If you want to buy shed plans you can buy individual plans (can get expensive if you want a few to choose from) or a collection of plans.  We have bought and evaluated the best shed plan collections you can buy:  Woodworking4Home and  MyShedPlansElite

Summary of Conclusions: Both Woodworking4Home and  MyShedPlansElite are decent products.  Both come with the re-assurance of a 60 day money back guarantee, both contain dozens of shed plans and hundreds of other woodworking products.  If you search the ‘net, you will find My Shed Plans Elite is heavily promoted, but in our opinion it does not offer the best collection of shed and woodworking plans, that No. 1 spot belongs to Woodworking4Home.

Simply, if you want to buy the best collection of shed plans package, buy the Woodworking4Home pack – it gives more plans for your money.

OK – let’s get on with the review.

If you are looking for shed plans there are a couple of suppliers selling packs of DIY shed plans and woodworking plans on the Internet.  We wanted to see just how good these were and whether they offered real value for money, so I bought both sets of plans and compared them.  This is a review of the Woodworking4Home pack containing 14,000 woodworking projects and plans.

Woodworking4Home is not as well known as its main rival MyShedPlansElite, but after reviewing both products I can honestly say Woodworking4Home is the better of the two.  If you are looking for DIY shed plans, house & barn plans, and general woodworking project plans, Woodworking4Home provides you with plans for more than 60 garden sheds, 50+ houses and cabins, 50+ barns & stables and literally thousands of woordworking project for the home!

MyShedPlans is heavily promoted and is a good product, but it is not as comprehensive as Woodworking4Home.  Here’s an in-depth assessment of Woodworking4Home:

Woodworking4Home

Price advertised $49.00

Overview of Woodworking4Home

Once you pay your money, you are directed to the download page and can begin downloading all the material.  Make sure you record the URL of this page, your username and password, so you can return and download other plans as required.

It literally took me a few days just to wade through the contents of this package, there are so many projects, plans and blueprints to look at.  Overall I am very impressed by the quality of the material and you really can’t fault the quantity provided.  The project files are usually excellent, containing lots of exploded diagrams, plans, cutting lists and step by step instructions with photos.  There are projects for the novice, intermediate and experienced craftsman.  There are also blueprints for houses and cabin that will be of real interest to the professional builder and give the rest of us an idea of what we could construct using the services of professionals.

Sure, with this quantity of material (and there really is a great deal to go through) you will come across the occasional project file that doesn’t match the standard of the rest, but overall it is a very impressive package.  If you are keen to construct a good shed that will last for decades, you will have more than 50 DIY shed plans and projects to choose from.

If you haven’t already got a good sturdy workbench, I suggest you download the work bench project files and make building a workbench one of your first projects.

What You Get:

Woodworking Projects

1600 pages covering 330 projects.  Each project contains plans, cutting lists, diagrams and illustrated step by step instructions.  Project details are very good and will enable an inexperienced woodworker to make some stunning items.  My one criticism is that a small number of the projects look rather dated, but most of these designs could be easily improved just by simplifying the design.  Here is a small sample of the 330 projects:

Barbecue Trolley, Bathroom Cabinet, Small Boxes, Basic Board Fence, File Chest, Fire Place Mantle Piece, Roof Framing, Garage, Arbor Bench, Garden Screen Fence, Children’s Bunkhouse Loft, Tri-Color Chess Table, Serving Tray, Computer Desk, Cappuccino Bar, China Hutch, Corner Display Cabinet, Child’s Armoire, Shaker-Style Woodbox, Earth Mover, Toy Box, Bunk Beds, Child’s Bed, Bookcase

DIY Projects

150 topics covered.  There are typically 7 – 10 pages with diagrams on each topic, providing a very good understanding of how to undertake the task.  When you put all these projects together you have got a really good 1200 page DIY manual.  The 150 topics include:

Build a Shed, Wall Tiling, Changing Taps, Painting Problems, Fitting a Mortice Lock, Building a Shower, About Pvc Windows, Hanging a Door, Timber Care, How to Fit a Toilet & Bidet, Renovating Wood, All About Decking, Electrical Safety, Fitting Extra Electrical Sockets, Dry Rot & Wet Rot, Garage Floor Insulation

Woodworking Guide

21 chapters covering all aspects of woodworking from basic joinery and glues through to understanding lumber and sandpapers.  There are 120 pages for the woodworker that wants to graduate from working with MDF and chipboard, and learn about working with solid wood.  This is aimed at the novice rather than the experienced woodworker.

