ADVANCE OUTDOOR 10X20 ft Carport Heavy Duty Outdoor Patio Portable Canopy Storage Shelter Shed with 2 Rolled up Zipper Doors & Vents for Snowmobile Garden Tools, Gray

Review of 10’ x 20’ Beige versionSUMMARY:• Apparently NOT really for all-season/all-weather use• Good for temporary use; apparently not intended for long-term use; might be suited for camping• Fairly easy to set up; first-time set-up takes about 3 hours for a 69-year-old man working alone. Take-down is a lot quicker (< ½ hour). Subsequent set-ups took about 1-2 hours each• Components appear to be good quality and strong, but frame is un-coated galvanized only• Attachment methods of coverings have assorted pros and cons• The color of the covering panels is quite different from the “beige” carports offered under the same brand• Doors are difficult and time-consuming for one person to roll up; openings are restricted• Each end panel is “optional”, but not very quick nor easy to install or remove• The sides are integral with the roof and are not detachable – unlike the sides of many carports• Style has no windows, but two “vents” on each side that open along their bottom edge only• Design is effectively rain-tight, and nearly wind-tight when the side vents are closed and the “ground flaps” are ballasted• With the doors shut, the only significant ventilation is via the two vents on each side – and the circulation via the vents is relatively small; the doors must be open to get any significant ventilation/cooling. When the doors are shut, the shelter keeps most flying insects out• Provides some shade; beige coverings allow ample light inside when closed, even when cloudy• Adequate interior space; door height and width are barely adequate for a standard van• Side walls (and door openings) slant inwards a bit, reducing “headroom” along the sides as compared to carports with vertical sides• Has “ground flaps” which can be ballasted tight to the ground to help keep wind, dust, and critters out. But, if the “flaps” are not ballasted, the coverings will “flap” a bit in the wind• Design has some questionable aspects, but does include side and peak reinforcing braces• Difficult to ballast the frame directly yet it tends to be more stable in gusty wind than carport-type structures• Legs are two-piece, reducing frame rigidity somewhat• Shipping/storage cartons are heavy and a bit difficult to handle alone• Customer service is responsive and generally very good/helpful/cooperativeDETAILS:• Although marketed as a carport, implying a semi-permanent all-weather use, the listing warns not to use it during snow or windy conditions. So, it seems more suited for temporary use as a shelter for summer outdoor events, camping, etc. When the doors and vents are closed and the ground flaps are ballasted, there is little wind infiltration – so it probably would be useful as a camping tent, and would keep most wind-blown dust/pollen off of a vehicle or other objects. It shelters contents from sun, rain, wind, blown debris, and perhaps even small hail.• Although one person can set-up or take-down this shelter, it would be easier and a lot quicker with two or more people – especially when installing the coverings (roof/sides, and end panels) which really need extra hands. Even with helpers, installing the coverings is the most time-consuming part of the set-up (and take-down), because the frame goes together very quickly/easily. It seems that if the roof/sides and end (door) panels had zippers for connecting them together, it would make attachment (and detachment) of the covering quicker and easier – and might even give better seals on these “seams”. One of the most tedious portions of the assembly process is installing the “ground bars” – which tie to the legs and hold the roof/sides covering in place, side-to-side. This is difficult due to working in proximity to the ground, and there are several tubes, clamps, and bolts/nuts that need to be aligned and held in place all at once until the wing nuts are tightened – and the wing nuts are notoriously difficult to start. (This is the only portion of the assembly that requires bolts and nuts rather than slip-in/snap in place connections, so it takes much longer).• Although the end panels are “optional”, it’s unlikely that they would be omitted – although it might be necessary to omit one or both in order to get a large vehicle inside, due to the somewhat restricted door openings. (Of course, that would mean the shelter could not be fully enclosed – unless the end was attached AFTER the vehicle was put inside, which would be practical only for long-term storage anyway). In any case, the ends are attached via bungee balls, so they can be removed independently of the roof/sides panel.