Closer to the cool

The first step in my “Operation Re-invent My House” is now underway. On Friday, I formally accepted the quote for the pergola over my patio and paid the initial deposit. The installation will probably be in January, but it’s nevertheless under way.

I chose a New Zealand company called Sunvue, and their premium model, “Galaxy” (their website’s page for the model has photos of several installations of the model, and it gives an idea of what my pergola will look like, along with a video with more information about it).

What I liked about the “Galaxy” model was its clean, visually uncluttered look, and also its monopitch roof (meaning it’s not arched and doesn;t have a peak, neither of which would look right with my house). The framing is aluminium and cast right here in Hamilton from raw metal smelted in the South Island. The powder coating paint will be done in Tauranga, and will match the house’s existing aluminium joinery (windows, stacker doors, and the framing the manufacturer mounted them in).

The company is NZ-owned and uses their own staff to install the finished pergola. That means that I’ll be contributing to the New Zealand economy.

When I did my due diligence, the only common negative reaction I saw was that their pergolas are expensive, and they are, however, they’re around half what I was budgeting—though that was mainly because I originally wanted a pergola with motorised louvres, probably the most expensive option. I changed direction because I realised I wanted a fixed roof (not openable) because I want to be able to have my patio furniture uncovered so I’ll actually use it. I also realised I wanted a roof that lets light through because the stacker doors are the main source of daylight in the living area (louvres would’ve made the space really dark whenever they were closed).

The roof will be 6mm thick glass-like acrylic, and it’s strong enough for a person to walk on using the cross beams, making it stronger than the commonly-used polycarbonate roofing. In fact, the roof is so strong that it doesn’t need as much support underneath as polycarbonate does.

They offer the acrylic panels in clear (which, understandably, few people want…), an opaque white, and a light gray colour. The second two block 99% of UV rays, which is very important in NZ. I was told that the retirement villages they supply pergolas to require the opaque version, but the gray is by far the most popular overall, and it’s what I want because it creates a small amount of shade, but just enough to make it comfortable while still being able to see the sky—and we all know how much I loves me some sky!

When the guy came to do the quote, he said it’d probably be January before they could do the installation due to demand. The next step is that they’ll schedule a time to come round to do precise measurement, though I know it will cover 30 square metres, the maximum coverage one can have without gaining permission from the city, and the perfect size for the space. They’ll also do colour matching of the joinery so that the pergola is as close as possible to what’s already there.

There is one further aspect to this story: I got only the one quote, and I was instantly taken with what they could do, for all the reasons I mentioned above. However, I felt I “should” ask for more quotes, but in researching other prominent companies in anticipation of asking for quotes, there were things I didn’t like about them. For example, one uses powder-coated galvanised steel, but all steel eventually rusts, unlike aluminium. Some companies didn’t say where their materials come from (New Zealand or overseas), who does the installation (the company or contractors), or in some cases I just didn’t like the designs, or, at least, not as much as the Galaxy range.

In thinking more about this, I realised that the choice is more like buying a house than buying something like an appliance or a car. A house has to have the right feel, and since the pergola will effectively be an exterior room, it, too, has to have the right feel. The various companies don’t do precisely the same thing in precisely the same way, so it’s not like shopping around for the exact same thing at the best price. Because I knew my choice felt right, and I wasn’t second-guessing myself about that (only about how I “should” get other quotes), I realised I should just follow my gut instinct. And I did.

Air conditioning is the other big project, but I’m not yet ready to move forward on that one because I have second quote still to come. My sense is that either of the two companies I talked to would be fine, and the dollar amounts will likely be comparable. But this one isn’t about style or living space or whatever, it’s basically about hidden infrastructure that visitors will probably never even know is there, much less think about it.

So, the first of the two big projects is now underway, and since I’M not doing it, it’ll actually get done (well, it’s true…). More updates to come—at some point.