Customer Reviews

Building Construction Illustrated

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I teach construction technology to future General contractors and Interior Designers...and this is the best reference book I have found for beginners. When they ask me the size of a door or height of a kitchen cabinet I tell them to look it up...and I have the utmost confidence that it is both in this book and so well illustrated that the students can easily understand it. I call this book the Beginners Graphic STandards. And at about 1/3 the cost. I also reccomend KaffeeKang' book called Graphic Guide to Frame Construction for residential framing.

I bought the first edition of this book years ago and what attracted me to it was the very accessible way it was produced, it just looked so inviting. Francis Ching writes about technical matters in a simple straightforward style and Cassandra Adams illustrations are a joy to look at. She produced the entire book (except for the bar-code) by hand, cover, title page, contents, index and drew over a thousand technical illustrations and even hand wrote the detailed captions. This latest updated edition uses the same illustrations but the text is now typeset in a typeface (Tecton, I think) very similar to her handwritten style.

As other reviewers have said this is not a book for the DIY handyman but a guide to construction basics, chapters deal with the site, the building, foundations, floors, walls, roofs, moisture protection, doors and windows, finish work, mechanical and electrical, materials. The thirty-two page Appendix gives addition technical information, followed by a ten page index.

I do have one very minor criticism of this latest edition though, for some odd reason the publisher's have decided to print all the illustrations in a tint of black which detracts them from their original beauty. However this will not stop readers from enjoying and learning from a unique looking book that can hardly be improved on. A masterpiece.

***FOR A LOOK INSIDE click 'customer images' under the cover.

This book is jam packed with almost everything you could need to know about construction. When I say that, I mean it covers all of the major components. It does not walk you through tiling a floor, but as an example it does show the different methods of framing and provide clear illustration of how each method is done. I only wanted information on residential construction, but this book covers commercial building as well. The drawings are excellent. I found it tough to put the book down and found myself re-reading several sections because of all the information contained in them. It will serve as an excellent reference guide for all of my future projects. I have already changed many of the details for my upcoming project as a result of this book.

While I agree with others that this book is comprehensive in scope, and while it is beautifully illustrated, it is lacking in the details. Our Building Construction class used it as a primary text, and nowhere does it tell you basics. For example, the drawings have few if any dimensions, which are pretty critical to one's understanding of basic construction (e.g., studs spaced 16" on center). Like all of Ching's books, they at first appear chock full of helpful information, but more often than not, I find them beautifully illustrated and light on content.

Every page of this book offers a detailed drawing of each basic construction method, design layout, and material properties you could think of. Its a very handy book to have in case you need a detail or doing your own renovations. Each method is described and labeled in an orderly format. The book also provides ADA layouts and tilt-up construction which makes the book up-to-date. This is a great reference book that will stand the test of time.

I bought this book expecting a building manual and got the most amazing drawings on the issue that I have seen. It keeps a very logical order, beginning with the managing of the building site and ending with special construction techniques. The drawings are handmade over CAD drawings and that fact doesn't matter because of its quality.

It has at the end the complete CSI masterformat System for specificactions, which scopes the whole field of building and a lot of references to institutions related to each division of the CSI system.

It's a very useful book. I't's less complete in information than the Graphics Standards or the Neufert, but it's precious, and I must say that books need to be useful and complete, but they need to be beautiful too.

I would recommend this book, because is one of the good purchases I have made.

This is best for a quick review if you already know the material. It's too concise to learn from if you don't. Best part is the amazing drawings; the text is kept to a minumim.

After years of architecture school and years in practice, Building Construction Illustrated remains for me one of the best resources for construction detailing and general architectural design available. This is the first copy I've purchased since the 1st Edition and although I haven't had time to identify everything that's been updated, this volume is very thorough, simply and clearly noted, and, of course, well drawn. A MUST HAVE in any architect's library at any phase of their career.

The book is informative and well illustrated. It's written for the professional builder. This book provides more detail than some of the other books I've studied on building construction. However, the book could be more specific about recommended methods and provide more detail. For example, the book describes using joist hangers to install floor joists. It should also suggest that if possible, joist hangers be nailed to the RIM board or beam before the RIM board or beam is installed.

I really enjoy this book; it has a fantastic overview of how buildings are put together from foundation to the roof. It also discusses concerns such as loads, soil types, and a host of other details involved in the construction of buildings. It also has considerations to things I never would have thought of such as path widths for people to walk down in ones or twos. To be perfectly clear, this is not an in-depth book. It covers a lot of material in brief with tons of illustrations. It almost looks like a textbook for a building or architectural trade course (I'm not a student). The reason for only 4 stars: I'd probably have given it another star but for a an exception: The book covers rammed earth and adobe construction (relatively obscure and uncommon to modern construction methods) but fails to cover insulated concrete forms (ICF) or structural insulated panels (SIP). This is an omission that needs to be corercted.