Pergolas and gazebos are all edges. Rafters, purlins, lattice, posts and caps, most of it above your head and half of it end grain. That is exactly the wood that soaks up water and grays first, and it is the hardest to stain well. Pergola staining is slower, more careful work than a deck, and it is mostly brush work.
We stain cedar and pressure-treated pergolas, gazebos, arbors, privacy screens, trellises and pool-house structures across Lake County. We match the tone to your deck or fence if they were done together, or pick a tone that suits the house if the pergola stands alone.
A pergola sprayed from the ground looks fine from the ground. Look up from the patio underneath and every rafter has a dry stripe where the spray did not reach, and every end grain is unsealed. We get on ladders and stain the tops, sides and ends of every member. It takes longer. It is also why the finish lasts.
We do a lot of this work in Gurnee, Mundelein and Indian Creek, and the central Lake County towns like Vernon Hills and Green Oaks keep us busy through the season. See every town on the areas page, or jump to Pergola & gazebo staining in Mettawa.
Pergola & gazebo staining usually pairs with one of these.
Text a photo of your deck or fence and get a number back. We answer Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.
Text (224) 944-8652End grain drinks water and grays first. Cleaned, sanded and given an extra coat.
Stained from the ground with a sprayer. We do the tops from a ladder.
Tedious brush work, and the reason a lot of pergola tops rot first.
Where water sits. Cleaned, sealed, and flagged if there is rot.
Stained together in one batch so the tone is identical.
See the pricing page for how we quote, or text photos and get a real number.
Our season runs roughly late April through October. Stain needs the wood dry, temperatures between about 50 and 90 degrees, and 24 to 48 hours without rain afterward. In Lake County that means spring and early fall are the best windows, with midsummer jobs scheduled around heat and pop-up storms. We book spring work early because the good weeks fill fast.
After staining, keep furniture and foot traffic off for 24 to 48 hours, longer if it is humid. Rinse pollen and leaves off through the season instead of letting them sit and hold moisture. Move planters and rugs periodically so they do not leave shadows. Rinse the deck each spring with a hose, and when water stops beading on the horizontal boards, that is the signal for a maintenance coat. Done on that schedule, a deck never needs stripping again.
Surface area. A deck is one flat plane. A pergola is dozens of individual boards with four sides and two ends each, most of it overhead. There is far more wood to brush for the same footprint.
Yes. Cleaning and brightening lifts most of the gray. If the wood is deeply weathered, a semi-solid stain evens out the tone better than a transparent one.
Yes, and we recommend doing them together so the stain batch and tone match exactly.
No. Those do not take stain. We can clean them, though.
Every Lake County town has its own pergola & gazebo staining page.
Text a photo of the wood and your town. Quotes usually come back the same day.
Text a photo of your deck or fence and get a number back. We answer Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.
Lake CountyFence & Deck Restoration