I’ll skip to the chase. Ryan’s shed plans isn’t a very good product. It’s not totally useless because there are some decent plans, but overall it’s not great.
In fact, you’re MUCH better off checking out these shed plans at Pin-Up Houses. Each shed plan at Pin-Up Houses is extremely detailed. You won’t be disappointed.
It didn’t take long to realize Ryan’s shed Plans isn’t all that great of a product. Sure, there are a lot of “plans” but many are of such poor quality I couldn’t even read them (see examples below).
About Ryan’s Shed Plans
I never counted whether there are actually 12,000 plans. That’s not the point. The point is after combing through a few dozen, there were only a handful of decent plans which is not very good for a product that purports to offer 12,000 shed plans.
The concept is great. Sheds are in demand. In fact, storage solutions are in demand since so many of us have so much stuff. Building a shed is an ideal solution for keeping the garage more clear/organized as well as offering storage for inside stuff as well.
However, execution of this product is not great. I’d rather get 100 outstanding shed plans than 12,000 plans where many are not good and I have to sift through hundreds of files to find something usable.
Product delivery
The product is a digital product… a series of PDF documents that contains the plans. You do get instant access, which is always nice.
Organization
The product isn’t very well organized in the members’ area. Some effort was put into organizing the thousands of files, but generally they’re lumped together in massive ZIP files.
Here’s the Ryan’s Shed Plans PDF download page:
Each file below has multiple shed plans.
Within the jumbled mix of files are shed designs of all types. The problem is that many aren’t very good.
Examples of Ryan’s Shed Plans
Here are some examples of good and bad shed plans in Ryan’s Shed Plans:
This first one is one of the better plans. Unfortunately not all the plans are this good.
Garden Shed
The following 2 examples are illustrative of the plan quality throughout. In some cases I couldn’t read a word of the plan.
Gambrel Roof Shed
This one is barely legible.
Storage Shed
The one below is illegible. I zoomed the PDF and couldn’t read a word.
Could you build a shed from Ryan’s Shed Plans?
Yes, you could. The problem is you have to find a plan you like and one that is good enough so that you can actually build the shed.
Pros:
Inspiration: While overall I’m disappointed with this product, one thing it’s actually good for and that is giving you shed design ideas. Most of the plans provide sufficient information so that you kind of get an idea of what the shed will look like. This way if you don’t know what kind of shed you want, this product will give you inspiration.
A few gems in rubble: Not all are bad. There are some good plans and if it turns out you use one of those plans, the product is totally worth it.
My point for not giving it a very favorable review is when the sales page says 12,000 shed plans, I expect those 12,000 shed plans to be usable.
Frankly, I’d be happy for the money spent if there were 100 outstanding, easy-to-follow shed plans. After all, how many variations of a shed can there be?
Cons:
Poor plan quality: I’ve already said at least 3 times. The quality of many of the plans is not good.
I don’t think there’s much else to say.
Am I asking for a refund?
No. While I don’t give this product my full stamp of approval, there are a few gems in the rubble that I may use. Since it doesn’t cost all that much, I’ll not bother asking for a refund.
Should you buy this product?
I’m not going to tell you what you should do. However, I don’t recommend this product.
If you wish to buy it anyway, you can buy it here.
There’s a better product with shed plans…
While there aren’t as many plans at Pin-Up Houses, at least all of them are detailed. You won’t be wasting your money.
