Customer Reviews

Foundation Repair Manual (McGraw-Hill Portable Engineering)

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This book tends to the technical side of things, which I enjoyed. There are numerous citations of technical sources. The author explains some basic concepts in technical terms which helped my understanding significantly. The author is an experienced foundation repair contractor. I learned much about causes of foundation failures, how to classify a foundation as failed or not, and other general but useful information.
However, this book is poorly written. The author repeats himself frequently. Sometimes from section to section and sometimes from chapter to chapter. Further, in the parts of the book which are obviously taken from the authors own experience and technical knowledge he makes strong claims about the effect of trees planted near foundations and backs up these claims with data and solid theoretical analysis. However, in other parts of the book where he is citing outside sources, he presents information which contradicts his own claims. This happens a couple times. It can be a bit confusing. The photos in the book are literally worthless-most are at least 50% solid black-no contrast. The illustrations are excellent. I live in the midwest where basement foundations are common and was most interested in those types of foundations. The author is from the south (Dallas I believe) and discusses slab on grade and pier and beam foundations extensively, but only mentions basement foundations nonchalantly. The basement foundation section of the book is severely lacking-just a handful of pages. However, the author is honest about this at the beginning of the chapter and tells the reader that he has little experience in the area. I wish I'd known that before I spent nearly $60 on it! This isn't a do-it-yourself or a how-to book. It provides some light technical information tempered with lots of citations of outside sources and lots of professional experience. This book removed any fear I had about working on foundations, I now understand them much better.

To get the most out of this book I think you would need some engineering background. I think the book works on that level. The pictures are absolutely worthless black and white with zero contrast. This would not be my first choice book on the subject...but I have to admit that I have not been able to find any good books on the subject.