Backyard Discovery Norwood 20 ft. x 12 ft. All Cedar Wooden Carport Pavilion Gazebo with Hard Top Steel Roof

I bought the 20x12 NORWOOD. One of the major features that led me to ths product was the fact that the corrugations in the roof panels run from the peak to the eave, instead of the numerous competing products that have the corrugations running parallel to the roof peak - - incredibly-stupid - designed to HOLD snow rather than shed it. The other major feature was that it is evident from the pictures how attractive, well engineered, and sturdy it is. The kit was delivered in 8 separate cartons, all in the same shipment. Each carton was very-well packaged, very well organized, and individually inventoried. Every structural piece is identified with a number. The fasteners and connectors are packaged in well-labelled plastic bags. It pays BIG dividends to spend the time to unpack all the components (structural, fasteners, connectors) and organize them on flat surfaces before beginning construction (as shown in the pictures). I matched each item with the in-box inventory sheet as well as with the complete inventory in the instruction manual. I was only short a few fasteners, which the company replaced immediately. SUPER. I was VERY impressed with the quality of the kit, the excellent instructions, and the fact that all the hundreds of pre-drilled holes aligned perfectly. AND it pays big dividends to read through the instruction manual a couple of times to get familiar with the assembly process, component organization, and overall layout. THEN follow the instruction manual and the build should go well. As I did the assembly, it was evident how well engineered this structure is - designed and implemented with strength AND stiffness. I assembled it (mostly) myself over the course of about 2 weeks of part-time days. I needed help from a friend to lift the the four completed roof panels into place, but other than that, fundamentally a one-person job. I made one small engineering change: as shown in the picture, there is a diagonal brace added to each of the rear sections. I did that because the concrete pad on which I installed the carport is slanted down at about 2.5 degrees. The instructions are pretty explicit about building the kit with the columns set perfectly vertical. However, if I did that on a slanted surface, there would have been serious alignment problems with the horizontal components and the roof structure. So I built it perpendicular / parallel to the slanted surface, and then, to counteract any collapsing forces caused by a large snowload, I installed those diagonals (paired pressure-treated 2x6's on each side). {Snowload is a real issue here - one year, a single snowstorm COLLAPSED the roof on my work-van.}

We love our 12x16 pergola. It has a "state park" type look and feel. We ordered ours in June of '24, so we have seen all seasons. Here are some comments to things we saw in several reviews: 1). Kudos to the husband and wife teams that took on this build! You are amazing. My wife and have done lots of projects together and we took a pass on this one due to the overhead work and weight of structure (1,644lbs total). We hired a carpentry crew (5 man) and it took them a full day. 2.) Delivery: 6+ big boxes and not in your back yard. Delivery to curbside. Empty out 1/2 of your garage and get indoors prior to inclement weather. Furniture dolly or 4 wheel flat cart helpful. 3.) Comments about cedar: this is an engineered cedar product, not actual cedar board from a mill. The 6x6 posts are hollow. If they were not you wouldn't be able to pick them up. A good analogy would be Trex decking or composite patio furniture. The boards are straight, true and will last forever. 4.) We used 5-6 foldable party tables to arrange the hardware and boards adjacent to our build site and at waist height. They are all labeled in a manner such that you use (a) 1st, b 2nd ect. Ideally, your set up area should be 50% larger than the size of what you are building or you will be stepping over, tripping and wasting time. Unboxing and organizing took us 3-4 hours. 5.) Our installation was on an existing concrete patio that we leveled prior to installation. (Mud jacked). Kit includes brackets for tap con installation of 6x6's. We used vinyl planking cut into 6x6" squares to shim. Build must be plum. If installation is adjacent to an existing structure as ours was, account for overhang. 6.) Drip edge was not included and I was a bit surprised by that. I did not notice this until a heavy rain left the facia boards wet in areas. I resolved the issue when I installed gutters with screening. 7.) Cord for power pack is 24". Have a small extension cord at the ready to your outdoor GFI circuit. Some communities may require a permit for backyard construction like this and some HOA'S will not permit so again, research. We added a 42" fan with light kit to 1 of our roof supports upon completion. 8.) We've had 12" snows and several severe storms. No issues or leaks. We had no missing parts to kit. A few extras actually. Hope this helps. I will answer any questions posted to the community promptly. Enjoy! EK.

Not gonna lie, the build was challenging. Be sure to download the Bilt App, which I had to do first and start to use on my own, because my husband refused to. But low and behold after a long trip to the bathroom one evening with his phone he discovered how cool it was and started using it the next day saying "That thing is pretty useful I guess" The app goes through the process with step by step moving illustrations and is a tremendous help. You will need some touch up stain for the inevitable little bumps and scratches that will happen so best to take a piece to a paint store to have it matched. The only thing I could find from Backyard Discovery was that it is a "walnut" stain. Well, Lord help you if you've ever went to Lowes and asked for walnut stain like I did because they looked at me like I had a walnut for a brain. There is about 50 different shades of walnut stain. Laying out all the pieces on tables, in letter/numbered order is extremely helpful as well. All packages are labeled and you will refer back to those numbers repeatedly. The end result is gorgeous, extremely sturdy (we did secure with a few extra screws) and I believe we got most bang for our buck. I researched these for weeks and weeks before making the purchase. This was our first purchase from Backyard Discovery, since we have gotten their potting bench as well and have NOT been disappointed. Great products, highly recommend and no regrets.

