07 May

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I have this strange little structure in my backyard. I believe it was built for wood storage for the wood stove that used to be in the house, but I no longer have the stove so I don't need a wood storage area.

I never knew what to call it but after doing a little research, I think it qualifies as a gazebo.

Not wanting to just get rid of it (it has a sturdy shingled roof and a nice deck area and I always thought it was kind of cute 😊), I decided to try to move it to a different area of the yard.

Today I'm sharing how we moved this little gazebo from the center of the backyard to the corner without taking it apart and without any large equipment! This method will work for any small structure like a gazebo, pergola, or small shed.

How to Move a Pergola, Gazebo, or Shed

Here is what this little gazebo looked like when I moved in.

It sits right in the center of the backyard and is the first thing I see when looking out the sliding glass doors in the dining room and the window above the sink in the kitchen.

Since I can see the gazebo from the kitchen and dining room, that means I can also see the neighbor's house right behind it. I wanted to block the view of their house and create a more private backyard space by planting arborvitaes along the fence, so I needed to move the gazebo.

I asked my dad if he thought we could move it. He has moved sheds and whole slabs of concrete before so I knew it could be done.

He said he thought we could do it without too much trouble and by ourselves! Whoop! So he came over one morning and we got to work!

We used a car jack and grape poles to move it.

First, we used the car jack to lift up one side of the shed, then we dug out the concrete blocks that it was sitting on and replaced them with some round wood poles that are used for growing grapes.

My parents live next to grape orchards so there is always a pile of these round poles in their neighbor's burn pile. We grabbed about five of them to use for this project. You can probably get some if you have any grapes in your area or they sell round wood fence posts at Home Depot.

Once we had them placed under one side of the shed, we lowered the jack and then repeated the process on the other side.

Then we just started pushing. When the end of the gazebo got to the last pole (like you see here) we would stop, pull that pole out take it up to the front, and put it in there. We just continued on like this and it worked like a charm!!

We rolled it right over to this corner. We did have to do a little pulling and scooting to get it kitty-corner but that went pretty smoothly too. It was easy to do with the poles still under it.

Once we had it in place, we repeated the process with the jack except this time we removed the grape poles and put the concrete support blocks back in place.

Amazingly, the sun, the moon, and the stars aligned, and the gazebo was level on the FIRST TRY!!! Woohoo!

I am planning to put gravel on this side of the lawn and put my fire pit over here. I did not have sprinklers installed on this side of the yard for this reason.

Here are some inspirational photos I've found for fixing up this little gazebo to serve a purpose other than wood storage.

I like how they hung windows in this. I could do this on the back and sides of mine!

Source unknown

I could hang lights from the tree over to the roof like this.

Source: A Beautiful Mess

Source: This was from Daisy Mae Belle's blog but it is no longer an active website

I could also hang some curtains in it.

Source: unknown

I've got a blank slate here... what would you do?

UPDATE: To see what I did with it, check out How to Enclose a Gazebo with Recycled Fence Boards 😀

I hope this was helpful for you if you've got a small backyard structure that you need to move. If it was, I'd love it if you would share it!

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Comments by Blogger

Kim@Snug HarborMay 07, 2015
Your dad is so adorable. Using those round poles to move that is genius. I have to remember that trick.

I love the pergola in the corner on an angle like that. I'm picturing a swinging bench chair. Is the roof strong enough to support one?
ANNEMay 07, 2015
I would totally put either lattice or horizontal planks on the back. If you install a window, I'd put a mirror behind it or swap out the pane of glass for a mirror so that you don't just see the fence. Paint it a fun colour too! xox
NancyMay 07, 2015
It looks great kitty-korner like that! You've found lots of great ideas. I'll be waiting to see what you come up with. Good idea above, to do something on the back to hide the view of the fence behind it a little.
rushMay 22, 2015
I was thinking potting bench the whole time until I heard your ideas about using it as a part of entertaining in the back yard. I think I like your ideas much better. Mine sounded more like work!
Patricia @ 9th and DenverMay 23, 2015
great idea to gitter done!
I love your inspiration pictures for the Great Pergola! I think the direction your mind is going with it will be awesome... fire pit, adirondacks, windows and lacey curtains... ALL GET A THUMBS UP FROM ME!