Any builders / engineers on the forum? Is this steel pergola safe?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

GDAWG10

Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
238
Location
London
Car
C Class Sports Coupe
Welcome to Cyprus :doh: Recently (November 2019) purchased a new build top floor apartment in Cyprus. Being Cypriot from the UK, we've already heard stories about the quality and standards of construction and other sectors here, and I think we've got off fairly lightly, but we've had loads of issues to get to this stage, and a snagging list of about six pages. There's just no quality control, responsibility or care. Basically they'd rather fit or install something knowing it's broken, cracked or damaged rather than take the 10 seconds to make a phone call. Then there's the furniture and white goods installation people who come around and without fail if they aren't dropping a £700 extractor fan and smashing it everywhere, they are putting widescreen TV's on the wall bracket wonky or damaging everything whilst they work.

Anyway, this is concerning me. Noticed it the other day whilst cleaning, didn't seem to pick it up during snagging, and think it was installed like this rather than it happening over-time. We've had a reply from the sales/snagging department of the developers which I'll leave for now and once I get some opinions, I'll tell you what they said. We are still well within our one year guarantee/snagging period.

This is a steel pergola installed on our rooftop. One side has two beams/poles which go into the floor tiles and the concrete roof floor, and the other side it is bolted into the wall which I believe is made out of hollow bricks as are all the walls here and finished with cement/plaster (I think).

What do you think? Is this safe? Is this good workmanship? Would you be happy with it? Underneath is a seating area, and under the roof-garden is our apartment/veranda.

IMG_3770.JPGIMG_3772.JPG
 
Typical Greek workmanship. (Sorry, but I've seen it first hand too.)
I wouldn't be happy with that and would insist on that steel beam being supported with an acrow whilst those crooked bolts are removed and new ones are redrilled and fitted correctly.
Try and get a somebody that knows what they are doing. The bolts should be secured in the wall with an adhesive like "Hilti Hit" that cures with amazing strength.

Edit,,,,,,,,,,new photo shows 4 bolts but only two properly tightened. Have the other two put in correctly. There are 4 bolts for a reason and only two are doing the job.
 
It depends on how that stud bolt is anchored into the wall, (Resin usually).

it may be just that it was drilled on the angle - then sealed in(and it’s ok but untidy)

to check if it’s in securely see if yo can move bolt - or if the RSJ moves could maybe use a trolley jack and a 3”x3” fence post to see if it ‘lifts’.
You could maybe fit a very heavy duty L bracket if you are concerned.
 
Is the beam level?.....Looks like poor workmanship...but probably safe as the bolts are in shear (downward force...They probably had trouble lining up the holes...providing there is no evidence of movement and the beam is pretty true...both sides seem flush with the wall...just my feelings on your question....Others may have different ideas
 
No safety concerns IMO. The fact that bolt is pointing up the way is less concerning than if it was pointing downwards along with the other 3. (Which would in turn indicate the beam has slipped downwards)

However, it’d bother my OCD Nature and I’d be constantly looking up and that one bolt. :crazy:
 
Have you got a wider shot?

Is it meant to be a tie between those two structures?
 
It looks messy to me, and I wouldn't be happy if it was mine.
But IMO I don't think it is going anywhere, and should be OK.
But impossible to tell for certain from your photos.
 
Thanks guys.

So there's two beams going into the wall. One of the beams on the left hand side seems to be okay, it's this beam that has four bolts, with the lower ones on either side which are diagonal/not all the way in like the top bolts. I wasn't sure how deep the bolts were anchored into the wall. Two issues mainly, one is safety and any long term issues which I'll have to fight them to put it right if that's the case, maybe the two dodgy bolts could be taken out and redone?....and the other issue is if it's safe, just poor workmanship/annoying to look at in which case I won't put as much energy into asking them to put it right. I didn't like the response I got earlier which is the usual response which generally involves "everything's fine, there's no problem".

image0 (8).jpegimage1 (2).jpegimage2.jpegimage3.jpegimage4.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Regardless of any safety issues you should indeed get it sorted by them. At least you’ll have peace of mind for the future. Also worth sorting for if you ever come to sell.

It’s a strange design too. You’d expect those steals to be built into the wall as opposed to be bolted onto it.
 
The structure isn't load-bearing? Other than it's own weight? The wonky bolts don't seem right, and the different length suggest sloppy workmanship (different length bolts? Different depth holes?). But it does not seem dangerous to me. That said, I trained as an IT engineer.... so no idea what the book says (the Civil Engineers' book).
 
I’m not happy with it. Greek bricks a full of holes and anchors don’t really hold in them and that’s if they’ve actually used them.
If it was my pergola I’d want double the amount of fixings and have L brackets below to add extra support or a leg on either side.

I have a house in Greece and tbh the workmanship is of a good standard.
1591045608833.jpeg
 
Last edited:
As Roger says, fixing with Hilti Hit or Chemifix would be the way, but I don't like the look of the holey bricks or breeze block for a fix of any magnitude like the one in he pictures.

