Category Archives: Shed Designs

Garden Shed Plans

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Plans for a garden shed can be had in lots of places, including online and the major DIY stores. There is no shortage of garden shed plans. That said, the key to building the garden shed of your dreams is matching the right garden shed plans to your own individual specifications. They should be exact and easy to understand.

The design and look of your garden shed will depend on what your purpose is in having a garden shed. You need to go through some thought processes to be clear what the finished project will look like. That means taking the time to make some notes on what you want to see happen.

Start by asking yourself some relevant questions. How big is the garden shed going to be? This is an important question, and from my own experience, whatever size you decide on, I would build a little larger than you plan for.

Decide on the best location for the shed. Close to the main dwelling, and on level ground if possible. Situating the garden shed close to the main residence is better for security, because it will be less remote.

Do you want to keep garden equipment in the shed? Or perhaps you want to store larger items of furniture, if you have a surplus of household items for instance. Deciding what you want to store in your garden shed, will determine the size and quality of the finished construction. You do not want good items of furniture to be ruined by rain dripping on them. The cost goes up when you factor in the price of weather proofing and insulating materials.

Most people choose a shed made of wood. But there are other options available, such as vinyl and metal. Wood tends to need more maintenance over time, while metal and vinyl will need less looking after.

Flat roof or arched? The cost of an arched roof is likely to be more expensive, though it does look more attractive, in my opinion.

Give some thought to windows, doors and shelving. Removable shelving is useful, as you can add or remove it easily, and shelving greatly increases the storage space.

Decide on a budget before you make any plans. That said, the budget does need to be realistic, so try and get an estimate from a reputable tradesman or qualified friend before deciding on a ball park figure to work with.

Consider whether you will need foundations. If so, of what type will they be. There are lots of variables which come into play, as all constructions have different environmental conditions in the immediate area. Is the ground level, and well drained? Is there enough natural light in the proposed location? Is it in an exposed or sheltered spot? There are many decisions to be made which depend on the answers to these questions.

All this might sound complex and off putting. But it should not. These are all common sense questions. If you do not feel able to work through them by yourself, ask a skilled friend or tradesman to help you. It will be worth it.

Once you have decided on the size and materials for your garden shed, all that remains is to get yourself a good set of garden shed plans.

Dog Kennel Plans – Why Use A Good Set Of Dog Kennel Plans?

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Our daughter has been nagging us or some months now about having a dog as a pet. She likes animals, and anyway, lots of her school friends have pet dogs so why shouldn’t she have one?

As a parent, you probably know this is the question which finally seals the deal in the kids eyes. From that point, you have to go and get yourself a dog as a pet.

Well, we eventually gave in to this pester power,as you do. The one condition my wife gave us was that the animal had to be housed outside. My wife rightly argued that she was unwilling to risk having damage to furniture and carpets by an as yet untrained dog. However, that might change in the future once the animal is house trained.

But for now, he lives outside. At this point I had not made up my mind whether to buy a dog kennel from the store or try and build a dog kennel myself. After some preliminary research into cost of the ready made, compared with self build, I decided to build the dog kennel myself. By doing this I found I could save money and have the dog kennel I wanted versus a best fit version from the store.

I had no idea about what design to have, or what type of wood I should use. I have seen dog kennels before, both the real thing, and in photographs as well. My common sense told me I would need to treat the wood in order to protect it long term against rotting.

That is of course, if it was not already pre treated when I bought the wood. On the other hand, I would not be able to use anything likely to injure or harm the animal. And, it would need to be big enough for the animal to get into and move around, both now and when she grows bigger.

I didn’t realize, until I sat down and thought about the project, how much detail there is in the seemingly simple construction of a dog kennel.

My next action was to acquire some dog kennel plans so I could decide which one I liked best. This was going to be custom built for this one dog, so I read up on the breed of dog, and used this knowledge in deciding the design I wanted.

Building a dog kennel was no different from any other woodworking project, and I found it much easier following step by step instructions.