A composite wood pergola is a steel-framed shade structure finished in low-maintenance composite wood beams or planks. It turns a patio into an outdoor room that works from breakfast until the braai coals fade. Best Deck Composite Wood offers three standard designs (beamed, fascia and weaved), each built on a galvanised or primed and painted steel frame, with polycarbonate waterproofing available on the fascia and weaved options.
Every good room has a ceiling and the outdoor room is no exception. At this hillside home, a black steel frame reaches out from the house to carry a run of dark composite wood beams, with slim lines of warm light set between them. By day the beams break the sun into soft bands of shade. After dark the frame glows and the view beyond it becomes part of the room.
“A pergola is the ceiling of your outdoor room,” says Stuart Martin, owner of Best Deck. “The spacing of the beams decides how the light falls, so it is as much a design decision as the furniture you put under it.”
Choose your shade
Best Deck offers its composite wood pergolas in three standard designs and can adapt them to suit the space.
The beamed pergola, shown here, is the contemporary choice. Composite wood beams of 160 x 60 mm or a slimmer 100 x 50 mm are bolted to steel lugs on the frame. Set them close together for deep shade over a lekker long lunch or further apart for a lighter play of light and shadow.
The fascia pergola uses flat composite wood planks screwed to a grid of steel joists, in four widths from 71 mm to 151 mm across the Gold Range and Diamond Range. Best Deck suggests gaps of 20 to 30 mm between the planks: The tighter the gap, the deeper the shade.
The weaved pergola threads the same planks over and under the joists for a woven texture overhead.
Beams come in five colours, from Wood to Stone Grey, to pick up the tones of a deck or the stonework of the house.
Steel where it counts
What you see is composite wood. What holds it up is steel and that is where a pergola is won or lost.
A steel ring beam of 100 x 100 mm or 100 x 50 mm tube runs around the top, on posts that can stand up to 5.8 m apart in most designs. Posts are either set in concrete footings that go deeper as the pergola grows taller or fixed directly to the walls of the house. Exposed steel can be painted or clad in smooth composite wood fascia plank, with end caps to close off the beams. When comparing quotes, ask how the steel is protected: Every weld should be primed and painted.
“Structure is just another word for foundation,” says Martin. “The composite wood is what everyone sees, but the steel underneath is what keeps a pergola straight and true for years.”
Rain, light and the long view
A pergola filters the sun, but a Highveld thunderstorm calls for more. Fascia and weaved pergolas can be waterproofed with polycarbonate sheeting fitted above the planks and hidden from view by a double ring beam, so the terrace stays dry and full of daylight.
Lighting matters as much. Here, linear LEDs run between the beams and turn the frame into the light fitting after dark. Plan the cabling with your electrician before the beams go up, choose warm white and consider solar or battery-backed fittings so the terrace stays lit whether the grid is on or off.
Around it, rain chains, a stone-edged rill and a tree aloe add movement and texture, while the open end of the frame turns the hills into a living picture.
Beauty without the upkeep
Timber pergolas need regular sanding, sealing and staining. Composite wood does away with all of it.
Best Deck’s profiles combine recycled timber, bamboo fibre and polyethylene with UV stabilisers, so they resist rot, insects, splintering and cracking. An occasional wash is all they ask. Every profile has been tested by SGS, the international inspection and testing company.
Best Deck installs pergolas across South Africa with its own teams and approved contractors. Confident DIYers can download the company’s free installation manuals for all three designs, although the welding and concrete footings call for experienced hands.
To see the materials and colours in person, visit the Best Deck showroom at Riversands Outlet Park North in Midrand or the branches in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. Then get in touch for a quote tailored to your space. Whatever the design, the goal is the same: An outdoor room with a ceiling worth looking up at.
See more Best Deck projects from across South Africa in the video below.
Pergola questions, answered
What is a composite wood pergola?
A composite wood pergola is an overhead shade structure built on a steel frame and finished in composite wood beams or planks made from recycled timber, bamboo fibre and polyethylene. It looks like timber but needs no sanding, sealing or staining. Best Deck offers beamed, fascia and weaved designs.
Can a composite wood pergola be waterproofed?
Yes. Best Deck’s fascia and weaved pergolas can be waterproofed with polycarbonate sheeting fitted above the planks. A double ring beam hides the sheeting from view, so the pergola keeps its clean lines while the space below stays dry through summer storms.
How far apart can pergola posts be?
In most Best Deck designs the posts can stand up to 5.8 m apart, carrying a steel ring beam of 100 x 100 mm or 100 x 50 mm tube. Freestanding posts are set in concrete footings that go deeper as the pergola grows taller, while other designs fix directly to the walls of the house.
Does a composite wood pergola need maintenance?
Very little. The composite wood needs no sanding, sealing or staining and resists rot, insects, splintering and cracking. An occasional wash keeps it looking fresh, while the galvanised or primed and painted steel frame needs only a periodic check of its finish and fixings.
Can I install a Best Deck pergola myself?
You can. Best Deck publishes free installation manuals for its beamed, fascia and weaved pergolas on its website. The steelwork involves welding and concrete footings, so it pays to use Best Deck’s own installation teams or an approved contractor.
Visit bestdeck.co.za, call 010 500 2897 or email info@bestdeck.co.za. Best Deck’s Midrand showroom is at Building B1, Riversands Outlet Park North, Hillside Crescent, off Century Boulevard, with branches in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
Featured image: A Best Deck beamed pergola in composite wood, carried on a black steel frame with integrated linear lighting, shelters the outdoor room beside the fire pit and rim-flow pool. All photography by Nic Baleta.
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