Most Helpful Customer Reviews
266 of 273 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I built my house with this book!, December 4, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home (Paperback)
This book was the best bargain I made while building my house. It saved me thousands of dollars in materials savings, increased productivity, and unforeseen expenses. The schedule and checklists were particularly helpful. I knew exactly what to look for in workmanship at every stage of the project. I contracted the house myself and the subcontractors were amazed that I knew so much about construction. If they only knew... I've read all the other contracting books. This one is the best hands down. The computer section and suppliers lists were really helpful too. I find it highly amusing that the only negative review of this book came from a professional contractor from Canada. He should be worried! With this book you will be empowered to contract your own home, or at least know what to expect when hiring someone else for the job.
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199 of 206 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Ideas that Save You Pennies, November 10, 2003
This review is from: The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home (Paperback)
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.
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44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to understand terminology and illustrations, October 19, 1998
This review is from: The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home (Paperback)
"The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home" is written very straightforward and is well organized. It covers not only the building process, but the planning aspect, as well tips on dealing with local building authorities. There are Internet addresses for information, cost estimate forms, and much more. The project schedule lays out the sequence of events of the house building process. This book is well worth the price and I plan to buy some of the other books in the series.
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