Jamaica Cottage Shop feedback?

[BSD]

I'm looking to put up a sugar shack in relatively short order. Any feedback on a Jamaica Cottage Shop sugarhouses?

[maple flats]

I'm not familiar with their quality, but the prices look OK, both in pre cut kit and fully assembled. What size are you looking at?

[BSD]

I'm not familiar with their quality, but the prices look OK, both in pre cut kit and fully assembled. What size are you looking at?
16x20 is about as big as i can stuff into the space i have.

[mudr]

I've seen their prices, and to be honest can't believe them. I just got finished (well, final touches left) of a 16x24. Granted, my walls were taller than theirs, bit still, very economical compared to mine. To the point I don't know if it is built cheaply. Never seen one in person to know, however.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[BSD]

after building my 24x30+overhang pole barn a few years ago, i've learned that it will always be cheaper to buy a kit than to source it all myself. They've got mixed reviews online. mostly good, and a few not so great reviews, mostly from people who apparently didn't understand the skillset needed to put it together themselves or people that changed their minds on what they wanted.

my thought is with the 16x20 i can get by with my 30"x10' evaporator in there for a few years and then upgrade to an RO and then go down a size in the evaporator department. a friends 12' wide sugar shack works, but barely for him in my opinion.

[mspina14]

I built a small (8'X12') sugar shack from a Jamaica Cottage kit about 2 year ago.

I had a very positive experience. The lumber is Hemlock and Pine and is pre-cut and well labeled. Instructions are pretty straight forward and I have only middling carpentry skills. When I had a question, I would just call their office and they get a answer to me pretty quickly. Very nice people to deal with.

Also, the lumber they provide in the kit is dimensional lumber and of good quality.

Here's a couple of photos of mine:


16981


16982

After I built the sugar shack, I added a shed roof on the side for wood storage. I also got this from Jamaica Cottage as well.

Mark

[BSD]

I spoke with JCS today. They promise delivery in 4-6 weeks. I told them i'll buy one at the end of the week if they can promise me delivery by Feb 1. even then, it is cutting it extremely close, but i just don't see any other options for getting a shack together this season. They're supposed to call me back with a firm answer tomorrow.

[maple flats]

Good luck. Will it be a kit or ready assembled?

[Tweegs]

The use of Hemlock in the kit set off a couple of alarm bells in my head.
It’s good wood for construction if it’s milled, dried and graded properly.

If poorly dried it’ll warp. Shake can be a big problem with this wood as it can split along its length. Large knots, of course, weaken it.

That said, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it, it will actually strengthen over time, just know what you are dealing with.

If it were me, I’d use screws rather than nails.
Place suspect pieces where there will be lighter live and dead loads.
Be prepared to run to the lumber yard to replace unsuitable pieces.
Paint it at your first opportunity.

[Stiets]

Which one are you looking to get?? Good call on the kit Matt. For what it costed me in materials and time spent designing my 12'x12' "sugar shack trailer" the kits look really nice. You are correct the 12'x12' for my 2'x4' pan is a little tight. I wanted to go for a 16'×12' but I don't think I could of moved it. Would love to make a small second shed for a future RO and storage, shhhh don't tell my wife. The shack makes a big difference on those cold and windy nights.

[maple flats]

My sugarhouse is all hemlock except for the pressure treated (PT) posts. No issue. Screw or nail using twisted nails for better grip. A twisted nail has super grip, but I prefer screws. If Jamaica Cottage deals with good saw mills, they will not have shake. Shake can be seen while still in the log and a good mill will then only use that for low grade applications like pallet boards and such, or even shred it for mulch. In my entire sugarhouse I only ended up with one 2x4 with shake.
Shake is when the growth rings come apart.
Hemlock has many advantages, it can get wet a lot without rotting and it can actually hold up to some ground contact, but by no means like PT lumber. The strength of hemlock lumber is a lot more than pine, the pine in the kit will likely only be trim boards.

[BAP]

My Sugarhouse is all Hemlock except for some pine boards for siding. Hemlock is great wood to build with and I have built many barns with it over the years. I have been to Jamaica Cottages a couple of times and looked over the buildings they have on display. They look well built and have good materials.

[bstewar]

Back when CDL was located in Clarendon VT they had a JCS sugarhouse set up there. Really well built with what appeared as full cut dimensional lumber. I would buy from them especially if you are short on time to build yourself or lack the skills.

[Road's End]

I purchased the plans for the 16x20 primarily because I have good hemlock on my property. I have 3 trees out of the woods, looking to get 8 or 9 more cut any day now. (18-24" diameter) My cousin has a woodmizer band sawmill and told me it'd only take him 2 or 3 days to mill everything up that I need, and charges $40/hr. That right there is probably the biggest reason I didn't make a go at the pre-cut kit. Now, like you, I just need to get my *** in gear to be sure it's ready for syrup season. I'm building it with the plywood floor and skids only because I know it won't be the last sugarhouse, I will need to go bigger in 3 or 4 years and I'll just move this one and turn it into a barn.

[groomer_guy]

I purchased the plans for a 12 x 16 sugarhouse and sourced the lumber from a local sawmill. At the time the precut kits were a little expensive. Myself and one other guy assembled the house in a few weekends. The plans were good until you got to the rafters. The lengths they wanted you to cut would have been way too short. Other than that they were good. I used hemlock for the frame and pine for the siding and trim. I will post pictures when I get a chance. I also made the walls taller because I am 6' -5" so they height they had in the plans would have not worked. We added a shed roof for wood storage. I figured out how much it cost me for the sugarhouse and I just came in below the fully assembled one. BUt I poured a 12 x 24 slab too. Right now JCS has stuff on sale from what I have been told.

[BSD]

As an update I did order a 16x20 from JCS, they were OK to deal with. ultimately they got my kit to me on the day it was promised (i elected to pick it up to save a week). The only problem i have with them is they play all sorts of pricing games. The long and the short is i got my kit for a great deal, but if you're going to buy from them, check their pricing for a few weeks or month prior and make sure you save as much as possible. the price fluctuated $5,000 on my kit in 3 weeks from order to pickup.

It took myself and 2 carpenters about 2 days to get to this point. Hoping to get it closed up tomorrow and start moving in the evaporator and equipment.

17311
17312
17313