Our awnings, usually only four bolts and subject to the wind wafting them up and down and trying to pull them out of the wall are installed using the Hilti fixings, although at circa £8 per hole, might stop the cost-conscious from using them.

As Ant says, I would like to see the steel work actually resting on something, rather then bolted to the wall.
I would have peace of mind if the present set up had something upright, down to the floor for support underneath the steel that is bolted in.

The alarming part for me is the closeness of the steel to the edge of the wall in the image below.
In an ideal world, there would be some substantial wall weight above the bricks holding the fixings for the steel.
Being so close to the edge of the wall is not a good idea, but I suppose, because the sections are all bolted together it will probably hold firm.

Please, just tell me there isn't another two, wall-crumbling bolts fixed on the other side of the steel in the image. :doh:

1591063942601.png


Just my tuppence worth, but IMHO I would award a 3 out of 10. It could be better.
 
Hi,
The easiest and cheapest way to make this quite safe - would be to place wooden 3x3 or even 4x4 columns underneath these steel beams at the wall end of the structure.
You could glue and/or fix the wood columns to the wall, floor and the beams.
The beams would then be resting on top of a substantial support - that would prevent them from falling or sliding down the wall.
You could paint them white and you would hardly know that they are there.
Cheers
Steve
 
Hi,
The easiest and cheapest way to make this quite safe - would be to place wooden 3x3 or even 4x4 columns underneath these steel beams at the wall end of the structure.
You could glue and/or fix the wood columns to the wall, floor and the beams.
The beams would then be resting on top of a substantial support - that would prevent them from falling or sliding down the wall.
You could paint them white and you would hardly know that they are there.
Cheers
Steve
I mentioned that in my comment.
 
Thanks fellas.

This is the reply I got from the lady in the sales/developers office who is in charge of snagging and chases up the builders who usually just fob her off. I knew she's reply like that because every issue we flag, there's always a supposed reason for it being like that...

"it's not a problem that they are not straight, the structure is still solid. If you see the wall near the bolts cracking or coming away to get in contact."

Wound me right up last night haha!

Edit:

Also emailed a construction engineer I know in the UK who said " The lower bolts do look dodgy. Does this steel support anything? The bolts should be straight and look like the top one".

He then goes onto mention "the paint treatment on the steel is flaking which suggests it's rusty underneath. It needs stripping back and re-painting." Good luck with that one!

I think there's a general consensus here is that it might not have made the greatest sense to put the pergola like that into the wall in that location in the first place, and first things first, if they did want to do it like this, it needs to be bolted correctly and a good standard of work. Secondly, as an additional security measure there should be extra fittings or pillars coming down to ensure it doesn't go anywhere.

What annoys me about her reply is it's not a towel rail they haven't put up straight like everything or a mirror drilled wonky into the wall like they have done, it's a heavy duty steel pergola that can cause serious damage to the building and people if it goes wrong.
 
Last edited:
Why does this thing need to be made of such heavy duty steel beams? Wouldn't wood have been a better choice?
A lot of pergolas in Greece and Cyprus are steel. Due to the weather which can go from snow to 40 degrees timber takes a real hammering.
Also it’s becoming fashionable architectually with steel painted silver or grey everywhere. It fits in with a modern block of apts
 
Thanks fellas.

This is the reply I got from the lady in the sales/developers office who is in charge of snagging and chases up the builders who usually just fob her off. I knew she's reply like that because every issue we flag, there's always a supposed reason for it being like that...

"it's not a problem that they are not straight, the structure is still solid. If you see the wall near the bolts cracking or coming away to get in contact."

Wound me right up last night haha!

Edit:

Also emailed a construction engineer I know in the UK who said " The lower bolts do look dodgy. Does this steel support anything? The bolts should be straight and look like the top one".

He then goes onto mention "the paint treatment on the steel is flaking which suggests it's rusty underneath. It needs stripping back and re-painting." Good luck with that one!

I think there's a general consensus here is that it might not have made the greatest sense to put the pergola like that into the wall in that location in the first place, and first things first, if they did want to do it like this, it needs to be bolted correctly and a good standard of work. Secondly, as an additional security measure there should be extra fittings or pillars coming down to ensure it doesn't go anywhere.

What annoys me about her reply is it's not a towel rail they haven't put up straight like everything or a mirror drilled wonky into the wall like they have done, it's a heavy duty steel pergola that can cause serious damage to the building and people if it goes wrong.
Having a well painted and treated steel pergola is a good idea.
We did something similar to an Aussie ladies house in Skiathos a few years back. The design of the house meant it was attached to it but it was actually free standing with all the weight on the floor.
 
When you zoom in on the picture on the right you will see the top bolt is in too deep, the nut on it has basically ran out of thread to hold on to and it is not compressing the washer because of the angle it has been inserted in.

The lower bolt has not gone in far enough and is at an even worse angle and even less of the washer surface is being compressed.

That is a big steel, it's a $hit job.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom