The shade structure recently lost to a wind event lasted 25 years. It had an initial cost of a 3 or 4 $k. It required periodic maintenance in paint. A little bit of wood rot at the base of the support columns caused the complete loss. Mitigating the wood rot either by adding support straps going a few inches up each column to bite healthy wood or replacing columns every 10 years could have likely extended its life to 50 years or 100 years. This is all 20 20 hindsight.

For years we enjoyed the shade it provided. I don’t recall any recent discussions prior to the structure loss about a need to improve the amount of shade. We seemed quite content with its function.

I would hazard a guess that if we utilized the existing foundation that sits there with its proof of lasting a quarter century and was not culpable with respect to the loss of of the structure, and rebuild to similar strength with perhaps a better column base connection, the total materials might be well under 10K and built by members with 4 or 5 work parties spread across less than a month.