Customer Reviews for Best Barns New Castle 16 ft. x 12 ft. Wood Storage Shed Kit

I needed some extra storage moving from a larger house with a 2 car garage to a smaller house and only a one car garage. This kit was a great deal, easy to assemble, built around a full time job over 3 weeks.Had to use my 18 year old daughter to raise the walls, set the roof trusses and pass shingles up to do the roofing. But this is a manageable build with relatively average skill. Love the final look.

A bare-bones shed, spacious. I went with moving the door to the side, no windows, added 2 vents, roofing materials (extra), etc. Added a small roof extension to protect the entry dual-doors from potential heavy rain, also added rubber seals to doors. Part of the reason this worked well was that it could be insulated, protected against rain & sun, spacious and excellent extension to our work space, increasing functionality (which I use for books - built many book shelves inside!) and storage. Just finished in the last month.

Nice shed kit. Arrived from the manufacturer on one big double pallet. Another shipment of building materials (for the floor I believe) came from Home Depot. All material from the actual kit was pre-cut and ready to assemble. For the most part the directions are clear and easy to follow. Some things are a little sketchy, the door install comes to mind. My brother-in-law and I cheated and borrowed nail guns from family and friends and made the job so much easier. That being said when putting the rafters together we used hammer and nail because you assemble them on the floor of the shed, using the floor and some wood blocks as a jig. It works great. When we went on to the wall framing we went back to nail guns. The kit comes with all the needed hardware (screws, nails, etc.) Doors are pre-made and come with nice hinges and latches. One note on the doors, on the door that has the sliding bolts in the floor and ceiling, I had to use a scrap of 2X4 block on the top as a door stop and to give the bolt a hole to slide into, but no biggie. Pretty much all "pros" to this point. On to the "cons"... I ordered the version with the plywood floor and 4X4 runners included. In the directions/diagrams it shows four 16' runners (made up of two 8' 4X4's). Only enough material was included in the kit for 3. I opted to go to Home Depot and buy two more 4X4's. Actually 3. One of the 4X4's was so badly warped as to be unusable that came with the kit. We took the receipt and the warped 4X4 back to Home Depot to trade it out and get a new one. However, the receipt was for the entire kit and not just and easily swapped 4X4 sku number. After waiting for about 20 minutes with the very nice customer service people, we had to talk to Home Depot customer service on the phone there. They informed us we would have to call the manufacturer's customer service and get it swapped out. I tried to explain to her that the flooring/4X4's had come from the local Home Depot and that the manufacturer was in Pennsylvania and as it was past 5 on the eastern time, they wouldn't be open. She told me no, the 4X4's came from the manufacturer all the way from PA, even though my daughter and I watched the gentleman unload the material off of the Home Depot truck that was a short haul local delivery truck! I was wasting daylight, so I just bought another 4X4 with the intent of returning the bad one later. Those were the only hiccups I had, and over all, pretty minimal if you ask me. I did have cause to talk to the manufacturer about some other things or just general "hey, you kit is on the way" type stuff and they are very nice. They even include a thank you card in the kit. Because of the ease of build and the quality of the actual manufacturer delivered components I would buy/build one of these again in a heartbeat. The mix ups could be straightened out at a later time, but right then, I needed to get it built while I had someone to help me. BTW, the roofing material/labor is not included, but the directions do tell you how much of shingles, drip edge, etc. you need to buy. I then just found a roofing contractor off of Angie's list and a single guy came out and roofed it for me in a few hours. Hope this helps!

After my 50 year old shed had been swamped with water the last couple years due a neighbors landscaping and garage being built I was on the hunt online for a well built, good size replacement shed. I looked at the steel and plastic sheds but I knew I wanted something more substantial. It had to be under 200 square feet to stay within code and this shed fit the bill. After careful research and reading many reviews from this and other manufacturers sheds I determined this to be the best one for the size, design, and product craftsmanship. After ripping down the old shed, re-leveling the backyard with 17 yards of dirt, installing new sod and having a contractor pour a 15'9" x 12' concrete pad I was ready to build this shed. All of the wood except for the T11 siding is cut and shipped from Sweden (this wood was really nice, top grade, and not a warped piece in the bunch.) Unfortunately I had to build 9 trusses (they don't come prebuilt)--if I can do it, you can too! I first had to build one of my 12' sidewalls on the cement pad so that I could build a form on top of it in order to construct all of my trusses to the exact same dimensions. I then built all of the other walls. The shed is designed for studs at 24" on center but I built the shed with the studs 16" oc to give it even more strength to withstand some of the bad weather we sometimes get here in Michigan, but I was told that was not necessary because the shed is built to withstand bad weather conditions. Going 16" oc did cause more work, planning and little bit more money. Was it worth it? It's debatable. I had two other people help me erect and connect the walls with screws and nails--be very meticulous at this point to make sure everything fits accordingly. Be meticulous through the whole process, read the directions thoroughly during each step, including all of the helpful sidebars and call the support line when you get stuck, they're available 7 days a week, and Richard and Bill are very helpful. I primed all of my trim boards (there's a lot of them) inside the house due to cold weather, let dry, and then nailed them on in the order the instructions told me to. To make life easier my brother loaned me his scaffolding which made installing the trusses and roof a lot easier but it can still be done with a few step ladders and 3 people. The roof took me a couple of days with the sheathing, drip edge, and shingles--it's been about 30 years since I "helped" install the roof on my home--thank goodness for my brother and Youtube to help make the process go somewhat smoothly. The roof sheathing comes precut and is designed to leave a 1" gap at the top of the roof on each side so that a ridge vent can be installed--which is great for ventilation. I then installed the doors, and I do recommend having another person help in this process (they are heavy), and just tack the trim up until your doors are in their final position (I used a finish nailer for all of the trim, but I hand nailed everything else and used my drill for screwing when needed.) The doors are exceptional and very well built--i'm really glad those were prebuilt. It was Christmas Eve day and the snow started to come down when I was finishing with the last door and setting the final trim piece in place--it was official, I beat the snow!--we got eight inches in the next 24 hours. I stood back and looked at my shed with a sigh of relief for almost 30 minutes. I now have a physical testament that I can actually build something, I even think Bob Villa would be pleased with my work. Overall I am impressed with this product, however, it took a bit more time than I had planned on to complete this project. Also, I had to purchase moisture barrier to go between the cement floor and walls (sill plates), cement wall anchors, paint, primer, 5 lbs roofing nails, shingles, tar paper, staples, ridge vent, door latch (the one supplied was too easy for a thief to unscrew), and a door lock. I didn't buy any windows right now due to budget constraints but I do plan on putting in a vinyl window in the front with a work bench behind it inside the shed. The inside is really big and spacious. I wish spring was already here so I could paint it, and plant a couple of spruce trees and other landscaping on the sides of it. It's going to look really nice, i'm happy and i'm sure the neighbors will be too.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

