Northern Breeze Screen House

We've had screen houses with just the mesh sides - they are a lot cheaper, but,,,,, you get what you pay for. When it rains basically the inside 2 feet becomes a drip zone - so a 12' x 14' (or previous one) becomes a usable 8' x 10'. With this, in the rain, you get to use the full 12' x 12'. I also recommend you do not try to put this over a typical campground picnic table - takes up too much room; but rather use folding chairs inside the Screen House with Coolers as tables.I agree and disagree with the comment that it is easy to set up. IF you follow the factory instructions in the bag - you'll run into trouble. I've gone through several erections and take downs and here's the instructions for making it EASY:Eureka Northern Breeze InstructionsFirst TimeFrom the factory the Screen House in its bag is a bit of a jumble. I suggest you read through this instruction to get the terminology and then lay it out, and re-pack it as per the Take Down and Store instructions below. You will find it very frustrating to deal with a jumbled Screen House and try to follow the bagged instructions which basically don't work. For those of you that have handled sails on a yacht – the necessity of packing the Screen House with its connection points clearly available will be obvious. These instructions start with the Screen House in its bag with the four corners and hub at the top of the roll.Erection1. Remove from bag keeping the four corners and hub together..2. Unfold* and stake out the rectangle formed by the four 'pin' corners. (Note, all zippers should be closed).3. Release one corner – that is your 'pull' corner. Its opposite corner, 'fixed', should remain in place. The other two corners are the 'arch' corners.4. Between these two 'arch' corners, insert two pole sets into the hub with the 'arch' laying on the ground, away from the 'pull' corner.5. Insert pins in bottom of the 'arch' poles. Fasten clips across the ridgeline and sides. Attach the corner bungie. The 'arch' is now intact but prone. It is also dimensionally stable which it would not be if the ridgeline and side clips weren't attached (a step omitted by the factory instructions).6. Get the other two corner poles ready. Its easier if they are folded in the middle.7. Pull on the 'pull' corner to erect the arch and re-attach the bottom loop to its stake. The Screen House should be tight across the diagonal arch but draped from the 'pull' and 'fixed' corners.8. Insert the folded poles into the hub. While folded, reach up to attach the two top ridgeline clips.9. Unfold the pole, inserting it into its mate and put the bottom pin in place. Complete with side clips and corner bungie.10. Add side stakes, guys, etc as necessary.* pay attention to the way it was folded to reverse the process when disassembling.Take Down and Store Reverse the erection process.1. Remove the pole sets from the 'fixed' and 'pull' corners.2. Detach the 'pull' corner loop from its stake.3. Lower the arch.4. Unclip and remove both pole sets comprising the arch.5. Detach the 'fixed' and both 'arch' corner loops on their stakes but leave the everything in place on the ground. Note the hub is near the 'fixed' corner.6. Collect the Hub and 'pull' corner to the 'fixed' corner. You now have a roughly triangular structure – kinda like a folded paper hat.7. Fold the 'arch' corners into the 'fixed' corner.8. Fold all five ('fixed', 'pull', 2 x 'arch', and Hub) to the bottom of the 'hat', halving the width.9. Roll up with the five exposed.10. Bag with five on top, exposed, ready for next assembly.

UPDATE on 4 Apr 16: I had a problem with this tent. Spoke with someone very nice at Johnson Outdoors who authorized a return. They made good on the problem.I've said in the past that if something breaks it's not that it broke that is important. It's what the mfg or vendor does about it that matters. These folks rock.UPDATE on 21 Jan 16: I'm about to buy some quick-release buckles to add to the tie-down straps. Should have been included or an option but never mind.The most important thing about my experience with this house is: If you are going to be in the shade it is fantastic. If you are going to be in direct sun it is the pits, absolutely.UPDATE on 18 Jan 16: Just survived two very serious wind/rain events. -5 inches in an hour on one. There was a creek running through the floor but everything off the floor was fine. Bravo.I have bought or pilfered from other structures I own an additional four poles and have two more on order. Eureka could have sold me those poles as part of a package. Their loss.I have bought (it seems like) a thousand feet of reflective line for the awnings. And (seems like) a hundred guy line adjusters of varying reflective quality.So, I give it another star to four but that's it. There was a $100 accessory package to be sold here that would have made my life easier and some money for Eureka!When price drives everything quality suffers.===================================================================Original Review:Design is superb. Execution is poor. I rated it 5 for design and 3 for execution (aka manufacture).This screen house has a number of design features missing in others that I have owned (five and counting) or looked at.The corner curtains are great, Always a weak point in others. Rain will tend to come in on the corners; this one at least partially covers that.Flaps/awnings/whatever on all four sides, a great idea.Execution problems.Strings everywhere. For tying up the flaps in different directions. Have you not heard of Velcro? Oh, I guess you have: there is some in places I don't understand.Missing poles and stakes and guylines. Three non-adjustable poles is all you get. And I've yet to find how you would order more. Opportunity lost? The best design feature of this product is the fact that you can have four sides under awning!Color. Blue is the only color offered. If you are under the house on a sunny day it's unbearable. White would be better. A simple white fly would be even better; a layer of thermal dissapation. Yes, I know that white is suseptible to UV damage but so is my skin. Another BIG opportunity lost.Stakes. Cheap plastic stakes are not what I expect with a $450 product. Moreover, you need more of them:Four for corner wind anchors.Two or three per side for the awnings. Oops, I forgot, we just roll them up.Roll the awnings up: strings instead of Velcro? Really? But I digress.As I said Design is great.I like the product. I like the room it provides. I'm happy to have four sides under roof. Just...Plan to spend more money onStakes, two or three per side = 8-12Guylines. The cheap black stuff with cheap three-hole tensioners is all throwaway.Poles, two or three per side = 8-12.

Mine leaked. I sent it back for a warranty repair and they said: "you didn't seam seal it".. I'm like - what the heck do you mean, why do I have to seam seal a brand new 450 dollar tent? They said - "that's why a tube of sealer was included, and it's stated in the instructions (which I admittedly didn't read). You have to do it, we don't do it at the factory..." Again, this tent was well north of 450.00... but sure enough I found the tube and the instructions and you do have to seam seal it yourself... You'll never get it perfect and it will always leak... Ask me how I know... If you're looking for a real shelter, consider something else...

At first, I was very pleased with my purchase of the Northern Breeze Screen House, but that quickly changed when wind was added to the equation. Even with placement of additional guy lines the screen house was barely able to withstand winds of more than 14 mph, and I attribute this to the high profile of the upper portion of the screen house as well as the structural design (cross poles would be a very handy addition to prevent collapsing). The poles were getting noticeably bent with each subsequent use, and for an over $400 purchase I expected more. My screen house met an untimely demise at the hands of 18-20 mph winds, which are not uncommon in the mountain states, and I could only recommend this product for light use in good weather. I feel so strongly about this that after hundreds of Amazon purchases, this is my first review. If you routinely deal with moderate to high wind, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere...