Customer Reviews

Building an Affordable House

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book has snappy writing and good ideas, but seems to suffer from "magazine-frenzy-layout." By that, I mean there is at least one color picture per page (even gratuitous ones), stylish diagrams, pull-quotes, and sidebars. But sometimes this is just distracting. Some of the ideas are not explained or pursued, which leads me to suspect that portion of the text was lifted as-is from a magazine article. The book is only 200 pages (light-weight pages considering so many extraneous pictures.)

Sorry for so much griping, but I have come to expect more from Taunton Press, and it is sad to see their quality slipping.
HAVING SAID all that, I still liked the book and highly recommend it. It is refreshing to have such forward-thinking ideas presented all together in one place and compared. I appreciated especially the chapter on insulation for its side-by-side analysis of several alternatives to the "standard" fiberglass batts.



Examples:

p. 102 picture does not relate to caption

p. 107 caption identifies Vanguard PEX but Wirsbo is pictured

p. 117 caption mentions gas water heater flue, but an electric unit is pictured

p. 119 & 131 have identical pictures & captions.

This book is for builders, not homeowners, and assumes you already know know to build a house. It provides a foundation-to-finish review of the homebuilding process, showing where to save money at every step. Sometimes this means finding areas that are overbuilt--here you'll have to carefully consider which suggestions to use--but often it means using the latest technological advances, and this is what makes the book unique. It presents the most up-to-date products available from your local ready-mix supplier alongside the newest framing connectors or plumbing fixtures. The author explains things well, and his years of hands-on experience are evident throughout.

I always take a risk buying construction books on line. Half the time they are written for the first timer, or home owner, and I get a bunch of info that I already know. This book, however, was labeled for the home owner type, but turned out to be on a builders level! I learned several new techniqes that I did not know, this has saved me untold thousands of dollars on my up coming projects. I would like to see a book from the same guy that would go into even more detail, like an advanced level of the same. The author had to do this first one to appeal to the most people, but I know he has tons of more detail he could put in a book twice as thick as this one. Still, this is a great help in building a good house cheep!

I have read the critical reviews, and they state in general terms that the advice given in my book helps builders save building costs at the expense of energy efficiency and durability. This puzzles me, given the emphasis I place stressing the difference between cheap housing and housing that achieves a high value in relationship to its cost. This book was not written by a journalist, but a builder. A builder in a small community where a people know you by name, and can find you at home. If I built low quality homes, my business would end within a year. Instead, I win awards, municipal contracts to build high profile projects and enjoy an excellent reputation. All my houses qualify for Energy Star certification. Because of my reputation and track record, HUD chose my company to build the 2006 Concept House--a house that showcases the best in modern construction methods. In fact, I live in one of my own homes and in one of my own neighborhoods. How many developers can face their buyers on a daily basis? Having practiced the trade of affordable homebuilding for most of my life, my book simply offers a trade memoir of my experience along with information gathered among the best builders in the nation--the kind that set the standards. The approach I outline in the book certainly applies to affordable housing, but it works at any price point. It is a method to achieve the best value for each dollar spent. You, the reader, set the "value" standard. For example, as a homeowner, I used the methods prescribed build my house at a cost of about 75-percent of its value, allowing me to afford a much nicer home than my income would suggest--affordable to me. And in an extreme climate, my utility costs remain negligible. My book will not help you build a cheap house, but it will help you save money while building an energy efficient, durable home.

Fernando Pagés
Brighton Construction Company
1941 K Street
Lincoln, NE 68510
402-434-2456
Fax-434-2458

As a residential designer of green homes I am always struggling with showing my clients how building green is a good investment. This book gives you the information you need to make a strong resource efficient home that saves the client money.

I will be using the information in this book for the rest of my career. Everyone in the building trades owes it to themselves, their clients and the planet to read this book and implement its techniques. With any luck this book will also help to change the archaic building codes which infest the building department of every county and city in the US.

Buy it and encourage your building associates to buy it too! You will be so glad you did.

This book presents a wide range of cost-saving options on the foundation, framing, insulation, and other components of a new house. You have to pick and choose the ones that work for you. For example, if you have a beautiful view and a mild climate, you may not want to cut costs by reducing the number of windows.
Instead, you can (for example) avoid a costly over-built foundation that is designed for more demanding climates.

The author does not advocate building a "cheap" (sub-standard) house. In fact, in some parts of the book he recommends avoiding choices that would reduce up-front costs (for instance, by laying polyester carpet over an inexpensive foam pad, or by installing an electrical panel with room for fewer breakers).

