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FEATURED REVIEW
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| Overall Rating: |
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5
/ 5
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Time saver,
August 11, 2008
By Scooter53
from Jacksonville, Fl.
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"This was the first time using this product and I will be using it again very soon. The kit was quite easy to use and most of all saved me something I don't have much of and thats time, I was able to do the project by myself and that was another plus. If I had known how much time the kit would save me I would have ordered two and built a bigger shed. Thumbs Up!!"
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Professional
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| Overall Rating: |
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5
/ 5
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Universal storage means boat house,
November 18, 2008
By grandpasteve
from Webb Lake WI
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"what a great concept. I took the kit and adapted it to serve as a boat house...easy to put together, very strong (strong enough to hold up to bumping into accidentally with my boat). Thanks Northern...great product."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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| Overall Rating: |
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3
/ 5
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easy build,
November 18, 2008
By sleppydc
from PA
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"This kit make the builing process easier. The only problme is the braces are pretty thin so when constructing by yourself the bend and twist easy until you tie everything together."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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| Overall Rating: |
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5
/ 5
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Easy Shed Fast,
November 17, 2008
By hacksawsam
from Northern California
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"This shed kit was very easy to use. With the provided materials list, I took my sons to the building materials store and taught them how to assemble a cost estimate for the job. We purchased the materials, returned home and assembled the shed. We built it to be used as a chicken coop. It was easy to have my sons help by cutting the boards to length, follow the steps and put up the shed. We painted it and had a grand opening for the chickens! I was so impressed by it that I recommended it to my brother who has just purchased two kits."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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| Overall Rating: |
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2
/ 5
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Decent Product but waste of money,
September 4, 2008
By Chowderhead
from La Crescenta, CA
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"If you want to use this product, you HAVE to have two folks to lift the frames. I did it alone and needed to reinforce the corners so the frames could be lifted without destroying the aluminum brackets.
The angle of the roof is beautiful but makes it very hard to put on a roof.
Yes, the product works but I would have saved a lot of time and effort if I had just built the shed using standard framing techniques and spent the time necessary to learn how to cut the appropriate angles on the boards that create the roof. An added advantage of this would be that I could have created a small roof overhang, which would help with the shedding of water."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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| Overall Rating: |
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4
/ 5
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FAST FRAMER SUGGESTIONS,
August 19, 2008
By DCRET2008
from HADLEY, NY
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"I am not an expert at building things, so I purchased this kit because it looked fairly simple to build and the price was right. I DID read the reviews first, so I had an idea of what to expect.
It took me a few days to build this 7'x8' building, only because I had no assistance and I added a few things to it to make it better (I think so anyway!). I believe there are a few instructions that need to be added to make it clearer for the do-it-yourselfers. The following are some suggestions for improvement that I think will make the instructions easier to comprehend and I would also add just a couple of more parts to the kit to make it complete.
The cut list is good except I used 4 - 8' pressure treated 2x4's instead of 2- 16' ones because I couldn't fit the long ones in my truck. Also, there is no mention about cutting plywood into strips for the roof peak until you are on the final step of the instructions. It only took a couple of hours to make the cuts and I would also suggest marking each board as you cut it so you know what it is and can easily identify it if the wood pile gets mixed up.
There is no mention of hinges for the doors or a way to secure them in the materials list. I would also add 3- 8' 2x4's for additional rafters in the roof and one for a center verticle stud in the back wall. The materials in the box could have included an additional 6 stud brackets for the back wall studs instead of instructing the user to toenail them into place.
The drawings are o.k. but I would like to see a back view of the building. I had to look at the photo on the box to guess where to put the 2 verticle studs and I wound up adding another verticle stud in the center of the back wall. If you follow the instructions and put the sheeting up vertically on the back wall, the center stud give you something to secure the sheeting to where they meet. (The photo looks like the back wall sheeting is put up horizontally!).
As mentioned in other reviews, I was disappointed that nothing was mentioned about flooring in the instructions. I also feel that a warning stating that gloves should be used when handling the metal angle brackets should be included. The layout of the different buildings in the instruction manuel is confusing. I suggest the materials lists be on the outside front page, the instructions should be inside on page 2 along with the photo's and the cut lists and drawings for the buildings should be on pages 3 and 4. This would make them easier to understand and follow along. Finally, the metal brackets were a little flimsy and bent easily (especially working alone!) but the building seems to be pretty sturdy after the siding went on.
All in all it seems like a sturdy building and will be useful for storing many things, hopefully for a number of years! It wasn't overly hard to build and I would recommend it to other people that need a shed to free up thier garages and store their gear."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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| Overall Rating: |
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3
/ 5
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Worked for chicken coop,
August 14, 2008
By chickenkeeper
from Glenwood, IA
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"I built the small version of this shed with the help of one other person to be used as a place to keep chickens. It turned out just how I imagined it.
The basic principles of this building system are good. Not having built anything like this before, it took two of us quite a while to build, though. Just trying to figure out a floor took a whole weekend since the plans didn't even mention anything about a floor.
After it was done, I realized ways that it would have went smoother.
The instructions are good at first, but as you get toward the end of the project they are very vague. It doesn't stress enough how crucial it is to make sure the arches' angles are as identical as possible. When we got the arches up, we had a hard time getting the top beam to fit down in the brackets because they didn't line up exactly.
Overall, I'm glad I used this kit, but it seems like it would be very difficult to use it for the larger sizes."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Beginner
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| Overall Rating: |
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4
/ 5
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Fast framing ?,
August 11, 2008
By RB5129
from Forestville, MD
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"While the kit does indeed save some time framing a shed, the instruction DEFINATELY need to be more clear, or more photos of what the instructions refer to. I would and think I intend to use this kit again, now that I know what I need to watch for.
The kit is easy enough to use, as long as you have a helper to assist with moving the assembled frames around, and standing them up."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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| Overall Rating: |
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5
/ 5
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Fast Framer Kit,
August 11, 2008
By Marty21
from San Diego
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"This kit I purchased for my Dad. He likes it very much and went up a lot easier than those tin can ones with all those screws..."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Professional
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| Overall Rating: |
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5
/ 5
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fast framer kit,
August 11, 2008
By gabbyD
from upstate N.Y
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"This kit is saves time and money and eliminates most of my mistakes. I've built
2 utility sheds (both framed in 2 days) plan on using 2 more kits for a12 x 12 workshop this month."
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What is your level of technical expertise?:
Home Handyman
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