14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book; too short; availability information below., November 8, 1999
Do you want to build a dream house? Do you want to build a home that soars into the hills, or do you want one of those tiresome boring homes on the flats?
For me, there could be only one answer. "A boring home? NEVER!" was my rallying cry. But, after checking out many books about homebuilding, I could find no information about building on a hillside. And I mean that: None. Everyone assumes you have some boring flat (preferably gently sloped) lot on which to create an impossibly dull home just like all the others.
What I wanted was "Hillside Building for dummies". What I got was this book. I'm not sure if it's deliberate, but the book feels like it contains just enough information to tell you "Hire Authur Levin. He's good".
He is. The explanations of the basic concepts of hillside building are lucid. The examples are interesting, albiet a bit lacking in detail. This book is a shade too technical for the layperson to fully comprehend, but you'll most likely get the gist.
This book talks about many hidden problems and potential disasters lurking in the shadows, cruel traps for the unwary. "When is a flat lot not actually flat?" is but one of the questions he answers that you probably didn't know enough to ask. (The answer: When part of that flatness is created by fill. The fill will settle, leaving you with a broken house. So make sure you have "compacted fill" or you'll face big trouble down the road).
So why didn't I give this book five stars? Two reasons. First, the book has a number of highly technical passages that laypeople are unlikely to understand. You'll get the gist, but not the whole story. Second, and more importantly, the book is a streamlined 172 pages, including index. Once you get intrigued by one subject, the author is off to the next. His single-paragraph anecdotes are interesting and even funny at times, but they would have been a lot more interesting as entire chapters. I'd say he's crammed a 600 page book into 172 designer-short pages (fully half of the book is pure white space), but I would have loved to buy the 600 pager instead, even if it had been more expensive. This book gives you a taste of what you need to know, but in the end leaves you hungry.
To be fair, legal requirements insist that you hire an engineer to design your foundation in any event, and it had might as well be Arthur Levin. As I said, he's good. But I shudder to think what his professional fees would be, let alone those for the architect, geologist, surveyor, etc, etc, etc that he says you need to hire.
So if you want a taste of the hills before taking the plunge, buy this book. If you've already decided what to do, call Arthur Levin. He's good.
But can you afford him?
(The 1999 edition of this book is available from the publisher, Builders' Book Inc, at 800/273-7375).
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