philjames, I'm in the exact same position right now. I have to make the decision tomorrow. I love all the light we get into our house right now and a tinted glass pergola cover may destroy that. On the other hand, i don't want an outdoor space that's too hot to use in the summer. What did you end up choosing? Would you make the same choice again?

We went away from standard way. The patio builder had never built what we wanted before, but he did a fantastic job, and he thought it was great too and took photos to add to his portfolio. The roof of the patio is skillion style that is canter levered over the gutter and slopes away from the house. I don't have any photos and it is dark now. I will take some tomorrow if you are interested. I think it is very cool and a bit different. The gaps are in- filled with polycarbonate. We have just had a severe storm...patio clean and dry. It has actually given us an extra room for prob 9 months of the year.

I went to Photos>Outdoor>Decks and searched "barbecue" and found lots of them on wooden decks. Some were freestanding, but most of the built-ins seemed to be surrounded by fireproof material.

Ideas for plants in a Raised gardens around a patio with Schist Fireplace surround. The property has a lot of buxus, lonicera hedges, olive trees, and Rhodos. How do we plant out these large garden boxs with easy to maintain shrubs. Northern Porirua.