Many of his suggestions simply challenge conventional practices that have no engineering rationale (spacing studs 16" oc instead of 24", using 3-stud corners) or alternative products (such as Insulating Concrete Forms) that are not necessarily cost-effective.

I think this is a very helpful book. If nothing else, it can alert you to the kinds of details that periodically need re-thinking when you follow one construction practice over another. Then if you want to put more money into an extravagant staircase or other detail, you'll have some ideas about how to pay for it without going over budget or cutting dangerous corners.

As a builder, I have often looked at a set of drawings, or a budget versus job cost report, and thought to myself, "There has got to be a better way." I could only wonder how much time and money the inevitable scheduling problems, subcontractor conflicts, and ever-growing trash pile was costing me. I knew that our practices were wasting time, money, materials, and resources, and that ultimately we would all pay for it. But understanding that there is a problem is a long way from knowing what to do about it. Earlier in my career, I would have paid dearly for the knowledge contained in this book. Come to think of it, I did.

Architect, designer, builder, subcontractor, or prospective homeowner -- you owe it to yourself to read Building An Affordable House. The modest price of this book is the only way I know of in construction that you can easily get a 100 to 1 return on your investment.

Although this book is easy to understand and conveniently organized, it is not just a collection of tips and tricks. It is a comprehensive examination of the residential construction process from foundation to roof, with practical techniques that you can take to work with you tomorrow, and philosophy you can consider for the rest of your career.

It is the unusual builder who can simultaneously cut the price while improving quality, but Fernando Pages Ruiz shares decades of diligent study and hard-won professional experience to teach anyone how to do just that. I have used many of the ideas and techniques described in this book, and many more were new to me. Every one of them contributes to the process of building a comfortable, durable, and more enjoyable home at a lower cost. The importance of high-quality affordable housing for the health and happiness of families and communities cannot be overestimated, and this book makes a significant contribution toward that goal.

Dave Crosby builds affordable, green-built houses in New Mexico and writes for the Taunton Press and Hanely-Wood

As a builder, I have often looked at a set of drawings, or a budget versus job cost report, and thought to myself, "There has got to be a better way." I could only wonder how much time and money the inevitable scheduling problems, subcontractor conflicts, and ever-growing trash pile was costing me. I knew that our practices were wasting time, money, materials, and resources, and that ultimately we would all pay for it. But understanding that there is a problem is a long way from knowing what to do about it. Earlier in my career, I would have paid dearly for the knowledge contained in this book. Come to think of it, I did.

Architect, designer, builder, subcontractor, or prospective homeowner -- you owe it to yourself to read Building An Affordable House. The modest price of this book is the only way I know of in construction that you can easily get a 100 to 1 return on your investment.

Although this book is easy to understand and conveniently organized, it is not just a collection of tips and tricks. It is a comprehensive examination of the residential construction process from foundation to roof, with practical techniques that you can take to work with you tomorrow, and philosophy you can consider for the rest of your career.

It is the unusual builder who can simultaneously cut the price while improving quality, but Fernando Pages Ruiz shares decades of diligent study and hard-won professional experience to teach anyone how to do just that. I have used many of the ideas and techniques described in this book, and many more were new to me. Every one of them contributes to the process of building a comfortable, durable, and more enjoyable home at a lower cost. The importance of high-quality affordable housing for the health and happiness of families and communities cannot be overestimated, and this book makes a significant contribution toward that goal.

Dave Crosby builds affordable, green-built houses in New Mexico and writes for the Taunton Press and Hanely-Wood

Mr. Ruiz has apparently been building houses for a long time. He has looked at nearly every aspect of building a house and investigated ways to produce equivalent but lower cost alternatives. He has written this book for the person looking to design/build a house. It is applicable to the individual, the architect, or to builders.

This is not a book of specific housing designs, instead it is a book that looks at each aspect of house building from foundation, to framing, to all the other aspects like plumbing, wiring, heating, etc. The intent is that you incorporate these elements into your house design, perhaps by building your own home, or by discussions with the various sub-contractors that you employ to do the actual work.

The building techniques discussed here are rather minor modifications to conventional designs. You might want to also read Your Engineered House which looked at making drastic changes in the way a house was built.

The author has many significantly valuable insights that are usable if you are considering building or building your own house. His information is up-to-date and the book offers plenty of illustrations. I plan to use many of his ideas in the home that I am planning on building this spring.