Customer Reviews

House on a Budget (American Institute Architects)

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

 

 

This book is the only easily read book which outlines the cost of land, building, and planning, but it is not all that helpful because of the limiations of each example. Many of these examples are simply not applicable to everyday building projects or sites; however, this book is a good place to start and determine what you particular costs may be.

HOUSE ON A BUDGET: MAKING SMART CHOICES TO BUILD THE HOME YOU WANT is now in paperback, retitled from The House You Build, and comes from an architect who offers his background and advice on creating a custom home on a budget. There's a gap between production housing and high-priced custom homes, and HOUSE ON A BUDGET fills this gap, offering the pleasures of a custom home with the tips from an architect on working with unconventional sites and the latest custom fixtures and additions. It's a 'must' for any library strong in homeowner's and builder's guides.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Just what we needed for ideas to help us build our dream cabin. Good ideas to help make decisions when it comes to constructing a home.

As it states on the back of this book's title page, "House on a Budget was originally published in hardcover in 2004 by The Taunton Press, Inc., as The House You Build".

It's a great book, just identical to The House You Build. Read the reviews of that book to see other opinions.

This book was very disappointing. After buying and enjoying "The House You Build," I looked forward to another book by Duo Dickinson. The houses and pictures used in this book are practically all the same as in the other book. How can such a fine company as Taunton publish such a copycat work? The text content is very similar also.

I bought this book because I am building a new home and the title made me think I would get good ideas on ways to save money and information about choices that would help in cutting costs. I almost finished the book but had to stop because it was a complete waste of time. There are no good ideas at all. The book is mainly divided into chapters, each of which discusses a particular house that was built on a tight budget. Many of the homes are built on difficult lots and in my opinion are awful looking. Most of the houses kept the costs down by keeping the square footage down. There is very little detailed information on the materials used and how money was saved. More than anything, this book is a time waster because it is not quick reading, as you try to really understand the points of the author only to find out they are useless and not helpful. There is a reason this book is selling used for under a dollar. If you are looking for a book to get ideas for your own house, I don't think you will like it. Perhaps an architect would better appreciate it, but I am not so sure.