Our local senior community garden had no shade. We purchased this item in order to create a shade shelter in the communal garden/park area. The project went very well. The seniors decided to put in a ramp and a deck under the shelter for wheelchairs and walkers. The shelter arrived safely in four large boxes. Putting the shelter together took us several weeks but that was mostly because we did it in multiple smaller work days of a couple hours at a time. Building the deck actually took longer than building the shelter to give you an idea of the amount of work required. The directions made it very easy to do. DO spread all the parts out on a table for sorting as they suggest. DO spend time studying the instructions before doing any step. DO make sure things are square when the instructions say to make sure they are square. Do make sure your starting surface base is level. The instructions were very clear and the diagrams made it easy to understand the steps required. . All the parts were clearly marked. The predrilled holes were perfect guidance. The hardware was high quality. Some comments. Lifting the roof section required four strong young men. I don't see how the minimum of two would work. We also needed their strength to pull the roof pieces together to bolt the roof parts together at the top. The roof parts were not heavy but lifting up over our heads was too much for the seniors. Also it's quite high so to reach the highest point proper ladders and scaffolding was absolutely essential. There was no need to get up on top as it is cleverly designed to put be together from underneath. Even so, it would have been dangerous without the scaffold. We also worked with our local permit inspector to be certain the entire structure is properly anchored a step I think is essential and it is not covered by the build's instructions. My only negative comment is the wood is soft and easily marred so be careful with those ladders. The build does say the entire structure should be treated with a protective stain so we will get a dark one to cover the little nicks and marks. Final conclusion, great product and well worth the money. I am President, Alonsa New Horizon Seniors.

I have put together numerous products over the years and this was probably the best quality as far as precision drilling in the pre-cut parts. Package included extra nuts and bolts which were all of good quality. Very good instructions but make sure you follow them closely, especially the squaring of the roof panels. We tightened up the majority of the bolts as we assembled but in hindsight should have left more a bit loose until completely assembled then tightened them. Went to three different stores for recommendation on sealants and had three different recommendations. Went with Thompson Water Seal and happy with decision. It looks great.

We just love this gazebo. We moved and were used to a hexagon style and metal. Took some time to find a strong gazebo again and that would withstand the high winds we have here in our new location up high in the mountains. Was very tricky in some areas and somewhat difficult at times, but with us three here my husband myself and our son we managed to get it up with some genius ideas and smart planning from my hubby he was able to pretty much do it on his own and we helped passing things and holding ladders. Get some cap covers and silicone as it will leak in a few areas. The company doesn’t provide them. We did this for every screw and had to repeat the process on only two screws to assure leak proof roof. Now we sit on our swing outside or eat on our patio table while raining and look at the high tree mountain view and just breathtaking. It’s worth it if you get help and plan it beforehand. It looks absolutely amazing and love the walnut colour. Btw it was put up by my hubby who’s just recently retired. He did watch several videos and came up with his own plan. The top of the swing metal bar have helped to lean things on while lifting. Other long wood panels and rods needed to support the structure while he lifted and we helped by holding them still while he did the balancing act. Used a rigging method he learned on ship work many years ago and managed to rig sides up easier than us helping. We just watched. lol. The way it was shipped and assembled boxes was awesome as well. Very well made and we have only one more thing to do before winter and that is securing it to our concrete floor and does come with those metal panels to do it. Best of luck and hope you get to enjoy it as much as we do. I wish the company sent the caps and silicone but at least it wasn’t too expensive to get it ourselves. It was well worth the extra work and money.

Arrivé en parfait état sur deux palettes. Des paquets (5) identifiés et une application qui explique toutes les procédures d'installation. J'ai encore quelques installations à faire et j'ai hâte de faire le montage. 3 jours d’installation à deux personnes. Tout le matériel est là avec même quelques outils (clés) de base. Il reste même quelques vis ou boulons en réserve. Tout est mesuré et coupé à la perfection. La qualité et le design est extraordinaire. C’est sûr que le toit résistera à l’hiver, à la neige et au froid. J’ai renforcé quelques points de raccord car le cèdre est un bois plutôt tendre. C’est le plus beau et le plus solide Gazebo que l’on puisse acheter. Le seul commentaire à ajouter est la couleur reçue 'noyer’ et non la couleur du modèle Arlington montrée sur Amazon,car c’était le dernier disponible…

I was very impressed with how well things went together compared to previous experiences with furniture, swedish brands, cheap items from stores. Well worth the money versus building something from scratch that would not be near as nice. Two people built over 2-3 days (maybe a total of 10-12 hours). Needed 4 people to lift roof panels up onto unit, especially with the small amount of space we had on each side given the deck placement. At one point we had to re-drill two holes for bolts as things were just a cm or two off. Could have been not perfectly square at that time in building perhaps. Other small issue was one of the roof stringers had a notch that was off by around 1.5 inches. Had to get out the jigsaw and make the notch bigger so the roof joist lined up. A few pieces had stain peeling off out of the box. Contacted BYD and they are sending stain to touch up which is great and no big deal. Just bad luck that the pieces had a face grain (correct term??) which was lifting the stain up. Over all a great low stress experience and the end result looks great.