Woodworking Tips

107 tips and techniques.  Many are just 1 or 2 pages, but a few are 10 or more pages.  Useful tips that are worth printing off for future reference.  Tips cover:

Wood Stains, Glossary of Woodworking Terms, Timber Guide, Shelving, Sharpening Guide, Screw Chart, Routing Techniques, Plugging Mortises, Lathe Turning, Jig for Mitre Joint Gluing, Dovetail Jig, Applying Edging, Man Made Wood, How to Use Varnish, Planing End Grain, Stub Tenon & Groove, Sanding

Bonuses

159 “How To” articles covering a broad spectrum of DIY areas.  Each guide is 4 – 6 pages, although there was one guide that contained more than130 pages!  These are excellent guides and very useful for the keen DIYer.  Areas covered include:

gardening, DIY, woodworking, repairing concrete, brick laying, roofing, repairing dripping taps, painting & decorating, plumbing, mower tune up, fencing…

Videos

There is a selection of woodworking videos from YouTube.  Quality is variable and to be honest, rather disappointing.  You can probably find better videos by undertaking your own search of YouTube.

Other Downloads

This is a veritable goldmine of woodworking and DIY shed plans!  Here is a collection of plans and projects covering 110 woodworking and construction topics.  There is a great amount of information on each topic and the downloads are very large, many are 30+MB, some more than 60MB.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and quantity of information provided for each topic.  For each subject there can be literally dozens of different projects files, each project files containing plans, cutting lists, illustrations, photos and step by step instructions.  Additionally, for many topics there are a number of blueprints – although most of these blueprints are more suitable for the professional builder or team of craftsmen.

The content varies from topic to topic – some project files run for more than 10 pages and go through the build process in great detail, others have less detail.  To give you an idea of what you can expect, see below for details of the material provided for a couple of the topics:

Sheds

The information pack contains 207 projects and blueprints.  If you want a good selection of various DIY shed plans and projects this pack fits the bill and is really excellent:

• Details of 50+ different DIY shed projects, ranging from 20+ page project files containing exploded diagrams, plans, cutting lists and build instructions through to single page blueprints.
• Blueprints of 52 houses/cabins, some of these are great looking homes.
• Blueprints for more than 50 agricultural buildings, barns and stables.

Cabinets

The “Cabinets” information pack contains 136 project files with plans, cutting lists and instructions.

Home-Office

This information pack contains 30 project files, many include full plans, cutting lists and instructions.

Topics Covered

arbor plans, bench, bird feeder, bridge, cabinets, cart, chest, fireplace & mantel, coaster, cutting boards, dog house, fence, garages, hammock stand, jig, lamps1, lamps2, mixed plans, screen, shelf, storage, tool box, utility buildings, media centre, bedroom, coffee table , outdoor, gun cabinets, tools, wagon, weather station, winter, wishing well, garden, landscaping, 4 house, cellar, compost bin, barns, bookcase, bucket, candle, CD holders, chicken house, cold frame, decks, dresser, file cabinets, gazebos, horse barns, kids & playground, mailbox, ottoman, rabbit houses, scroll saw, stand, swing, toys, work bench, children room , home office, birdhouses, crafts, containers, router, signs, sport, cradle, door, drill press, easel, lathe, mantel, boats, cat house, beds , bee hive, box plans, cabin, carport, chair, clock, computer desk, desk, farm shop, frames, greenhouse, hutch, knife block, mirror, pergolas, racks, sheds, stool, table, tray, plant stands, entertainment, camping, kitchen, play house, squirrel den, trellis, wind generator, windmill, miscellaneous, games, guitar, humidor, bat house, billiards,

Highly Recommended

If you are looking for DIY shed projects or a great collection of woodworking plans covering practically everything you would make out of wood, Woodworking4Home really is an excellent choice.  I am very pleased with this product and given the number of articles and plans provided I think is offers great value for money.   It deservedly gets a 4.5 Star rating and is Highly Recommended.

