Hardtop Gazebo 11' X 11'-Chapman Cedar Framed Wood Gazebo with Brown Double Steel Hardtop Roof Permanent Canopy for Garden, Backyard Shade

This review is for anyone who is dedicating some research to their gazebo purchase. In summary, if you are budgeting in the range of $1k-$2k for your gazebo, this is the product you should choose. First, I'll talk about the plusses, and then I'll mention a few details that aren't mentioned in the product sales page but are things you should know if you plan on purchasing this gazebo. The materials are quite good for the money. The wood is attractive right out of the box, with a somewhat golden color characteristic of cedar. The benefits of cedar are that it is rot-resistant and very light, making it far easier to work with than other solid-wood, treated posts. The brown steel will appear darker than you might anticipate, which is not a bad thing. In sunlight, depending on the angle and distance, it can appear nearly black (again, not a bad thing). The package came with all of the required building materials except anchors (for concrete applications), and all of the items were in great shape out of the box. The hardware is packaged and labelled individually according to the stage of assembly you're in. This accords with the instruction manual, which will tell you how many of such and such you'll need for that stage. The quality of the hardware stands out. For joining beams to posts, you're getting some good-sized lag screws and bolts. You'll never need to worry about the post-beam joints failing on this product (if installed correctly). The instructions themselves are visually detailed. We had no serious issues following along. That said, there are almost no textual instructions at all, so be prepared to look at pictures, not words. All of the parts are well-labeled and easy to find. As for assembly time, we were able to complete this project in one weekend (Sat/Sun), requiring approximately 10-12 hours with an effort level I'd call "casual." We worked at a steady pace, but we weren't breaking our backs either. A lot will depend upon how many people you have available to help and what your own degree of comfort is with building. Give yourself two free days for this project. I would highly recommend two people for this job. I assembled the wood frame on Saturday. For the most part, the frame can be built by one person since it mostly involves assembling the beams, followed by attaching these beams to the posts. At the end, you'll have to raise 2 [two post-one beam] units off the ground in order to attach the remaining two beams, completing the square. For that part, we used three people and would have appreciated a fourth. If you're short on hands, I would recommend buying several 8 ft common 2x4s from the hardware store. You can screw the 2x4's into the posts and use them as stilts for holding things up. For example, see the video featured on the sales page, where the woman uses the 2x4 method. If you have 3-4 people available to help you, there will be no need for this. For assembling the roof, it is a virtual necessity that you have two people. The ladders you'll need depend a lot on your comfort level. We used one 8-ft. ladder and one 6-ft. ladder. The 8-ft. ladder was sufficient for getting to the highest part of the roof with one average-height male standing on it. When it comes to installing the sheet metal on the roof frame, there will be a lot of weasling your way up through the inside of the frame, reaching to install the higher bolts. There's no way around that unless you've got a cherry picker (boom lift) at home. The finished look is terrific. You might consider applying a penetrating water sealer (e.g., Thompson's) to the wood components when you're finished. Finally, a couple of caveats and things to be aware of: - The package comes with a couple of small, steel wrenches. I would highly, highly recommend you have a drill/driver on hand. It would also help to have a ratcheting wrench and a regular combination wrench set at your disposal. - IMPORTANT: make sure you have a nut driver for your drill/driver and a socket for your ratchet that is 13/32". The most common piece of hardware in the kit requires it. - The finished product is not 11 x 13; the 11-ft dimension is actually closer to 10-ft. - You'll build the beams by laminating two boards together. Each of these boards is itself assembled from smaller pieces with half-lap joints and hardware. You might consider adding some wood glue to the half-lap surfaces prior to synching them up with the hardware. I think Sunjoy could have provided some stronger bracing for these joints, at least for the middle section of the beams. (It seems Sunjoy does provide this extra bracing in the 'upgrade' version of this gazebo.) - For those of who you are planning on anchoring this gazebo to concrete, this kit doesn't come with the required anchors. It comes with spikes for lawn applications. Each post bracket has four holes. For concrete applications, you will wind up drilling into the concrete through these bracket holes and probably installing Tapcon screws or an equivalent. I would have preferred Sunjoy to offer a specific gazebo kit for concrete applications, with a proper steel mount and a large wedge anchor for each post. It's pretty tedious drilling 16 separate holes into concrete, and it's not really that difficult to shear the heads off Tapcon screws. That said, the post bracket covers that come with the unit will cover the base of your posts completely so it doesn't matter what anchoring hardware you choose. Could someone with experience build a better gazebo themselves? Sure. But you're going to spend a lot more money and a lot more time. All of the materials for this gazebo come pre-cut and with pre-drilled holes. For a DIY kit, it doesn't get easier than that. The pre-drilled holes seemed very accurate from the manufacturer. We didn't encounter any serious issues with misalignments during assembly. This gazebo looks great. For hobby builders, it's enjoyable to build. The materials are higher-quality than you're going to find in any other product within this price range. The finished product is nice and heavy - I would guess it pushes 350 lbs. fully-assembled. Short of a direct hit from a tornado, I don't see this thing going anywhere. This gazebo will beat a cheaper, soft-top version any day of the week. It's something you'll be proud to have in your yard, and better yet, you won't have to worry about putting up (and taking down) your soft-top canvases any longer.

