This is going to be tough to write, simply because I genuinely like everyone I've spoken and dealt with from A-Shed. Still, the whole truth has to come out. So here goes.
THE JOB: I had an old 10'x12' shed (built by a different manufacturer) sitting in the muddy bog of the lowest part of my property and providing cover for a warren of rabbits. I called every shed manufacturer in the area, and A-shed was the only one with a crew that moved sheds. The initial estimate ($350...$450 with a rock base -- see below) sure beat the cost of a new shed, so I hired them.
PROS:
1) They move sheds.
2) Excellent communication throughout the process. (More on this below)
3) Steve and Sam, Part I: Nice guys, strong and industrious, know what they are doing, great work lifting, moving, and depositing the edifice, didn't lollygag around.
4) Steve basically had to thread a needle by backing the shed on a trailer around a narrow, sharp corner -- must have had a TOTAL of six inches to spare -- and he did it without harming the shed or surrounding fences. I know how difficult that can be, and Steve did great.
5) Steve and Sam, Part II: I thought I wanted to place the shed in one area but only a day before the guys showed up realized that I needed it to be about forty feet over and west-facing (instead of north-facing). This change required the three of us to spend 20-odd minutes moving a large pile of what I would call "crap" out of the way, including steel fencing, a large metal water tank, and a stack of pallets and bricks, among other flotsam and jetsam. They were very helpful, and I appreciated it.
6) Steve and Sam, Part III: They repaired the shoddy work of the original builder and partially reassembled the shed, which had come apart in many areas because the siding was attached with staples instead of screws (remember this if you need a new shed...staples suck!). They re-aligned the door (which didn't close properly to begin with), and they also had to spin the shed 90 degrees and shim it up to make it level. All very well done.
Sorta-CON, but sorta not, but sorta yeah: Total price came to $550. I paid it because of the PROs listed above and because they spent the better part of a day on the job. I'm not one to expect something for nothing, so I didn't grumble too much about the somewhat-higher-than-expected total.
CON:
It sucks to write this, but they blew it with the base. Steve and I talked at some length about options for placing the shed on a pad of rocks or gravel. This was to let water pass through (the shed is still in a flood plain) and to prevent another troupe of rabbits/mice/voles/snakes/ etc. from again taking up residence beneath the structure. He suggested that I surround the shed with a 12'x14' frame to stop the base from eventually spreading out from under the shed. Great idea. And rather than buy fancy rocks/gravel, he suggested recycled concrete, which would work just as well and cost less. Again, a great idea.
The problem was that on the day they were to move the shed, the gravel company gave Steve and Sam a load of ROADBASE, which is basically dirt with some cement pebbles in it. I didn't see the guys arrive, so by the time I went back behind the barn to say hello and see what was happening, half or more of the road base had been moved from the trailer bed to the ground where the shed was to go. I should have told them to shovel it back onto the trailer and get what we agreed on, but I didn't. But really, THEY should have told the people at the gravel place to give them the right stuff -- cement rocks, not dirt. Sam told me that road base is great for making a solid, level base, and I don't doubt that he's right. But road base will wash out, and it is easy for rabbits and other vermin to dig through because it's basically just dirt. The recycled concrete Steve and I had talked about earlier would have been a pile of smallish rocks...insects might live among them, but that's about it.
I'm going to have to get actual recycled concrete rocks and surround the shed with it right up to the siding and hope rabbits and rodents don't burrow up from underneath the shed. More work, more expense (NOW the $550 starts to really hurt)...and it would have been avoided if Steve and Sam had caught the error early and insisted on getting cement rocks they had ordered instead of the roadbase they were given.
UPDATE: I called their supplier, Bedrock Landscaping Materials. They don't offer recycled concrete gravel. Steve could have purchased the cheapest 1-1/2" gravel (Platte River Rock) for just a few dollars more per ton. read more