Technorati Tags: cheap sheds, diy shed, garden-sheds, shed-plans, woodworking-plans

Free Shed Plans and Misc Woodworking Plans

I got fed up looking for free shed plans only to find websites insisting that I join their mailing list or not even offering free anything.  So here are some free plans for you to download instantly.

If you want to download dozens more shed plans, plans for houses/cabins, blueprints for stables plus literally thousands of other woodworking plans and projects, see our DIY Shed Plans Review.

Free Plans and Projects – we have scoured the Internet and have found the following free shed plans, and by free I really mean FREE!  I hope these are of some use.  You can download these without having to sign up for any mailing list or buy anything. (Note – over the last couple of months Popular Mechanics has removed a number of shed plans from their website, so unfortunately these can no longer be downloaded.  However, we will be launching an eBook containing scores of shed plans and construction details in the very near future.  Please let me know if you would be interested in such a product – looking to sell it for around $19)

Georgia Pacific Shed

Free Shed Plans and Misc Project Plans from “Georgia Pacific”

Click on the project description to download your free project plans from Georgia Pacific, no mailing list to join.  Just click and download:

Arbor, Deck, Dog House, Fence, Garden Bench, Garden Gate, Garden Shed, Gazebo, Nesting Box, Outdoor Chair, Picket Fence Planter, Picnic Table, Planter Bench, Planter Box, Swing, Tiered Plant Stand, Trash Can Corral, Window Box

“Just Sheds” – Free Shed Plans

16 page project plan, cutting lists and build instructions: 10ft x 8ft wooden garden shed.

31 page “just sheds” shed construction guide.  Excellent guide covering: start up, excavation, foundation, floor framing, wall framing, roof framing, roofing, windows, doors, siding and glossary of terms.

“Popular Mechanics” – Free Construction Details (their Shed Plans are no longer available)

Two-in-One Shed construction details and advice.

Potting Shed general advice re. building your own shed.

6ft x 8ft Super Shed exploded plans and construction details.

Pop Mechs Super Shed

“Build Eazy” – Free Shed Plans

7ft x 8ft Board and Batten Shed – plans, cutting lists and  build instructions.

8ft x 10ft Storage Shed – plans, cutting lists and build instructions.

Build Eazy Narrow Garden Shed

Wolmanized Storage Shed – plans and cuttings lists.

7ft x 4ft Narrow Backyard Shed – plans, cutting lists and build instructions.

Various Potting, Garden Shed and Gazebo Designs – plans

Free Shed Plans for 8′ x 12′ Storage Shed

Click on this link Free 8 x 12 Storage Sheds Plans, scroll down a page, skip over the sales blurb and you come to the offer of free plans.

OK, for this offer you will need to give your name and email address.  You will then receive an email containing the link to the download page.  Open the email and click on the link provided.  You will be taken to a page where you can download the following for free:

• Materials List And Stock Size
• Step By Step Building Instructions
• Skid, Joint Outlay & Stud Placements
• Full Blown Detailed Illustrations
• Roof Plan & Rafter Details
• How To Build Wall Frame

If you don’t want to join their mailing list don’t bother signing up for this offer, there are plenty of free plans above where you don’t have to give your Name and Email.

Download 50+ Shed Plans, 52 House/Cabin Plans, 14,000 Woodworking Project Plans

If you want to see more shed plans you can download more than 50 shed plans, 52 house / cabin plans, 50+ agricultural buildings & stables plus 14,000 woodworking projects from Woodworking4Home. See our DIY Shed Plans Review – we have tried to be totally fair, honest and objective.

