Backyard Discovery Hawthorne 16x12' Galvanized Steel Pergola, Shade Sail Canopy, PowerPort

I bought this about two months ago. It arrived sooner than what they said it would. Durable and great quality material. Took a while to put it together. Make sure you read through all the instructions before beginning to assemble. Also, don't screw in the screws too tight until you get them all in. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase.

I put all most of the parts together and laid them out on a snowmobile trailer. Then my wife and I put it up one day. Just two mid 60 year olds. Everyone that has seen it loves it . My only complaint is that the shade sail wants to curl up in between the corner tie downs. Love the no maintenance !!'

We got off to a rough start with some shipping damage. A torn carton allowed some paint scuffing and a small dent. Customer Service said they would send us some touch-up paint (more on that later) and we determined the dent would be hidden by another part, so we were good to go. Packaging: Aside from the minor damage, the packaging was genius. Parts were distributed among the four cartons to leave no unused space. That meant very little packaging material to dispose of later. Every part was individually bagged with a printed part number on the bag which matched the instructions. The MANY pieces of hardware were bubble packed making it easy to keep organized. This was done right. Instructions: They were very clear and detailed. The drawings were accurate. I especially appreciated the dimensioning scheme for the base plates. It made it easy to lay out the location and square it up before anchoring. Quality Design and Manufacturing: To my surprise all the screws had machine screw threads. (No sheet metal screws.) The thin gauge parts had threaded inserts and the heavier parts were pierced and tapped. No problems getting screws started. Another nice touch was the T30 Torx drive. They even included some T30 bits for the impact driver. I still can't believe how easy it all went together. EVERYTHING FIT. I didn't have to fight to get holes aligned. Customer Service: When we called for the touch-up paint, we were told it would go out right away. That was for sure. We were amazed how quickly it arrived. It felt pretty good getting that kind of attention.

Absolutely perfect addition to our backyard. Fairly easy to put together with three people. Seems to be made of good quality materials. I'm very excited to see how this holds up over the next few years. My only complaint is that the sail shade that goes on the top does not stay in the clips very well, so we had to rig our own method of holding it on.

Shipping was prompt, especially given that the pergola required freight delivery. All the parts were well packed and protected. The hardware for assembly was on blister pack cards and easily identifiable. The designers did a good job limiting the variety of fasteners used. We assembled the pergola ourselves and did not find it particularly difficult - it's an erector set for adults :>) We are happy with the appearance of the pergola. One suggestion: the screen for the top is anchored only at the corners. We live in a fairly windy area and another attachment in the center of each of the longer sides would help to dampen the amount of "flapping around" that occurs when it's windy out. The screen is necessary for proper shading since the joists and purlins are spaced about a foot apart.