Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cedar Cottage from Costco, a full review.

For our daughters 5th birthday, grandpa wanted to buy her an outdoor playhouse.  After much shopping around the internet (and unhappy surprises about cost of decent playhouses, and the abundance of cheap plastic ones), we checked out Costco, and saw they had for sale a very nice looking wooden playhouse called the Cedar Cottage, by Backyard Discovery.


However, I was only able to find one review on this product online, another blog written in 2011 with a youtube video.  Their cottage looked almost the same, but the 2012 model had some differences, mostly in window placement.

That one review had a postive outcome, though some minor criticisms along the way, so we decided to make the purchase, and also to write our own very thorough review to help others who might be looking to buy this item.



So here is a quick rundown of how we rate the Cedar Cottage (on a 5 star basis), followed by a detailed review of each rating .

Price: 5 stars
Material quality/durability: 4.5 stars
Instructions and labeling: 3 stars
Ease of Construction: 1 stars
Quality of finished product: 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 stars

The unbeatable price and the wonderful finished product make all the crappy instructions and difficult construction mostly worth it. :D  It has a very high ceiling! A 5'7" person can stand inside it without quite touching the ceiling. The floor space is also generous, at just over 4'x4' interior. You can fit a few kids in there, even tall ones, no problem. The door is very small though.

The price is hard to beat at $269.99. You can hardly get a cheapo plastic playhouse half this size for that price, and we found NO other wooden playhouses in this price range.  What can I say, for this item, the price just cannot be beat.

So we get the box home and open it up and take out all the parts.  My husband spends about half an hour or so going through the parts list and making sure everything is there, and organizing it all.  Here is our dining area (my sewing area was completely unreachable!!  lol) with all the parts:


As for the materials, the cedar wood is wonderful, and we give it a full 5 stars.  The white painted wood, however, was warped in some places, chipped easily, and had some paint peeling off a few spots right out of the box, so the materials get little a markdown from this.  There isn't too much of the white wood, it is mostly just a few areas of trim. The hardware is all good quality.

Instructions and labeling:
The labeling of the pieces was not very good, many of the stamps on the boards were almost unreadable. The instructions were pretty bad.  We suggest you take some time to watch the construction demo videos provided on the company website. Even with experience (and both of us have real field construction experience), the diagrams and instructions were sometimes difficult to follow.  Take the time to sort through all the pieces first, and make sure you have all the parts, and get things organized before you ever pick up a screwdriver.


Ease of construction:
This got our lowest mark and you may wonder why.
The cottage comes partially constructed, and we do mean partially. The 2 large roof pieces, the front door, and the shuttered windows are the most complete, almost everything else must be built from scratch.  We suggest that you have some construction experience under your belt (pun intended!), or at least the help of someone with building knowledge before you tackle this project.  It certainly can be done, but this is not a project for a beginner, or for a single person.  At some points, 2 people are really necessary!  Total construction time was around 10 hours for my husband (pretty experienced), and he needed my help for about 2 hours of that.

The instruction book calls for:
Power Drill
Power Screwdriver
Rubber Mallet
My husband put about 3/4 of the house together without the power screwdriver (it was charging), but really, they aren't kidding.  We estimate around 500 screws are included with this, so either have a power tool or a very strong arm....
If you don't have the rubber mallet, wrap some cloth padding around a regular hammer or the end of a large, heavy flashlight (really, this worked for us!), and you can get the pieces in without any splintering.

The first day, James managed to get all the walls up without any help from me. It took about 4 hours to get to this point. It was raining outside, which didn't help.

The second day, James pushed himself hard and finished the entire project.  Getting the roof on required 2 people.  The windows are inserted after building the walls, hence the need for a rubber mallet (to gently pound them into a very fitted space).


