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Sheds, Gazebos & Outbuildings (Black & Decker Home Improvement Library)

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Nice, but......... -
I purchased a copy of Sheds, Gazebos & Outbuildings from Amazon this summer with the intent to build a shed as a fall project. While not a journey-level carpenter, I have built decks, added a room and so on. Buying the book seemed a good way to get a basic plan and have guidance on construction tasks unfamiliar to me. The first part of the book gives general start-to-finish construction tips (with good photos) and the second part contains 8 sets of project plans (no photos, only drawings and plans). I read parts of the book in detail, scanned other parts and, with some slight modifications, followed the basic garden shed plans. Right now I'm putting on the roof and am pleased with the overall results. Did the book play an important part? Yes and no. Yes, in that it did give some useful guidance and filled in some information gaps. No, in that lower cost plans are available through resources such as your agricultural extension service or local library. Too, the general building techniques section had photographs of a shed quite similar to the basic shed plans. This caught me when constructing the rafters and I think it might for others who attempt to use the book. The shed rafter design in the general part is not the same as used in the basic garden shed plans. Unless the book is carefully read it is easy to be thrown into a quandary as to which method to follow. Upon reflection, I'm a bit suspicious that there are no photos of completed structures for the 8 projects. I wonder if the plans were ever used to build the 8 structures (only drawings are used to illustrate them for the reader). I wrote the publisher to ask why two different rafter designs were shown. I received a prompt, technically correct, and courteous answer. However, there are any number of ways to construct the different parts of a wood structure and thus it doesn't make much sense to include a design that doesn't seem to directly apply to the plans in the book. The publisher's answer avoided that issue; that made me uncomfortable. I fear that if I tried the some of other plans that I might run into similar problems. In sum, I can't recommend that you buy this nice, but obfuscating book