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What our customer's say!

"Obsolete, Incomplete", The first thing I looked up in this book was siding options. What can you say about a book that fails to list the single most common and cost effective option: Fiber Cement (aka hardiplank). I think this is a book inexpertly updated from the 80s. The book has NOTHING on Windows. It has a little section on finding info on the internet that pre-dates Google. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. It's a waste of time and money.

"A Fantastic Book For Some Wanting to Enter the IT Business", This is an excellent resource for the IT contractor or someone entering the IT businees. As some one who does IT contracting I found that the section on "Effectively Improving Your IT Market Value" especially useful. This is one area that I need to work on for personal growth and this book shows how. Highly recommended.

"Should be renamed "The Contracting Your Home Bible"", The moment you open this book you start to understand the dynamics of building at every phase. I have been an electrical contractor for ten years and not fully understood what I now do.

I've been in many new builds and rebuilds by people who thought they knew construction, and have seen problem with timing and purchaces and deliveries and the myriad of problems that plague the job site.

This book my new Bible of building would have prevented all of the kaos. Not to say any job will be without problems, this book will help you resolve all building issues. Just go by the numbers and you can't fail

"Contracting Your Home", This is a great guide to how to build your own home. Their are tips on how to work with subs, local officals. They have a step by step instructions, along with drawings of what the project should look like when finished. The forms listed, through out the book, can help you advoid legal, contract and problems threw out the entire the project.

"A great handbook for planning your home building", There are so many things covered in this book that a list will be drastically incomplete, but I will give a few:
Deciding if it's worth it to contract your own home. Buying land. PLanning your home for that land (position, site issues), energy saving measures, supplies you need, how to hire contractors and deal with them. Things that can go wrong and what you need to do. What each aspect of building involves and how to prepare for them. Ways to cut costs. Deciding what you want most for your money. How much house you can afford. And many more.

In response to a previous post, there is a small section on ways to save money on construction. Most of them are very simple, some are from official sources (like ways to avoid waste, which also saves money). I agree with the previous post that you should be careful of cutting corners on things you don't fully understand. Like how wide to space supports. Verify with local builders and compare to building code. Something HE also suggests. But with things like plan your house in 4' segments so you waste less drywall (which comes in these widths). You can safely follow advice like that.

This book has many excellent qualities. Unlike most, he's giving your the forms and information you will need to contract your home, not just endless descriptions on why it's great to do it. His timeline showing the time range for each aspect and what needs to be done first is priceless. So many pages I found were "aha" pages where I said to myself "That's JUST what I've been needing to know".

I do agree that you will want more than one book on the subject. This is a huge investment! It's really a great book to keep on hand for helping you plan this experience and do a good job of it.

The book is dated 1997, so some things are going to be dated. He has a small section where he plays up computers and the internet which seems a little dated. Also the $$ amounts given will seem awfully low. Not too many of those, though.

Something this book is NOT is an artisan/artist's guide. For making things beautiful and artistic, you'll want other books to give you ideas.

I've read several books from the library and ones I've purchased, and I'm buying this one first to have my own copy.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Very specific information on limited areas", I used it to write specification to give to contractors so we can get bids. The specs are detailed but I still added lots of my own stuff to customize it for my needs.



"Too basic and incomplete", I just finished doing a major remodel. I'm not a contractor so I bought a few books on the subject - this being one of them. I knew I'd be working with experienced tradespeople, but I wanted to know enough to make sure they were doing things right. The information in this book was too basic and incomplete. It might be more appropriate for someone who has a contractor building their home and wants to understand the scope of their work rather than as a guide for doing it yourself.

"The essentials.", The practical explaination of construction management and essential descriptions of the tasks, gave me confidence to try contracting out my own home. I used it to manage the construction of our current home - a 1 1/2 story brick home. It is not a detailed "how to build" book - it carefully descibes all the major steps of construction with just the essential information needed to manage the project and the sub-contractors. The authors use plain language and diagrams. You still need to use common sense to schedule things properly and know where to adapt to your local building practice and materials. It is full of practical advice for each stage of construction.

I found the authors' advice to "hang around" construction sites valuable. They are not suggesting you "pretend" to be a builder, but to see and understand how a house goes together. If you have a sense for construction and a passion to build your own home, this is a great reference and guide book.

"Bad Ideas that Save You Pennies", This book starts out by suggesting that the reader obtain a pair of work boots and a flannel shirt and go hang out at construction sites so that you can act like a builder and impress your subs. Not to get construction experience, but to know when to spit and how to yell at people properly. What a joke.

The authors' approach to building is very much in that vein. Cut corners in foolish places and cover it all up with drywall later. He advocates things like single-headers on loadbearing walls and butting up 2 sections of joist sistered with plywood (!) over an open span - not on top of the beam. Whatever pocket change is saved by stunts like this is not worth it in light of the structural and code deficiencies you'd be left with.

If you have read a few other books about frame construction, you can spot the patently crazy ideas among the other bits of very sound advice in this book. But if you are starting from scratch, run away from it. You may not spot the difference between the smart and the stupid here. I get the impression that the authors are coming from the perspective of a penny-conscious builder of tract houses who is just trying to move as many Mchouses as fast as possible without much care for quality. Fine from a business point of view, but it is exactly the kind of mindset that most owner-builders are trying to avoid.

Rather than this book, I would suggest picking up 'Build Your Dream Home for Less,' by R. Dodge Woodson. Woodson's book gives you the perspective of a professional builder who has also built homes for himself and walks a fine line between the perspective of the businessman who needs to maintain a healthy margin and a homeowner who doesn't want ot get stuck with a lousy house. The two books are priced about the same and Woodson's is the one you won't regret.

"junk", i have done several remodels. i bought this book specifically for the contractor agreement.

this book is nothing but a series of lists and a few illustrated methods. there is no advice, very few professional tips to help you avoid traps when working with contractors. and the contract at the end is worthless. i've seen a lot of contracts, and i wouldn't recommend that anyone sign that document.

a waste of money.