Men don't ask directions. We don't read directions until all else fails.

But we should... sometimes. There are times when we should swallow that pride and follow directions.

My wife is a fan of following directions. We have "chats" about this regularly, and although I do not like to own up to it, she's right pretty often.

Case in point

We made the decision we needed an outdoor garden shed because gardening tools and equipment were beginning to take over our garage.

My wife is the gardener, I am the construction expert. What's more, I actually love to work with wood.

In spite of my "expertise", we did have a bit of a problem at our first house because I crafted a garden shed entirely without any garden shed plans. It turned out OK. That is after about a hundred trips to the building supply store for items I had either forgotten or not even realized I needed them.

Month or two after I finished that building project, I had a visit from the friendly county code inspector. It seems I had constructed my little building without regard for county building codes.

To make a long story short, I ended up de-constructing. Did you know it takes longer to unbuild something than it does to build it?

The Lesson had been learned!

At our new house, I was going to ask for directions! I would use a set of garden shed plans that were approved by the county building department.

I found what I needed online. In fact,I am fairly certain that the package I bought will keep me busy for the rest of my life. Mainly because it contains lots of DIY projects, in addition to the garden shed plans.

The part I really like about what I purchased is the list of lumber and supplies that was included. That list reduced my number of trips to pick up essential supplies greatly. (Don’t get me wrong, it still took a few trips more than it should have).

Another plus is that the construction plans slid right through the county system of red tape and road blocks with only a few additional notes that needed to be added. That, in itself is worth the entire cost of the purchased package.

The Results speak for themselves:

• Great looking garden shed

• I'm delighted

• My Wife is ecstatic

• No county code enforcement difficulties

So, swallow your pride and get your package of DIY garden shed plans.