When my wife wanted a gazebo, and she wanted me to build it (because that was so masculine and romantic) I realized I had a problem. I was not a handy man back in those days (or so I thought), so I needed help. Because her friend recently had one built by her husband, as a wedding anniversity gift, I knew I had to ask him for help and advice.
When we visited them a few weeks later, I wrote down every tips he gave me. I told him I was really impressed with the sliding windows, which made it possible for them to enjoy the gazebo all year long. He told me that the assembling of the windows was the most difficult part, but when he saw how well he managed everything else, he decided to give it a shot. He told me he visited several DIY stores in the area, but quickly turned down that option because of the high prices they charged for their gazebo kits.
He started searching for gazebo plans on the Internet, which he should have done to begin with, because that would have saved him from spending all that time and gas on wasted trips to DIY stores. He found the gazebo plan he used on a promising website. He told me that the gazebo plan he chose was easy to follow, but the main reason he chose this website was because of all the other woodworking plans he also received, and the fact that the guy who had put the woodworking plan package together had been a professional woodworker for about 20 years.
The package he received had to be a dream come true for any person looking for woodworking plans. There were literally thousands of different plans with step-by-step instructions, photos and diagrams. He suggested I visit the website where he found his gazebo plans, because he said he also used to think he wasn`t a handy man, but, at least when following his chosen gazebo plan, he became one. Therefore the plans were definitely suitable for beginners.
When my wife and I got home I visited the website, and I quickly realized I didn`t have to search for woodworking plans anywhere else. After I placed the order there was no need to wait for shipping. I had access to all the gazebo plans, and more information that I could ever want about woodworking plans, right away.
So, this is how our gazebo ended up looking like. Probably not the most spectacular and detailed version you`ve seen, but to me it wasn`t a point to overdo it. I`m happy with the result (and for actually building a gazebo; something I thought I`d never accomplish) and so is my wife ;-D.
