Building A Gazebo - The Disadvantages of Free Gazebo Plans

Recently I have been thinking about building a gazebo, or summer house as it is often called. These buildings are meant to be things of beauty. They do not have to be useful, although they often are. They must be aesthetically satisfying and sources of pride and pleasure in your garden.

I have great childhood memories of my grandma's gazebo. It was a beautiful building, taking pride of place in her garden, which was itself a wonderful part of her home. I used to play in and around it with my friends (my brother and sister were far too old for that sort of thing!), and it was at times a fort or a castle or the Sheriff of Nottingham's forward base against Robin Hood. I have never forgotten that summerhouse, and I vowed that one day I will build a gazebo of my own.

In the meantime I have managed to help one or two others to find and build their own dream gazebos, so I thought I would share some of the basic steps with anyone thinking about how to build a gazebo from scratch.

The key to building a summer house is accuracy. It needs great attention to measuring and cutting accurately to plan, otherwise the finished building will look homemade and far from professional. Which brings me to the point of this article - are 'free' gazebo plans any good?

Disadvantages of 'Free' Gazebo Plans

The main disadvantage with anything 'free' is that it forces you into accepting compromises. No materials list? OK, I suppose I can live with that. Bad or unclear assembly instructions? I'm sure I can work it out somehow. How on earth is that corner bracket installed? It looks as if I should have fitted it before joining those joists to the uprights. I wish there had been a little sketch to show me where it went. And so on.

Every 'free' plan I have seen has been short of information or data that I consider essential for the satisfactory completion of any DIY project. The reason is simple. Nobody is going to spend the time and trouble making plans in sufficient detail without adequate recompense, even good-hearted souls who mean well. I'm sorry but that's the reality.

And the reason I write the word 'free' in quotes is because so often 'free' is not actually free at all. At the very least you will have to provide your email details so that you can be pestered later with 'attractive' offers you don't need. Usually there is some sort of extra piece of information that you need and will have to buy. Marketing people use the word 'free' to get your attention - and it usually does - but they might not actually be offering something for nothing.

Poor plans lead to wastage of time, energy and materials. Ultimately they can cause abandonment of the project through loss of confidence or shear exasperation. And 'free' plans are always poor plans.

The other main problem with 'free' plans is that they offer very limited, if any, choice of design. You might already know exactly how your gazebo is going to look. On the other hand you might not, and a good range of design options would be very helpful in making your final choice.

Proper Summer House Plans

So what constitutes a good set of plans? Bearing in mind the accuracy required to build a gazebo, the drawings should be to blueprint standard. They should show at least two elevations - side and front - as well as the plan view. If there is significant variation between front and back, or between the various sides of the building, then there should be additional drawings for these.

Now there is a potential problem with blueprints as well. An expert will be able to read and understand them easily, but a novice will have a bit of difficulty. So a good set of summer house plans will also include sketches and diagrams to explain hidden details or complicated assemblies.

There also needs to be a full list of all the materials needed to complete the project. This is very hard to do yourself, usually meaning that there will be some critical item missing when you are suspended at the top of a ladder with a heavy piece of roofing timber in your hand! Do not underestimate the importance of a good materials list - your plans kit must include it.

The best summer house plans will also show all cut dimensions clearly. They will probably list all the tools needed as well - it is very useful to know if you have everything or if you need to hire some specialist items, for instance.

So, to summarize, building a gazebo needs a good set of plans. Do not rely on free plans. The drawings should be comprehensive, complete and accurate. There should be a full list of materials and, ideally, tools needed. Assembly instructions should be clear, augmented where necessary by detailed sketches. Step-by-step videos would be a distinct plus.

'Free' gazebo plans will not provide enough information to enable the construction of a summer house to the required standard. Considering that a good set of summer house plans, meeting all the requirements that I have listed, can be bought online for less than 50 dollars there is no contest, in my opinion.

Author: Kieran Gracie

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