• There are some other aspects of the design that differ from similar structures: In addition to the sides not being separately removable, the ends of the roof/sides are tied down via an edge strap (on each end) that gets ratcheted tight. This keeps the panel taut but creates some “issues” where the ratchets attach to the frame – making for a poor weather-closure in that area. Another oddity is that although the side vents are fully-screened, they can be opened only along their bottom edge (which is held open by “stays” that attach between the Velcro frame of the opening and the bottom edge of the cover. These “stays” hold the center of the bottom edge of the vent open about 10”-12”. The stays can be removed and the bottom edge of the vent “sealed” – but there is no place provided to store the separate stay pieces when they are not in use.• Perhaps the most frustrating aspects of this shelter are the roll-up doors – which seem to need extra hands, working in unison, to effectively roll-up and secure the door without getting kinks and/or unevenness in the fabric. Even with two or three people trying to roll in unison, it can be a real chore. Also, the “door” openings are not rectangular; instead, they slant outwards from top to bottom, adding to the difficulty of rolling them up smoothly, as well as restricting the width of a vehicle or object that can pass through the opening. Relating to the doors, their zippers – although they appear to be quality zippers – tend to jam because the zipper strips are sewn just slightly too close to the edge of the fabric, which allows the fabric to catch in the jaws of the zipper at times.• The (open) vents allow a small amount of air circulation in/out of the fully-enclosed structure, but with the sun beating on the structure, it’s usually necessary to open the doors to get enough air circulation to keep the interior comfortable (as long as the outside air isn’t hot).• There is ample light through the beige covering material – even during cloudy conditions - so that the inside of the fully-enclosed structure is adequately illuminated (even though the covering is not white on the inside – like the same company’s carports are). The covering still provides reasonable shading from the sun.• Although the roof/sides panel is relatively unaffected by light-to-moderate winds, the end coverings are a bit “iffy” under windy conditions, because the bottom edge of the end isn’t tied to anything. This leads to a lot of slapping, flapping, or whipping of the ends during moderately windy conditions. However, the “ground flaps” on the ends can be ballasted, which tames the door flaps (although it also complicates the operation of the “doors”). In any case, these shelter-style structures are more wind-resistant than the similar carport-style structures, partly due to their shape, partly due to their tauter roof/side panels, partly due to the reinforcing bars in their frames, and especially when their “ground flaps” are ballasted.• The framing members themselves are rugged, but – unlike some competing carports – the steel is not powder-coated, which makes the galvanized steel parts “grubbier” than the coated steel parts that are provided with other brands. (There is considerable residue that rubs-off onto hands, and the white bungee straps, etc.) The “snap-fit” frame joints are (necessarily) slightly loose, which permits a bit of extra movement/flexing of the frame. (This is typical of this type of framing as used in other similar structures). The frame members in this shelter are the same diameter and wall thickness as the members provided with most similar structures that I’ve seen, and seem to be plenty strong. Meanwhile, the two-piece legs of this shelter tend to make it a bit less rigid while the reinforcing bars, taut roof/side covering, and the “ground bars” all tend to make the shelter more rigid. Overall, this shelter seems more rigid/stable than the similar carport-style structures.• With this shelter apparently being intended for temporary uses, it seems suited for those uses in that it its frame is quick and easy to assemble/disassemble, and I do not see any reasons that there will be any problems due to repeated assembly/disassembly. Although there are no storage containers provided, the shipping cartons (if they survived the shipment intact) can be used to store the components fairly compactly, and are small/manageable enough to be carried in typical SUVs – although they may be a bit big to carry in some vehicles along with other equipment – such as camping equipment, etc. (Due to its two-piece legs, the cartons for this shelter are perhaps a foot shorter than the cartons for the carport-type shelters). One problem I found is that it is difficult (for me, at least) to re-pack the covering panels in a way that fits into the cartons correctly. The downside is that the shipping cartons are dirty and not “pretty”.• I had a lot of interaction with the Customer Service. They were responsive and courteous. They offered free replacements for any parts that were damaged. And they were reasonably helpful in resolving confusion over some aspects of the assembly. They also seemed receptive to constructive suggestions for product improvement.My overall impression is that this shelter is quite good – but could stand some minor design improvements… and it apparently isn’t suited for year-round use, but is more suited for a temporary “event shelter” type of use, under good weather conditions.

