Customer Reviews

Trim Carpentry and Built-Ins (Build Like A Pro)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a "advanced beginner" carpenter, and this book is BY FAR the best book I've read and used to give good, practical information and tips on finish carpentry. I orginially borrowed from the library, but liked it so much I bought it.

It's got a great balance between being accessible and detailed. Unlike most books of this genre, it doesn't assume you've got thousands of dollars of woodworking tools in your basement, but does assume that you know a bit about what you're doing, and are looking for someone more experienced to get you through some tricky projects. The best part is page after page of expert tips that help you do things more quickly and efficient, based on the author's 25 years in the business. The pictures and illustrations are also top notch, again, a great balance between detailed and accessible. A lot of thought went into writing this book and it shows.

There are a lot of carpentry books out there, and most of them fill you with extraneous details that you don't want to read about, and don't tell enough about what you need to DO. DeKorne's book is a rare exception. He gets right to work, and much of the work of describing what to DO is accomplished with fine photographs and illustrations. I'm an engineer and think I know how material's put together, but I learned far more about how wood goes together (and will perform over its service life) than I ever expected. DeKorne doesn't just parrot the theory of woodworking, but takes you beyond the bench with details that allow you to trim out an old house with expert precision, even where nothing is square or plumb. There's nothing about dovetails, or mortise and tenon (what a relief!) but plenty about practical joinery. The sections describing compound miters are the best I've ever read. Finally I feel like I understand how to make an elegant crown fit in an old house.

I really like the Build Like a Pro books. I find them very informative about subjects I have no clue about. Whether you are a DIY or plan to hire someone, I think the information is a good basis for being able to understand how things should or might be done.

There are some projects that DO show step-by-step instructions with photo's, i.e. Making an Outside Corner when cutting baseboard (pg 59). There are Pro Tips and What Can Go Wrong scattered throughout the book. The format is very easy to follow and there are lots of drawing, illustrations and great photographs.

One of the main reasons I picked up this book is for the section on crown molding. I've seen lots of decorating shows but in the ones that give the most detail, the people seem to have been doing it for ages. I've found that if the DIY show says 2 hours, it probably is going to take me double that because of my lack of experience. The Crown Molding section talks about the various crown styles/profiles, gave Trade Secrets and how to cope with problems like sagging ceilings are wavy walls. Basically, it covered every aspect that I could think of when installing crown.

The only thing this book is missing is a appendix of terms, which would have been helpful to understand terms that are unfamiliar to me as a novice. Some terms might have been covered earlier in the book, but if you are reading just one topic or chapter, you might have missed the explanation. Because of this I am giving it 4.5 stars.

Definitely work purchasing.

My husband gave me this book as a gift, and it's provided wonderful encouragement (it's also a book he wanted, of course). Together we have completed some nice house projects together, such as converting our back porch into a sunroom and adding a new window in the dining room to bring in much needed light. We both agree the hardest part to do well is the wood trim, and it's what you see everyday afterwards. This book has been a wonderful guide and confidence builder for us both. It's not a beginner's book, but it's not at all too advanced. I pride myself on having learned some basic carpentry and how to use some tools, but with this book I've picked up some of the extras I wished I'd learned from my father (or any other family member when I was younger) about woodworking. The book's full of useful tricks and short cuts, as well as clear explanations about how all the pieces work together, and what the shortfalls we should be looking out for to get professional looking results. I'd recommend it to anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of carpentry who wants to take on some real carpentry jobs around the house. Next up for us: Wainscoting in the a bathroom, and then replacing the bland, little trim in our living room with elegant Victorian details!

I bought 5 copies as gifts for friends and family who love to work on their homes. The advice about using blocking to install crown makes this book worthwhile by itself, but this is just one example of dozens of tricks for completing carpentry jobs to dress up a home interior. Great photos throughout. I've worked my way up to tackling built-in bookcases, and found the stp-by-step advice on this as helpful as the rest.

The reviewer, scottwm, has a right not to like this book, but he does a disservice by misleading potential readers. Mr. DeKorne does discuss how to terminate a mouding (p. 58), and yes, he does'nt cover crown for a vaulted ceiling, but this is like saying a book on building paper airplanes doesn't cover jet engines -- it's one of the more difficult carpentry tasks. Indeed, anyone trying it is advised to build a horizontal shelf and install conventional crown below it as a way to trim this difficult junction. But the point is, this is hardly a slight to this excellent carpentry book. What's great about DeKorne's work here is that it's not full a minutia that bogs a reader down in unnessary detail, but get's right ot the heart of doing the work.

I buy this book for all new carpenters on my crew. It's an excellent way to get them started taking their jobs seriously. The author knows his chops, and communicates what he knows clearly for others. The first chapter on planning a project is geared to the homeowner, not the professional, but I appreciate how seriously the author takes his work and asks his readers to take the same care, so I have my guys read this anyway.

Good tips on using tools efficiently and creative ways for thinking about how to deal with an old house that's not quite square.

I wish all how-to books could be so well illustrated and clearly written. This one takes you fom start to finish on a range of projects, like window trim, baseboard, crown molding, wainscot, book shelves and cabinets, and provides a slew of tricks in the margins. plus sidebars that tell you what you need to know at a glance. Niceley arranged. easy to get to what you want without having to read a lot of text. This book stands far above those in the same series.

I got this book to figure out the details of some built-ins for my living room. As someone who tinkers around the house but has no real training I found DeKorne's book thorough, straightforward and down to earth. The photos were helpful and in the end the book really helped my project take shape.

Dekorne gives a lot of insight to materials that many people are unaware of. He also shows several tips/methods that the average person would not be familiar with. It would have been nice if there more details on adjusting cuts for out-of-square and out-of-plumb joints, but the book would be very helpful for beginners. I would buy it again.