What is the difference between a pavilion and a pergola?

Exscape Group builds both pavilions, which have a solid roof, and pergolas, which have an open or slatted one. The choice usually comes down to whether you want to sit outside during a passing rain or simply take the edge off the afternoon sun. A pergola can be fitted with a retractable canopy where a middle option suits the yard better.

Do pavilions and pergolas need a permit in Ohio?

Exscape Group confirms permitting requirements for your address during design rather than discovering them during construction. Requirements vary by municipality and by whether the structure is attached to the house, and setbacks, height limits, and footing depths differ from one community to the next. Nothing is finalised until those are checked.

Can a structure be added over an existing patio?

Exscape Group adds pavilions and pergolas to finished patios regularly, and the deciding factor is whether the existing base can carry footings. Footings generally need to go deeper than a patio base, which means cutting and repairing the surface, so what is underneath is assessed before anything is quoted. Where a patio is still being designed, the footings go in first and nothing has to be opened later.

How long does a pavilion or pergola take to build?

Exscape Group schedules structure projects a season ahead, with design, material selection, and any permitting handled over the winter for spring or summer construction. On-site build time depends on the size, the footings, and whether hardscape or electrical is going in at the same time. The schedule is provided in writing alongside the scope.

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Pavilions and Pergolas for the Months Either Side of Summer

In Ohio the yard is comfortable for about four months. A structure is what pushes that out at both ends, into the cool evening in May and the long afternoon in late September. It’s what turns a patio into somewhere you sit through a passing storm rather than somewhere you abandon when the sky changes.

Two decades of outdoor living work stands behind these structures, designed and built by teams in both the Cleveland and Columbus markets.

What Changes When There Is a Roof Over It

The Sunday game in October, a screen and a cooler and nobody tracking through the kitchen. A chair in the corner on an afternoon too nice to spend inside, and a book you get to the end of. Dinner that carries on through a passing shower instead of everyone grabbing plates and running for the door. All of it happens under one roof, and you stop checking the forecast before you go outside.

Covered pavilion with seating beside a patio

Shade is placed for the hours you are out there.

A structure that shades the table at noon and leaves it in full sun at six is solving the wrong problem. Orientation comes from when you use the space.
It is built for snow as well as sun.

Ohio roofs carry load in February. Footings, spans, and connections are specified for that rather than for a catalog in a milder state.
Power, light, and heat are planned in.

Fans, lighting, and heaters get their runs during construction. Chasing a line into a finished post or ceiling afterward costs multiples and never looks the same.
It looks like it came with the house.

Rooflines, materials, and proportions are drawn against the architecture so the structure reads as part of the property rather than as something delivered and assembled.

How Pavilion and Pergola Projects Work

We walk the yard and talk about when you use it.

Where the sun lands at six, where the wind comes from, and what the structure needs to do in May as well as August.

You see the design and the number together.

Structure, materials, footings, and the electrical runs priced as one scope, with the hardscape underneath included if it is going in at the same time.

We build it, and we are still here afterward.

The branch that builds the structure keeps the account, so the people who set the footings are the ones you call in year five.

01.

One person who knows your property.

You get a single point of contact who stays with your account year-round. Not a rotating queue, not a different name on every email.

02.

The crew serving you is based in your market.

Our branches cover Greater Cleveland and Columbus, so the team on your property is local to it. Local presence is how the company was built, not a byproduct of getting bigger.

03.

Every visit gets written down.

After a service visit you hear what the crew saw, whether it was expected or not. Property history lives in one shared system across every branch, not in one person's truck.

04.

We are still here after the install.

When the first fall arrives and you are wondering what to cut back and what to leave, someone answers. The team that builds your space is the team that cares for it.

05.

We will tell you if we are not the right fit.

If your project is smaller, we will tell you plainly rather than take three weeks to not call you back.

Design-build portfolio spanning Northeast and Central Ohio

More than 300 landscape professionals across Ohio

Founding owners still leading their markets

Certified Landscape Professional credentials on the team

Award-winning residential design-build work

No Customer Left Behind. Ever.

Exscape Group builds both pavilions, which have a solid roof, and pergolas, which have an open or slatted one. The choice usually comes down to whether you want to sit outside during a passing rain or simply take the edge off the afternoon sun. A pergola can be fitted with a retractable canopy where a middle option suits the yard better.
Exscape Group confirms permitting requirements for your address during design rather than discovering them during construction. Requirements vary by municipality and by whether the structure is attached to the house, and setbacks, height limits, and footing depths differ from one community to the next. Nothing is finalised until those are checked.
Exscape Group adds pavilions and pergolas to finished patios regularly, and the deciding factor is whether the existing base can carry footings. Footings generally need to go deeper than a patio base, which means cutting and repairing the surface, so what is underneath is assessed before anything is quoted. Where a patio is still being designed, the footings go in first and nothing has to be opened later.
Exscape Group schedules structure projects a season ahead, with design, material selection, and any permitting handled over the winter for spring or summer construction. On-site build time depends on the size, the footings, and whether hardscape or electrical is going in at the same time. The schedule is provided in writing alongside the scope.

Building a Family of Landscape Leaders

We're more than a platform, we're a growing family.

At Exscape Group, we bring together exceptional landscaping businesses that share a commitment to people, purpose, and long-term growth. From Exscape Designs to Green Impressions, our companies maintain their local identity while gaining the support of a like-minded team dedicated to shared success.

Residential & Commercial Landscape Services • Novelty, OH • Serving Greater Cleveland and Columbus

The Premier Landscape Services Platform in the Midwest