Top 5 Free Outdoor Plans for 2012

Last April I started tweeting out the links to free outdoor project plans that I found on the Internet. The plans were mostly downloadable PDF documents. I sent out the tweets on Friday with the tag #FreePlanFriday. That is over 35 free plans I tweeted out last year.

The plans I found and downloaded included: shed plans, deck plans, garden bench plans and play house plans to name a few. I was surprised at how many free plans are available for download if you spend some time looking.

During the course of my research to find free plans on the Internet, I found a lot of good plans and a lot of not so good plans. I thought it would be fun to go back and review all of the plans I tweeted on Friday’s and then list the top five plans.

Click on the photo in the description below to download the PDF or go to the page where you can download the plans.

Potting Bench Plan by Lowe’s

You can build this potting bench today

As you can see by the photo, this is a nice looking potting bench with lots of room to store your garden supplies and prepare your plants for planting in your garden or in various pots. I really like these plans because they are well thought out and include all the information you need to build this project.

Plan includes:

• Detailed lumber and hardware list
• Detailed Instructions
• Detailed drawings and plans

10×16 Colonial Style Garden Shed Plan by Popular Mechanics

Download the free plans to build this garden shed

This plan is for a fairly big shed: 10×16 and it includes two separate sheds. One is 10×12 and the other is 10×4. You can use one for your shed and the second one for a playhouse or something else.  There are a lot of good pictures and instructions in these plans. The one thing it does not include is the full list of materials and measurements.

Plan includes:

• Detailed instructions
• Drawing of the entire shed with cut aways

8×12 Classic Shed Plan by Squidoo

Download the plans and build this classic 8×12 garden shed

These plans are available for download from a Squidoo lens page. Like the other plans, they are a downloadable PDF document. Even if you do not build this specific shed, the plans have the steps to build the door, door frame and also the ramp. I think this is good to know for building any wood shed.

Plan includes:

• Detailed material list with all of the cut sizes
• Detailed drawings of the framing, floor, siding, trim, etc.
• Detailed instructions

Wood and Stone Deck by the Family Handyman

The deck framing plan that is included in the downloadable PDF document

These plans are for a wood bench with a low stone wall. This is another set of plans that provide great information on building this project even if you don’t build this specific deck. Things like; how you attach the ledger, pouring the footings, framing the deck and building a stone wall from scratch. Even if you don’t follow these plans there is a lot of good information on build a wood deck that is attached to your house.

Plan Includes:

• Material list for wood deck and stone wall
• Detailed drawings and photos of the deck and wall
• Great information on pouring the concrete and making the stone wall
• 12 pages of instructions for every step you need to follow

Garden Bench by Miniwax

Build this garden bench with free plans

These plans are for a nice big comfortable garden bench. I can see a lot of days sitting and enjoying your garden. Since they are done by Miniwax, they provide really good information on protecting and finishing the bench. These instructions can also be used for other outdoor projects that you may build this year.

Plan includes:

• Detailed shopping and cutting list
• Detailed Instructions
• Detailed drawings and plans
• List of tools required

Summary

Don’t forget that once you download the PDF plan in your browser you can save it as a PDF file on your computer. Then you can print it out or view it later on your desktop as a PDF document.

If you are looking for tiki bar or tiki hut plans, please check out tiki bar plans . They are not free to download, but like the other plans on this post, they are very detailed and provide all the information and steps you need to make your own tiki structure.