Customer Reviews

Remodeling A Basement Revised Edition (Taunton's Build Like a Pro)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is not a review of the book, but I would like to point out that the information in the "Revised Edition" is up to date as of Jan 5 2010. Amazon should not link these reviews to the new edition as many of the complaints are regarding the outdated insulation practices that have since been revamped.

It's common knowledge these days that the old practice of putting wood studs and then fiberglass batts against a foundation wall and then sealing that with a plastic vapor barrier is a recipe for mold and insulation damage from condensation through the foundation wall. (see Fine Homebuilding No. 169 March 2005 p. 78, Fine Homebuilding No. 162, May 2004 p. 52, also the buildingscience dot com publications even the Dept. of Energy and HUD guildelines.) But this author recommends doing just that on pages 99 and 100. His only discussion of foam panels is in the context of using foam panels in between already constructed studs and then he complains that it is difficult to get the panels to fit between the studs. That is a silly way to use foam panels. He doesn't discuss the current recommended practice of installing the foam panels *first*, up against the foundation wall, and then framing or furring strips against the foam. That is much better because then the wood is never in contact with the foundation wall and provides no food (i.e., damp wood) for mold to grow.

The biggest issue with finishing a basement is doing so in a way that prevents unhealthy mold and that "oh-this-smells-like-a-basement" quality of so many basements. Wood framing against a foundation wall, with fiberglass batts keeping a moist environment, and all trapped by a plastic sheet, is a sure fire recipe for just such a brew. It makes me doubt most of the other information. Tauton Press should revise the book to reflect its own current writing on the subject.

First, let me say that I think Mr German is an excellent teacher, especially for idiot novices like myself. I've had difficulty with other DIY books assuming a certain vocabulary. German provides an excellent intro to DIY in framing, carpentry, plumbing, electrical etc. I now feel I can start reading more advanced DIY books on each of these topics.

My criticism, and my reason for 4 stars, is that his story on insulation flies in the face of recent thinking about the dangers of mold in basement insulation. I suggest reading "Insulate and Weatherize" by Bruce Harley, or "Renovating Old Houses" by George Nash, or look at the buildingscience.com web site, for more information. I urge Mr German to update his book with a better discussion of insulation, mold and vapor barriers, the most mind-bending aspect of home improvement that I have been able to find.

The book also talks about water-proofing on page 46-47. I haven't seen this approach elsewhere, and I'm disappointed not to see discussion of external drain mats and so on. Every book says you have to keep plants away from the house. Well I and I suspect others can't do that and stay married, so I'll probably end up building a watertight flower box above a drain mat. This might be a good project to add to a second edition of the book.

I am in the middle of remodeling the basement in our new home. While I have purchased about a half a dozen books on the subject, this is without a doubt the best. The author covers every angle of remodeling from planning to painting and the color photographs are wonderful! Just one word of caution, the book seems geared more for those with newer homes. If your basement is really old, or a total disaster, I would recommend looking elsewhere for advice. For newer homes, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Best of luck with your project!

This book has the best, most detailed guide to remodeling your basement. This is more construction guidance than design, but there is good design info as well. The book has OUTSTANDING guidance on actually taking the project on and getting it finished. The author teaches a class in basement remodeling, and this experience has clearly provided him with a wealth of ideas on how to guide the novice to intermediate builder. If you are going to do the work, you have to have this book.

This book covers everything from assessing your current basement, planning and the actual work. I'm just a regular home-owner handyman (non-professional) and I feel like I'm ready to tackle the project. One thing that was especially helpful was the Pro Tips. On almost all the pages, there's a tip that you may or may not have thought about. For the work, it goes over the basic steps to accomplishing the project (i.e. electrical, plumbing, drywall). If you have a decent amount of handyman inside you, this book will definitely enable you to finish or remodel a basement.

This book covers, in great depth, basic framing and finishing techniques. In other words, it's full of information that's available in myriad other remodeling texts. That information is well presented, but it's nothing exclusive to this book. What I expected, and where it falls woefully short, is a good discussion of issues particular to basements. Water gets perhaps two pages, humidity/moisture nothing at all, slanting floors and floor drains nothing. He does mention egress windows and basement mechanicals. Overall, however, far too much space given to general building techniques (probably over 80% of the book), when in fact what I think is needed is a lot more depth and detail regarding issues related to basements.

I have been planning the finishing of my basement for 4 months. I have purchased and read several books on the subject. Without question this is the most comprehensive and easily understood of all of them. It is the best. Highly recommend.

This is by far the best book I have ran across on this topic, very thourough and provides a real do it yourself vocabulary. Topics are covered in a logical order and really, this book will get you through 95% of your basement project. I would recommend another book for electrical and possibly drywall - as all that is dedicated to those topics in this book is a few pages. I found Home Depot's $12 1-2-3 Electrical book to be a great supplement and all you will need for even the most challenging wiring situations. I hired a plumber to save me some time on that aspect, so I can not speak to that part of the book, but it seems to give you the basics.

Now - the reasons I can not give this book 5 stars.

1 - Electrical - I live in suburban Chicago and this book simply is outdated. Codes here are much more strict then wherever this book was written. You need to run all wiring in EMT conduit here and use that as the grounding source - using the NM (romex) that is outlined in the book is a huge code violation here and I think the inspectors would laugh at you. And running conduit is a big project whc greatly lengthens the time described in the book Thus, most of the stuff talked about in the book in terms of supplies is not going to cut in some locales.

2 - His advice on insulation vapor barrier is COMPLETLY WRONG. They would make you rip out any vapor barrier if you put it up where I live. It does nothing more than trap moisutre in the wall, not allowing it to dry out. In essence, its like putting a plastic bag over your hand, after ahwile it starts to sweat and cant dry out.

3 - Framing basement windows. He goes from framing a real basment window to all of a sudden working on one above ground in the final carpentry work - totally different technique.

These things aside, great book.

I really like this one. Along with excellent information on framing, plumbing, and electrical; it has some very nice examples of what you can do with your basement. It has the best description of half-walls I have seen (I desperately needed that) and so much information it is amazing! Buy this book if you are an advanced do-it-yourself person and want to remodel of finish your basement.