On 2005-05-12, Derek Mark Edding wrote:
Donna Maroni wrote:
There are two places on Highway 70/Glenwood in Raleigh, on different sides
of the road, I think (sorry, I cannot come up with names). Both build a
variety of outbuildings and garages; the more recently established of
these is, I understand, Amish-run.

It would be worth driving along there to have a look at their stock. As I
recall, both are past CarMax as you are heading toward Raleigh.

The older of these companies--the one on the side of the road opposite the
side CarMax is on--built our two-car, two-story garage, and they did a
great job.

Thanks Donna.

We wound up buying from one of these companies, although I didn't know
it at the time. I picked up a brochure for Heartland at Lowe's, and
found a shed I liked. This kicked off quite an adventure.

The brochure lists a lot of options and accessories. I selected several
that seemed reasonable for the model we wanted. Then I went to the
contracts desk and had a salesman draw up the order. This process took
over an hour, because the salesperson had never sold one of these sheds.

After the order was submitted, I got a call from Heartland where a rep
told me that three of the items on my order wouldn't fit on the type of
shed I wanted. Once I found out they were in Raleigh, I drove out there
and looked over the models, and wound up making several changes. Then I
had to go back to Lowe's and go through the whole process of making the
order again. Probably over three hours of standing there counting both
rounds.

I can't imagine what someone who'd never been to the Heartland store
would have done. There simply isn't enough information in the brochure
to make any but the simplest order. The nice folks at Lowe's have no
knowledge of what works together and what doesn't. Will the full length
workbench block the door entrance? Will there be enough space for a
loft in that model? Is there enough room for a gable window? It's not
written down anywhere.

Heartland and its people knew what they were doing. Lowe's performed
the service of making me aware of them, but contributed nothing else
other than making me very, very late on a couple of lunch breaks.

The shed itself is quite satisfactory. On the plus side, it's very nice
looking and customized for our needs. We decided where the windows go,
how many shelves and where they went, and even added an external tool
caddy (sort of a mini lean-to) for additional storage. And it's a nice
color match, because we've spent four evenings so far painting it.

The only potential downside is the materials. Most of the shed is made
from sheets of formed wood. The inside looks like particle board only
with larger chunks. The outside is molded to look like siding. The

That is waferboard and is much more like plywood than particle board.
The glue in particle board is not water proof and when exposed to water
it swells and then drys out and looks a bit like crumbled shredded
wheat. Wafer board glue is waterproof, but really should be painted if
it is left exposed to direct rain and sun. It probably sucks up 25%
more paint. I used it for my garage ceiling and painted it white.
doors are made of two layers of this stuff. The floor and the roof
appear to be standard exterior plywood (floor is pressure treated).

Heartland says that if you take care of it and keep it painted, the
stuff will last 25 years. They warranty it for five. I hope it lasts
longer than the masonite siding that was originally on our house.

-dreq


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Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

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