we love it! If you read the directions it is easy to put together..It is a solid standing shed! would definitely buy another one from them

I recommend this product.

Missing nails/screwsPieces not matching upSiding not sturdy

Very fast

I was told that it only needed a roof and paint, they didn’t mention there was no floor. Most parts were pretty easy to assemble, although slightly backward from conventional construction. Door system is bad. Hinges don’t have recess for screws, which causes hinge bind if you install following

I think the instructions regarding the siding for gable ends could have been better. The siding panels for gable ends were ill fitting and the horizontal line of siding is off. Otherwise good product with clear instructions

This shed is great. It's big. Could be a workshop or storage. I needed it for my riding mower, but I'll use it for more. The kit was great. Wood arrived straight. Wasn't missing anything. Good directions. I was able to build it over a month's time with my Dad. The only downside is it's a big project. It's time consuming. The foundation is a big project. Assembling the walls and roof trusses is a project. Shingling the roof is a project. It's a big project, but I'm extremely satisfied.

I did not received all the equipment. I was missing 30 2x4 and I had to spent more money buying the missing items. In addition, I did not received the manual, I had to go online to printed. The delivery was on-time the only downside of this is that there was only one person delivering a 2k lbs. shed and he left it on the side walk because it was to heavy for one person.

This is the second New Castle shed kit i have purchased frpm Best Barns. It is a great little kit. Everything included except for shingles and drip edge. Minimal additional cutting required. Putting it together can be done alone but nice to have a second pair of hands for lifting walls, etc. Directions are good but it will be much less frustrating with some prior building knowledge. KEEP THINGS SQUARE and keep common sence turned on while building and you'll have a much better experience. Happy building! robert

to start: had to wait an additional day for delivery(after I had arranged for friend's help). It had to be transferred to a smaller truck. delivery was a night mare, it was so heavy and large I had to get a neighbor and me to help the driver unload. Pallet was broken, pallet jack was extremely difficult to operate under broken pallet. Then, the instructions were never there(in packing slip envelope) ...not there. Opened load and moved it to back yard. Found several damaged parts, panels, studs even some of the trim. Studs were bowed, twisted and banana shaped. Assembling it was a head ache. some of the parts were not evenly cut or out of square. Instructions was missing some essential details, had to guess how, where and what to use. Sidings? some of them had no studs to secure it to, so they are flopping open. Had to add extra wood inside to secure siding junctions. Well, I can go on for an other 10 pages. I called the company rep and basically ignored my suggestions, he did mentioned if wood was damaged, go to local home center an purchase wood needed and they will reimburse me. Extra shopping time taken away from project. Instructions: they need to be revised accurately for missing details. OH yea... definitely extra help(s) will be needed.

The build directions are concise and to the point. Two people can build this shed during a weekend.

Delivery was fast I got it before estimated date. Everything they said was packaged.all in one crate fast and easy set up very happy with my new shed. Thank you ! Jose

It went together quite easily. We didn't recurve all of the correct sized nails. But other than that it was perfect.

Very nice looking shed. Only down side is lack of instructions. Online instructions are not complete.

This shed is very nice. Delivered quickly in two different packages by two different carriers (Home Depot for local items, and another carrier for the rest). I ended up purchasing other studs to raise the building up by 12" as the assembled building is only ~ 6 feet. I did find the customer support exceptional, as I did call them about raising the building and making the floor 12' X 16'. Directions call for 12' X 15' 9" floor. Richard was extremely helpful and was able to answer any question I had about the shed. Do check your local building codes before purchase, as I had to have a foundation and meet several requirements to build. I asked after I purchased, so somethings had to be modified to meet my local city code. (Foundation for shed, Wall Stud centers 16", Hangers for Trusses). I am very satisified with the shed.