Backyard Discovery Summer Cottage All Cedar Wood Playhouse

Update: (Photo with pink flowers) One year later and it still looks good! It survived the first year of harsh Colorado weather (snow, hail, rain, direct bright sunlight). I applied four coats of a clear sealant and it has aged well. I probably should have applied it right away to prevent any fading though. Because I waited it does have some cracked boards but nothing very noticeable. Sealant is a must with this house!Original post:I was disappointed in the quality of the materials. Most of the pieces were warped making it difficulty to assemble and resulting in gaps and imperfections all over (as well as a frustrated husband). The wood itself is very thin and is almost a compressed wood.The end result is really nice looking and my daughter loves it. I'm hoping it holds up over the years

This house is so cute. My grandson loves it -- he likes to climb in the window. At his birthday party, it was fun to watch the look of awe and wonder in his cousins' eyes as they saw the house. My son can attest to the fact that it is well built and sturdy.

This product arrived just fine. The boards are crooked/not crowned right. The wood splits when screws go in. The screws bend the second they go in. The heads of the screws are literally exploding. Great design just built horribly and that's putting it lightly. Its definitely not worth the $362. I am not happy about this transaction one bit. I wish we could return it but its already put together.

Excellent product, excellent value. All pieces were clearly labeled, and an inventory was included in the package. Once assembled, my grand-daughters have told their parents that they are "moving out to their own cottage". Perfect. On the practical side, it took me (a better than average home-owner handy man) three full half days to assemble the sub-frame and flooring (not included in the kit), and the cottage proper. I read the instructions, which one should do carefully, since several parts appear to be identical, but they may not be. Follow the part number assignments! I advise the following additions and/or variations to the step by step instructions. (1) Build a frame and floor. I used pressure-treated 2x4 stock, cut to desired lengths to fit under the footprint of the cottage. Mount the frame, leveled, on cement corner blocks (4 paving stones). The floor may be built of 3" x 6' dog-eared fencing slats. (No extra cutting required.) Let the dog-eared ends extend under the outside seat, making a nice little patio for the cottage. (All parts should be available at a local Home Depot or Lowes at reasonable cost.) (2) Assemble each of the four walls completely before erecting them, in contrast to the instructions which would have you assemble the walls panel by panel, board by board, in place. (That approach is fine if you have a helper, and do not mind working while on your knees half the time.) (3) Fasten the side boards to the roof panels before installing the roofing. (If you follow the instructions, you will have to drive 16 screws from inside of the cottage crouched under the roof, while your helper holds the boards in place. Not nice.) (4) Install a galvanized diagonal brace in the lower outside corner of the picnic seat support struts, two in all. (The four corner screws in that design are not sufficient to prevent wiggling.) (5) Replace the feeble single-magnet door catch with a stronger double-magnet unit. (The stronger catch is advisable for kids who may not always carefully see to closing the door properly.) (6) The inside dimensions (finished) are approximately 4' x 4'. The wooden floor is covered very well by four colorful interlocking 2' x 2' rubber outdoor flooring pads, trimmed to fit (Home Depot or Lowes again).

This playhouse came with many many split and broken pieces of wood, we tried wood glue and clamps but I am not convinced it will hold together especially outside explosed to the elements. Several roof pieces we cracked/split as well as the door know and the pieces shown below: these includes frame piece, the door and the table top. For the price I would hope the quality would be better. I have recently contacted Amazon hoping they will reply with a solution.

We bought this for our granddaughters. My husband and I put it together in a few hours. Had to pre drill some of the holes or wood would split. The assembly directions were not included in the box but we were able to go online and print them off. This would be a big inconvenience imto a person who didn't own and computer or printer. All in all the playhouse is really cute and the grand girls loved it!!!! As we were putting it together it seemed not very sturdy but after its all put together it's very stable. It's in the back yard but is under a covered area for more shade and protection from the hot West Texas sun Although it says the wood is treated, we plan on applying Thompson water seal for added protection.

Great product - the kids love it. Fairly straight forward assembly. I had it together in around 2 hours. The delivery person was fantastic. I wasn't home when it arrived so my wife asked if he could place the carton in the backyard and he went above and beyond to put it where she asked.

Came nicely boxed however directions were not that great. A few holes my husband had to redtill and the door was s but warped so it didn't close properly. We had to get another magnetic lock for it. Our 5 yr old granddaughter loves it.