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.

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.

If you lack helpers, an alternative is to first install all 4 wooden roof frames separately, without the metal sheathing. It's even easier to bolt them together at this stage. Then, working from a ladder, you can add the metal panels individually accessing through the frame openings, following the manual's sequence. I was able to complete this solo using this method.

I did not know it would turn out so nice. The whole carport is very robust, the quality of materials are very good. Just follow the instructions closely, and you will have no trouble putting it together.

Beautiful and quick delivery

Goes together well to make a strong structure. Definitely a team effort needed, not for a one person DIY