Yardistry vs Backyard Discovery: which cedar gazebo should you buy?

Both sell a 12×12 and a 12×14 cedar gazebo (Backyard Discovery lists its 12×14 as 14×12). At 12×12, Yardistry’s Meridian is about $200 below Backyard Discovery’s Barrington; at 12×14 the gap is about $100. Both brands list a much higher regular price and are discounting now, so the table shows what each charges today, and it can change before you order.

If you want a pergola with an open roof instead, the cedar kits are priced like this at 10×12 and 12×12.

Neither price includes a concrete pad or footings. Backyard Discovery’s Barrington page sells assembly separately at $910 for the 12×12, on a different day from delivery. Yardistry’s gazebo page says assembly services are available.

Owners rate both well, and Backyard Discovery rates a little higher. Its 12×12 Barrington averages 4.8 stars from about 1,400 reviews on its own site and 4.8 from about 400 on Home Depot. The 12×12 Yardistry Meridian has 4.5 stars from 65 reviews on its own site and 4.7 from about 1,300 on Home Depot, and the Yardistry gazebo at Costco has 4.6 from about 3,000 reviews across its sizes.

The praise is alike: good-looking cedar and kits that come together once you have a crew. The complaints are alike too. Owners of both report parts that were missing or damaged on arrival and the roof as the hardest part of the build, and a few owners of each describe missing boards or parts that took time to replace. In the low-star reviews we read on the Costco Yardistry, about four in ten were about missing or wrong parts and about one in four said boards cracked or warped. Cedar of either brand needs regular sealing, and Yardistry’s own guidance is a yearly coat.

Watch out: check every box against the parts list the day it arrives, and plan on three or four people and two ladders for the roof.

Backyard Discovery says its Barrington is Pro-Tect tested to withstand up to 7,500 pounds, or 30 inches, of snow and winds up to 100 mph, but only if it’s anchored as the manual specifies. Yardistry’s gazebo pages give no wind or snow rating. If your town asks for one before it issues a permit, you’d have to get it from Yardistry in writing; our permit guide explains when you’re likely to need it.

Backyard Discovery states a five-year limited warranty on its products. Yardistry covers defects in materials and workmanship for one year and the lumber against rot and decay for five. Its warranty also requires regular maintenance, excludes labor and the minor twisting and checking that wood does naturally, and is non-transferable. Read the full terms of either before you rely on them.

Both use cedar posts. The Barrington has 6×6 cedar posts and a 29-gauge galvanized steel hip roof in Tudor Brown. Yardistry’s Meridian is sold with an aluminum roof, as Costco’s listing describes it, and comes in five stain options: Natural Cedar, Hawthorne, Charwood, Mocha Brown and Ash Gray. Yardistry’s pages don’t give a roof gauge or post size for the 12×12.

Yardistry’s Meridian comes in nine sizes from 8×8 to 12×24, including 11×13, 12×16 and 12×20. Backyard Discovery’s Barrington comes in eight sizes, 10×10 to 24×12, At the sizes both sell, price and roof style decide it more than the size itself.

Backyard Discovery accepts a return if you contact it within 30 days of receipt, keeps a 15% restocking fee, leaves return shipping to you and wants the kit like new in its packaging. Yardistry lets you start a return within 30 days, keeps 20%, deducts its original shipping cost and wants it disassembled and boxed. Both policies cover only purchases made from the brand itself; a kit bought at a retailer follows the retailer’s rules.

Backyard Discovery ships free and lists average truck transit of 7 to 17 days, depending on the region; the Barrington arrives in five boxes weighing about 800 pounds in total. Yardistry says orders ship within two to three business days and delivery can take up to three weeks after that. Delivery is to the curb, so you need help to carry the boxes, and Yardistry says to note any damage on the delivery paperwork and send photos.

Yardistry sells on its own website and at Costco, mostly online, and its listings change often. Our Costco gazebo guide has the sizes and prices. Backyard Discovery sells on its own site and through large retailers, and its own return policy doesn’t apply to kits bought elsewhere.

If you’re choosing between the two in cedar, our wood gazebos page lists every cedar kit by size.