Quality of finished product:
We admit, it has a lot of wonderful details, and is very sturdy and roomy!  The chimney, the many windows (shuttered, bay, dormers, and a serving window with a bench outside!), the flower boxes, toy phone, stove, and removable sink with faucet are all great features. My daughter loves the removable sink, as she can put real water in it, pretend wash dishes or cook with it, then dump out the water and repeat. She also just loves being able to wash her hands outside after playing with the bugs. :)
The serving window tray area is wide enough to actually place a small plate on, so our daughter is eating lunch out there almost every afternoon now.  The bench is very sturdy, and holds my 170lb husband without wobbling (though he won't make a habit of sitting on it, just in case).


Serving window and bench

Bay windows

Shuttered window

What is really wonderful is the room to add your own touches.  We had a plastic kitchen from Step 2 (with oodles of toy food), as well as a seperate tea/picnic set that our daughter used quite a lot, but we figured would get more use placed in here.  My husband removed the top half of the kittchen toy, and put the bottom under the toy stove portion of the counter inside. We also cut an old berber rug to fit inside, so it is now "carpeted".

We also added an inexpensive clock above the shutters, and a pretty woven doormat.
A day or so later, we made it to the local craft shop and purchased some fabric flowers (and a hummingbird, and some bees, lol).
The flower boxes have drainage holes, so they can be used for real flowers, but we wanted something that would look nice for her year round.


Lastly, I purchased some swivel end style curtain rods, and am currently making curtains for the front door window and for the serving window.  Since we live in western Oregon, we do get frequent rain, and I think some curtains over the largest windows will make it usable even in the rain.  I will add a picture of the curtains when I get them done!

In the end, our daughter loves it, and it was really worth all the work and headaches.  She is spending hours a day playing in it, and we would highly recommend it to anyone who feels they can handle the construction portion of this project.


Note:  It does come with a ridiculously heavy metal self advertising plaque meant to be mounted on the front....  Yeah, we left that off. :D


43 comments:

  1. AWESOME to find this. We've pondered getting it. Your blog entry was really thoughtful. Thanks!

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  2. We were thinking of buying this and your review helped make our decision and we went for it. So thank you for putting together such a detailed review. We completely agree with everything you said. If you put 3/4 of this together witout a power screwdriver your husband must have forearms like Popeye.

    Value for money is incredible, the finished product is awesome, but wow, this takes a long time to put together. We didn't find the instructions to be terrible, but there are just so many steps to it. We had to spend a lot of time on leveling the ground surface as well (there is no floor to the house).

    The finishing touches though are outstanding, and honestly, we would have been happy with this if we'd spent double the price tag. We also have a great feeling of accomplishment now that we've finally finished it.

    Thanks again for the review.

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  3. Hi from the UK

    Thank you for your review, it helped us make the same decision and buy this from Costco.

    I would agree with pretty much everything above. The quality for the price (£220 - I think about $340) is excellent, and our daughter has already had hours of fun in it.

    We also had some split / damaged wood when opening the box, but nothing that some wood filler and paint won't fix. I would also recommend watching the videos online to help with the instructions as they're not the best.

    Overall, 4-4.5 out of 5 is pretty much on the money. I hope your little girl enjoys the house as much as ours is!

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  4. This is an awesome review. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been putting that thing together.
    Judging from the outcome, it must have been worth it. The look is outstanding and seems sturdy. Your daughter is adorable and looks like she loves it.

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  5. We bought this same cottage 4 months ago. Our shutters have required mending plates due to the thin wood& active play. Otherwise, so far so good.

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  6. We too had a heck of a time putting this together. It is already fading after 2 months and the wood is peeling in some areas. Did you put any type of sealant on it? Thanks.

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    1. No, we did not put any sealant on it, and ours is still in good condition. Of course, we have had mostly dry weather since purchasing it 4 months ago. Is it very wet where you live? I'll have to post how it hold up during the rainy season, here. But so far so good, even with some visitors and pretty hard play, we have had no damage.

