How to fix a gazebo without drilling

If you have a garden or a large terrace, you may want to consider installing a pergola to enjoy some shade. However, its installation by drilling into the ground can lead to cracks or damage, not to mention the danger of perforating the asphalt pavement or the problems that this can cause for you and the owner of the house if it is rented out.

For this reason, in this article, we will show you several alternatives so that you can install your gazebo without damaging the ground.

We will look at several options depending on your preferences and the environment in which you will secure the gazebo. 

Installing a gazebo using concrete slabs

One option we can use to support the gazebo without damaging the floor with holes is a concrete slab underneath. In this case, each post will be bolted to a concrete slab. This slab should be heavy, weighing at least 50 kg, depending on the material from which your gazebo is built.

It is true that using a concrete slab is a valid option for holding a pergola without drilling into the ground, but it is also true that the result is not very aesthetically pleasing. If you have other alternatives on hand, they may be better.

Installing a gazebo using iron plates

Very similar to the previous option - fasten the gazebo by screwing each rack to the iron plate. It must have dimensions of at least 20 kg. To improve the look of this solution a bit, you can place some pots on top of the iron plate. These should be solid pots, from 150 to 200 kg at least.

Installing a gazebo with pots

We again resort to pots, as in the case we just saw, but this time the pergola posts are not supported by iron or concrete slabs, but are directly stuck into the ground. To have sufficient support, these planters must have a minimum size of 50x50x50.

We can even do some simple DIY work, which allows us to make the installation safe by using PVC pipes that will serve to insert the gazebo into them, thus avoiding the need to put the gazebo directly on the ground. Here's what we'll need:

• 4 cylindrical pots with a diameter of 30-40 cm and a height of about 40 cm.
• PVC pipe with a diameter slightly larger than the pillars of the gazebo
• Fast setting adhesive
• topsoil
• Seedlings to look your best

To make this simple "construction", from which we are then going to mount the gazebo, all we need is:

Step 1: Cut the PVC pipe into pieces with a length equal to the height of the planter.

Step 2: Add quick-drying glue, place the tube on the bottom of the pot and let it dry.

Step 3: Fill the pots with soil and plant small flowering plants such as gazanias, petunias, or succulents such as aptenia.

Step 4: Lastly, install the gazebo.

What are the disadvantages or problems of this option?

From an aesthetic point of view, it can be both the most attractive option and the least ugly. Yet in practice it seems that this will be better than nailing the arbor directly to the floor of the pot or to the ground, as if it were stabbed.

We may encounter some disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is that if you insert the posts directly into the ground, with watering the pots and over time, the structure of the gazebo will rust from the water.

On the other hand, we don't have the stability of a gazebo that can buckle under its own weight and cause the ground to break until everything is on the ground and the pots are broken. As we have already mentioned, it is better to choose PVC pipes, although you must make sure that they are of sufficient diameter so that we can insert a gazebo into them.

Thus, by inserting the racks into PVC pipes, you can protect them from moisture and prevent oxidation. But then we are faced with another problem, and it is possible that in this case the PVC tube is very loose, and the fastening is not so strong.

However, if you follow the instructions above and make sure you attach the tube well to the pot, there shouldn't be any problems. You just have to be sure the tube is dry and well secured. It doesn't hurt to do a simple test by taking the tube and lifting it up to make sure it doesn't come loose from the potty.

Installing anchors directly into the ground

We believe that choosing PVC pipes is the best solution. However, if you still want to take a gazebo and nail it straight to the ground, you should know that there are now great products out there that solve all sorts of problems often encountered with outdoor installations.

If we decide to put the posts in the ground, one way to protect them from rust with water if we water the plants is to paint the posts with a special anti-corrosion paint.. These products ensure that the iron of posts and structures does not oxidize.

You must always be attentive to a problem more important than water: the wind. In strong winds, it can drag even large structures, which is a real danger.

If you live in an area with strong winds, the options we have given you may not be sufficient and you must take special precautions to ensure that the support you give your gazebo is strong enough to prevent being dragged and accidents. because of this it doesn't happen.

The solution is to anchor the pots to the ground, but then you're already drilling. For this, it may be better to fix the gazebo to the ground, which we do not want to do and for which we are looking for solutions in this article.

Fixing the gazebo to the wall

If you live in a very windy area but still resist the need to drill or bore into the ground to place your gazebo, there is no doubt that mounting the gazebo directly to the wall may be your best bet.

An arbor leaning against or attached to a wall will help you ensure that it is always securely anchored, unaffected by the wind. However, not only that, but also an easier way to add more space to your deck using your home's existing structure.

Another plus of this method is that since you're building on one side of the house, it cuts down on the materials needed to build it and helps speed up the building process. You might think that this is a bit difficult to do, but the truth is that it is not.

First of all, you need to decide on the place where the gazebo will be located. This will allow you to pinpoint the exact locations where the freestanding posts will be, so you can mark on the wall exactly opposite them where the hangers for the attached structures will run.

Make sure the locations are correct and drill holes in the marked locations with an electric drill to insert the anchors into those holes.

Using these holes, you will screw the beam supports to the wall that will hold the gazebo beams, and after that, continue the process of building the gazebo as usual (by installing the posts that will support the gazebo beams and the ceiling).

Next, attach the gazebo beams to the wall, making sure they fit snugly, and then screw them in once you're sure they're straight and level.

To make them more secure, or if you don't want to use beam brackets, you can attach some of them to the wall to act as support for the beams, or make notches in said beams so you have to screw them to the wall. walls and screw it to the gazebo.