After years of having a metal frame gazebo and replacing the fabric roof three times, not to mention removing it for every bad storm and winter, it was time for an upgrade. First of all this same gazebo is listed elsewhere on amazon for $500 more for some reason so this one is cheaper but also exactly the same. First delivery showed up within a week in one box so immediately something seemed off. Turns out it was only the box of lumber. After contacting amazon they sent a complete replacement free of charge. This time it was two boxes so I was relieved. Keep in mind the wood box is 200lbs and the hardware/roof box is 300lbs. Sunjoy definitely didn't skip on the packaging either with the heavier box being in a wood framed carton. Took 3 days to assemble in-between the heat and rain plus hurricane Isaias (good luck pronouncing). The wood frame support is the tricky part and took the longest to lay out to be sure it was right. Mainly because it is 5 different boards overlapping then sandwiched together per side. Try to make sure the columns are square and evenly placed as possible which makes roof assembly easier. On the top tier I had to bore out one of the holes for a bolt to line up but that was the only major fitment issue. After that the roof frame work was tedious with what seemed like endless hundreds of bolts and about 32 bars of various lengths and shapes. After some tweaking on the roof frame it was time for panels. It is three rows of panels per side and they interlock so I highly recommend leaving the top row loose so the middle sections line up nice and tight. Then I went back and tightened the top row. With the top two rows down the last row was fairly easy. If space is an issue recommend skipping the mosquito net bars until the very end. If next to a structure this will allow some room to access the roof bolts near the top until completion. A couple of the wood screws didn't bite to my satisfaction so some 1/2 inch longer deck screws did the trick. Few pieces of extra hardware are included but only needed on two occasions so expect a lot of left overs which is fine in my opinion. The press in nuts should be hammered in place vice trying to pull them into the wood with the bolt which doesn't work very well. Definitely recommend a good set of tools including a hammer drill to save many hours and makes things easier. 2-3 people is a must when raising the columns with wood frame attached. This seems very sturdy and went together nicely for the most part but also labor intensive. If working in the sun the metal gets really hot so morning assembly helps. Highly recommend for anyone replacing fabric canopies every year. Now if amazon would just come pick up the initial box of wood I'd be all set. First two scheduled pick ups have not happened.

I seriously did not want to give 5 stars for this simply because it's made in China. However, the great instructions, quality of materials, ease of installation, and overall appearance forces me to do it. You're not likely to find many products made in China to have really good instructions, as most of them have parts that do not make sense. You can follow these instructions very easily, step by step. I'm 69 years old and the only time I had (or needed) extra help was to hold the end of the tape measure to square up the structure prior to lagging it to the deck. When you pull the tape to square it, it has to be diagonally, so you don't have anything to hook the end on. The two posts and belt are not heavy and can be handled by one person. I wasn't in a hurry to get this erected because I'm retired, but I would guesstimate it took me about 10 hours start to finish. It really blends nicely with the cedar paint on our deck. They even gave more hardware than necessary - that's nearly a miracle. The materials really are nice and the metal is sturdy. There was some actual engineering done on this design, especially in how to communicate how to put it together. Very well done SunJoy!

The gazebo parts are delivered in two large packages. The elements are well protected against damage during transport. The assembly instructions are clear and logical - there is no possibility of major mistakes. My wife and I assembled the gazebo in four days, working 6 hours a day. The whole thing looks good and is a solid construction.

Value for money

Product arrived missing half the parts. Zero product support from SunJoy so wasn't able to request the missing parts and will have to return. Frustrating: a waste of time and money all due to lack of support.

All good looks great and instructions are clear but pictures could be larger the hardware is a bit cheap black dipped screws and bolts some are hard to tighten with your driver roof panels don’t line up perfectly and I was 100% square but they were close enough it is very sturdy I am happy with it

Bought it last year. Wood post cracked a little, but over all good. Looks great in our site