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  7. Hi from the UK we purchased this cottage for our grandson who is nealy 3 years old, he loves it, its a great looking cottage,it took 3 adults 5 hours to put together not easy at all so many parts,numbers on parts are not clearly shown. Its stood in the garden for 3 weeks and we have had a good deal of rain which has made the parts that are painted white all of which have black mould spots growing on them in side and out, which is a disapointment, oh well will have to repaint next year with a mould free paint, but we all still love the cottage.

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    1. Hi please could you let me know where the playhouse was purchased as im thinking of getting one for my grandaughter also do you know if you can get replacemant parts Thanks Mel from Uk

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  8. Hi. I have just purchased this for my daughters second birthday. I agree that its a pain in the bum to put together but the finished product is so so cute. My daughter hasnt seen it yet as we're unveiling it on her birthday in a little while, but i know shes going to love it. Its adorable. So glad i went with this one instead of the wendy house i had previously picked out. Was a bog standard tiny shed looking house and double the price that i payed for this proper "little house". I also had a few bits of wood split but nothing that hindered the construction. Just needed squeezing together to screw into and youd never know there was a split.

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  9. After I originally commented I seem to have clicked on the
    -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from
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  10. Is this still being sold? I cannot find it online! Love to get this for Christmas. Any help would be appreciated!

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  11. Bought one at Costco and turned it into a chicken coop

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    1. David can you email me photos of how you turned yours into a chicken coop? We bought one and are doing the same thing. Just trying to get ideas. Thanks!

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  12. While the one we bought did great through the summer, it has developed a major mold problem this winter. How is yours holding up?

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  13. We bought the same cottage from Costco about 6 months ago. It was great at first and so cute. My daughter loves it. But since the beginning of winter is has also developed some major mold. A lot of the white trim on the outside has developed mold, which I was able to get MOSTLY off with some bleach treatment. The inside of the roof however is a lot worse and cannot be removed, as well as the plastic bay window at the back. I called customer service and they said there was not much they could do. (Even though the manual says there is a 5-year warranty on 'rot and decay'). I am calling back during the week to speak with a supervisor. If all else fails, I am hoping Costco will refund the money, as it's not safe for my kids to play in with that much mold. It's a lot of money to pay for a playhouse that lasted such a short time.

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  14. Oh and I meant to mention that the magnetic door no longer works either. I don't know if weather affects the magnet or if the door is slightly warped now.

    Overall, I was SO excited for this playhouse. It seemed to be good quality and very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, it turned into a problem and a health hazard.

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    1. Sarah, I wanted to get back to you. We had our backdoor closed off with weatherproofing for the last couple of months, but asked my husband to take it down so I could go inspect the cottage.

      We live in a VERY wet climate. Not much snow, but lots and lots of rain. I expected some mold, and found a little on the white parts of the door, but no other white areas. The door also has one cedar board with a small amount of mold on it, as does one board on the shutters. The entire rest of the house, inside and out, is in excellent condition. The inside of the house still smells wonderfully of fresh cedar, even.

      There is no warping in the doors, shutters, or anywhere that I can find. All the boards are still well fitted together. The magnets all work fine, and everything opens and closes well.

      I'm sorry yours suffered so much damage over the winter. It could be a placement issue (and possibly a weather condition issue). Ours is on a concrete porch, not on soil or grass. It is also in a fairly open area, not covered by trees, so it gets decent light exposure. It has rained almost daily for the last 2 months, with only a handful of clear days, and one day of light snow. We have not cleaned or cared for the house in that time, but it has weathered the weather very well!

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  15. Great review! Thanks so much! And I appreciate the follow-up comments as well.

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  16. Thanks so much for this wonderful review. It has helped us decide to purchase this from Costco.

    We live in Western Oregon as well (on the coast) and we do animal rescue. I'm going to use this adorable little house as a feeding station for the rescued barn kitties!

    Given the comments about some people having mold issues, we will probably repaint all the white trim and window frames with mold-resistant paint to start with. We also intend to put plexi-glass on the inside of most of the window to help with weatherizing for the kitties.

    Again, thank you for such a complete review. Now we know what to expect!

