — neighbor remodeled and the new second-story window looked straight into our hot tub. Handis set new 4x4 cedar posts in concrete, ran a 16-foot horizontal-board screen at 8 feet tall, slats spaced for visual block with airflow. Two days, neat as a furniture build. Hot tub is private again.
Four-post 6x6 cedar shade-sail system over our paver patio in Issaquah. Handis set the four posts in concrete footings, ran the marine-grade eye-bolts and turnbuckles, and rigged the rectangular sail we had already bought. Sail goes up the first weekend of June, comes down the first weekend of October, and the posts read clean as a furniture piece in the off-season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis pergolas and shade — pricing, permits, materials, the cedar-vs-aluminum decision, lead times, and licensed electrician handoff on lighting circuits.