My biggest concern with a shelter like this was that the tarp would be the same cheap kind of tarp that you get at Walmart. I can tell you the tarp for this shelter is made of very thick material, rip-stop PVC, but not at all like the ones sold in camping supplies. I would even call this a 'PVC Canvas'; it is so nice. The shelter was delivered in two boxes, one with all the poles, and one with the canvas and connectors.We did the assembly with two people, but one person could potentially do this alone. It took my wife and me about two hours in total. The directions were very nicely written in American English, not in 'Chinglish.' Diagrams were plentiful and made assembly a snap. When we separated all the parts, a few of the poles had small dings from shipping, but it was not enough to compromise the structure, so we went ahead and assembled it. I may call them to get some replacements, but I'm not overly concerned.The rods and connectors were all neatly packed and, at first blush, look nice and solid. Also, every piece literally snaps into another, which makes assembly very simple. You build the roof first, which is nice because it gives you an idea of the area it will take up, and it can be easily repositioned for optimal placement. Next, you assemble one wall, not two. It is important to only do one wall and then cover it with the doors and roof/wall tarp before erecting the second wall; otherwise, you will need to be up on ladders with two people. Every pole has a sturdy foot at the bottom that stakes to the ground. All of the joints feel nice and thick and super sturdy. Time will tell. When putting on the canvas, you put the doors on first, which are bungeed to the frame, but the roof/wall canvas is where this shelter really stands out.Many other shelters out there have separate roofs and walls which tie to the frame with grommets. The issue I've seen with them is that the grommets tear. Advance Outdoor instead engineers this shelter using a unique belt and pole system with no grommets. The roof and walls are one large piece of canvas. The canvas has a belt on the front and back door that tie down on the four corners using a ratchet strap. It works like a hoodie on a winter coat when you tighten it around your face. Then there are wall poles that slide through tubes built into the tarp near the base of the walls, and horizontal poles clamping those to the vertical wall poles. The ratchet straps and the horizontal wall poles are how the roof/wall canvas is held onto the structure, so there are no grommets to tear or rip.Once the canvas and doors are on the structure, you raise the second wall. At this point, there is some tweaking to get the canvas centered, and it helps to have two people and a ladder at this point. The horizontal poles on the wall should end up about 6 inches off the ground.Another nice feature of this shelter is that you get 12 very solid metal stakes that are about a foot long to give the structure a nice deep anchor into the ground.Overall first impressions:1. Nicely packed and all parts present.2. Easy for two people to assemble with only a rubber mallet needed to hammer stakes into the ground.3. PVC Canvas is an impressive thickness and has a quality feel with a big 'Advance Outdoor' logo.4. Poles and especially joints seem to be very good quality, with some minor shipping dings on 3 poles.5. Smart 'no grommet' design of the main roof/wall canvas to avoid the common issue with other shelters.6. Assembled in only about two hours.7. Overall, a great experience."

The frame poles are of good quality and snap together easily (no bolts required). The instructions could be better but once you figure out the orientation of the connecters it all makes sense. I like that you attach the roof and sides before the frame is fully assembled which eliminates the need for a ladder. The cover is on the thicker side and seems like it should last but there were some pin holes around the stitching. Having a second person helps assembly, we were pretty slow and it took about 2 hours to be happy with it. Now the nitpicks: (1) There are 3 holes in each leg to drive a stake in to the ground yet they only supplied 12 versus 18 stakes. The manual confirmed that only 12 stakes are included. I'm ordering extra stakes because I don't want this thing doing a Flying Nun (this reference will date me) when it gets windy. (2) Unless I am missing something the vent flaps do not have any method of holding them open. Not a big deal. (3) Due to the material being on the thick / stiff side, rolling up the doors is a challenge for one person and it still looks doesn't really roll up well with 2 people. Overall a good product, let's see how well it holds up...

This came in 4 boxes. Instructions were very clear and everything was labeled and easy to identify.I set this up by myself in about 2-1/2 hours.The cover and doors look to be of good quality, so I hope it will last. Only time in the sun will tell.I was fortunate enough to have a concrete slab that was the perfect size for this. I’m anchoring it to the concrete and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.

10x15 dark Grey... went together nice and easy. Some auger anchors are necessary but do not come with kit. Some vents up high would be a nice addition. Looks clean and tight. Overall I'm very pleased, and recommend this product.