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    1. I'm so glad this review was a help to you! I think mold resistant paint on the white trim is a good idea. Good luck to you and your rescued animals, they are lucky to have you!

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  17. I also live in western Oregon and a wondering, do you think if you were to move houses that this playhouse would be something you would be able to take to your new home with you after it is put together?
    (ps.. my local Costco has a nice pile of these playhouses in. I think they are a tiny bit different, but still adorable!)
    Thank you for this wonderful review,.. I will share everything about it with my husband,(except the 10hrs that it took your husband to put it together HAHAA)
    Kathy~

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    1. You are correct that this years model is a little different. We saw it set up i the store last week, and it looks like the bay window is now on the side, where ours is on the back, and the shutters are square, and now on the back. Otherwise, pretty much the same.

      Also a very good question and one we asked ourselves when we purchased this. We guess that with a little time and effort, large flat portions could be taken apart and stacked to take up not too much space. Because it is all screwed together, it's not something that will be super easy, but I think it is doable. Probably take 2 or 3 hours to break it down to 4 walls and a couple of roof pieces. So the answer is, yes, I think it can be moved, but it will take a little extra effort. :)

      Good idea not telling your hubby about the 10 hour construction time....lol :D

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  18. Do you need to build a base for this? Or can you put it on the dirt? Also those people who had mold problems is it because you put it directly on the ground? I wanted to put a gravel and pavers underneath the playhouse is that necessary. Does the playhouse have a place to drain if rain gets in?

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    1. You should not put it directly on anything that retains moisture,so yes, I would recommend a base of some sort. We had a concrete patio, and so we avoided most mold. There is no place at the base for water to drain. Gravel and paving would work fine. :) Good luck!!

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  19. We love our little play house. My Husband and his friend put this house together in 5 hours and had no problems. The biggest help was the You Tube instructional video. This was the best tool that they used. I recommend the You Tube video to everyone!!! We decided to use flat cinder block and a sheet of ply wood to build a foundation. We then put some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet inside to make it a bit warmer. We are also going to take the suggestion of another blogger and put in plexi glass to keep it a little more rain proof...we live in Oregon!!! Great little play house which our 2 year old daughter loves. I decorated around it with cedar bark chips, a cute little rock walk way with stepping stone from the dollar store, gave her a little welcome sign flag, a wind chime, little solar walk way lights and a few of those little wind blown/twirly flowers that stick in the ground...all from the dollar store. I also got those little tap lights from the dollar store and hung them inside to give her light...not that it needs it but why not!!! We are also planning on making her a mail box (a suggestion of her Daddy's). It is the cutest addition to our back yard and she loves it.

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    1. So glad your daughter is enjoying her new play house! This years model is different from last year, so they may have made it easier to assemble, I'm not certain.

      We put in some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet as well, but ended up tossing it after winter. To save yourself that, store it when the weather cools off and turns wet.

      Great job decorating! I'd love to see pictures. :) We also enjoyed decorating the house inside and out. We also live in Oregon! The plexiglass is a good idea :)

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  20. We just bought this today and 3 of us spent about 6 hours putting it together. We still have to finish up the bench and part of the roof tomorrow! Seeing your pictures makes me want to put something on the bottom of it, as right now it's just sitting in barkdust! Since i live in Western Oregon as well, I'm hesitant to put any kind of carpet or curtains in it though. I'm excited to go buy some fake flowers tomorrow for the window boxes! :)

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  21. Hi,

    Thank you for the blog. We are in the process of putting it together. Just need the roof. I am wondering if anyone has painted or stained it another color? I am not a big fan of the cedar wood look. If so is there a paint type/brand that you recommend? Would I have to sand it first?

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  22. I can't order it online from Costco. Anyone else know where I can buy it? Our costco sold out. :(

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  23. You can get it direct from the manufacturer: http://www.swingsetsonline.com/backyard-products/play-houses/cedar-cottage-playhouse-costco

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  24. This review was great, thanks! I saw this structure at Costco (in Canada) yesterday and we are going to be picking it up on Friday. After reading what you had to say, I warned my husband that it's going to be a huge pain in the buttocks to set up, but he still seems up for the challenge. Wish us luck!