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Technorati Tags: free shed designs, free shed plans, sheds, wooden garden sheds

Wooden Garden Sheds – Our Refuge

Guys, I don’t know why it is, but nearly all of us need to get away from the hustle and bustle around us and retreat to our wooden garden sheds.  Whether its because of the wife giving us ear ache, or the kids wishing to impress their friends with the “Loud” in their loudspeakers.  Whatever the reason, we need a refuge, a place of quiet, a sanctuary: we need our sheds!

Wooden Garden Sheds  – A Multitude of Uses

For some guys it may just be a place just to sit and read.  For others it is more their “home” than the house in which they live.  Some sheds are just large mundane boxes for simply storing gardens tools, nothing more nothing less.  A place where the mower can dry out and get a little rustier, ready for its next attack on the grass that just never seems to stop growing.

For others, a shed is a workshop where dreams spring into life, furniture and wooden sculptures are created, a place of contentment and solace in a chaotic world.  Our shed is where we see the rewards for our labour.  It is our place, our domain, our little kingdom.  It is where we go to create, repair and construct.

For others, it is simply a place to relax.  Sometimes we go to sit and think, sometimes just to sit! No telly burbling away in the background, no music intruding from the kids bedrooms.  A place of tranquillity, where we can listen to the “Archers”, Radio 3 or the afternoon play. We quietly and unobtrusively sneak out of the house when no one is looking so we can just relax in our wooden garden shed.

Wooden Garden Sheds as Offices

Other Guys need a shed to be a place of real work.  The 3 bed house and 2 growing children means there is no more space.  Our beloved study has to be sacrificed as the baby approaches teenage years.  Book lined magnolia walls are turned into a young lady’s pastel coloured boudoir.  Our wonderful desk and oh so comfortable chair have been consigned to the “shed”.  So with mobile phone and laptop just managing to pick up the wifi signal, the office is re-established in our garden shed.  For these proud workers, the “shed” is not an island of tranquillity, but a replica of Churchill’s underground bunker where we plan and strategise (and play Suduko during coffee breaks).

Wooden Garden Sheds can Never be Too Big!

However big your shed, you know it is not really big enough.  However much storage and bench space your have, you always need more.  Peg board lined walls with hooks help solve some of the space problem.  Fold up Workmates and collapsible benches help solve some of the workbench problem, but we hanker for a few more square feet.  If only…

We Love our Wooden Garden Sheds

We love our sheds.  Many of us don’t want to imagine life without them.  They enable us to recuperate and recharge our batteries. So what if it is a little chilly in the winter, that’s why you want an extra thick fleece and fur hat for Christmas.  So what if you get the occasional rodent visitor who is all too pleased to share your biscuits , that’s why you own a cat.

As we get older, the more we long to slip away and sneak into our beloved wooden garden shed.  To sit down in that old, worn out, perpetually creased, leather armchair that we somehow managed to rescue from the tip.  To enjoy gently sipping our cold beer/hot strong coffee/warm cocoa/iced tea/neat whisky/large glass of red wine (delete as appropriate), close our eyes and let the waves of relaxation gently break over over us.

We have countless different reasons for visiting our shed, it serves many functions and meets various needs.  We love our wooden garden sheds, life without them would be so much less, and YES, we want a bigger one!!!

Technorati Tags: garden shed, garden-sheds, shed, sheds, we love our shed, wooden garden shed, wooden garden sheds

Please be aware that I earn commission from the products you buy through links on this website.  This is how I earn my living.

However, when evaluating products I always endeavour to provide an objective and honest review.  I do not favour one product over another.  If I think a product represents poor value for money or is not as good as another product I do not hesitate to tell you.  My reviews point out both the good and bad points of each product.

I have always tried to provide a site where integrity and honesty take precedent over financial considerations, that is why I will recommend that you do not buy certain products.  I know this may lose me business but I also know that I have tried to give the best advice possible.

I hope you will continue to support this site so I can continue to provide useful, unbiased, interesting and unique material.

God Bless

Phil

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It will be impossible for you to maintain a garden if you have goats in it. Goats will eat everything and anything, including things that make them ill. I’ve always believed that if you have land that needs to be cleared, get a goat.