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    1. Good luck! Although a lot of work, I'm sure your husband will do fine. :)

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  25. Hi Linda! Thank you for such a great blog post. We won our playhouse in a raffle and your post gave us lots of ideas. We have the newer version, but it looks similar to yours.

    We borrowed your idea of fake flowers and our girls love it! I thought it was a genius idea, especially since I was worried about mold growing, based on some other reviews I've read. We also decided to seal the wood, since we live in the Midwest and we get lots of snow and rain. I am painting a wooden innkeepers sign that I purchased at Michaels with some chalkboard paint and will be hanging it over the lunch counter on the outside. I figure that my kids can write "Lemonade Stand" or "Bakery" on the sign for pretend play. My husband installed a spring on the door so that it will stay shut as the magnet doesn't seem to work that well.

    How is your house holding up now that it's been a year later? Have you added anything else to your house! Does your daughter still play with it?

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    1. I am so glad you found the review helpful after all this time! I like your idea of a chalkboard sign, very creative. :)
      Yes, my daughter still plays in the house. We went out and cleaned it up when spring finally sprang, and she and her friends use it all the time. Sometimes our neighbor girl asks if she can come over just to play out there.
      It is holding up amazingly well, still looks nearly new. I did have to remove some small areas of mold after the winter, but really, an hour of fixing up or less was all it took to get it back in extremely good working order. It requires a good dusting a sweeping out about once a month, but that isn't a problem, and only takes a few minutes. I even sewed up curtains last fall, and they weathered the winter very well. One wash and like new.
      All our magnets work, doors and shutters work, everything, so I feel pretty lucky!

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  26. Thank you for this review!!! It is so helpful... we are only hopeful that we can find this very cottage at a Costco near us. Anyone who knows of where we could get it online if Costco doesn't have anymore, please let me know. Thanks again.

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    1. I have heard that you can buy one direct from the manufacturer, Backyard Discovery. I don't know how to go about that, but the company name seems like a good place to start looking. Good luck!

      Also, wanted to note that we went out and cleaned it all up again now that summer is coming, and the little one spends hours a day out there after school. We still consider it a great buy!

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  27. Thank you for this post. We're getting one of these as a gift, and although my daughter loves it. she's not too thrilled about the bare wood. So I was thinking of painting the trimmings pink.

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  28. Thanks for the review! I might end up getting this and making it into a tree house. We'll see.

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  29. Hi there, I'm looking at ordering the new playhouse from Costco which is very similar to the one you have reviewed. I'm worried about the food hatch window as there doesn't seem to be a shutter or anything for this window meaning its open all the time. Where we stay in Scotland there is too much rain for no windows ha ha is there a shutter for the hatch or is it open all the time? Cheers

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    1. Hi there!
      I am sorry for taking so long to reply, I have been very busy the last few weeks and had not blogged in a while.
      To answer your question, there are no shutters or any closure on the food service window, and indeed it is an issue where I live as well. We get a lot of rain in the fall, winter and spring, so I added an inexpensive curtain rod and made curtains for the open windows. There is one in the door as well that is open all the time.

      All the same, this wasn't getting used except perhaps a couple of months in the summer, which was disappointing. My husband took it apart and reassembled it INSIDE her bedroom (there was barely room, but he made it work). It has gotten lot more use as an indoor playhouse than as an outdoor one. Currently, unless you live in a mostly warm and dry year round climate, I recommend this for indoor use more than outdoor.

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  30. Hi Linda

    Great job on the review and this is the first time I've seen photos of someone putting one of these together...very helpful thanks as I didn't realise there was so much work in putting them together.
    I too have not seen much in the way of reviews about playhouses. I did see this site but I think it was more general about cedar playhouses.
    http://toybasics.com/cedar-playhouse/
    Thanks again

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