Better Together
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Editorial Reviews
When you remodel or build a house, you have what can seem like a million options. Knobs, handles, or finger grooves in the kitchen cabinets? Self-rimming sink or drop-in? Top vent fireplace or direct vent? Often you're at the mercy of a contractor whose eye is on getting a bigger cut of the eventual cost, so you can end up with the most expensive--and not necessarily the best--choice. Myron Ferguson diagrams and describes the options efficiently and helpfully, and straightforwardly states when and why a certain choice is best. This simple, pragmatic guide will be worth its weight in gold to the first-time remodeler and builder.
Linda Shaw, Seattle Times, July 25, 1998 and these other Knight Ridder newspapers: Houston Chronicle, August 16, 1998; San Jose Mercury News, September 5, 1998; Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 27, 1998; Hartford Courant, January 31, 1999
WILL YOUR NEW HOUSE WORK?
"Build It Right!: What to Look for in Your New Home," is the result of (Ferguson's) travels to over 1000 homes. The book reads like a home tour with someone who can stay focused on how a home works. Ferguson picks up a lot on his radar that most of would never think about, at least until we moved in and for example, had to get to the whirlpool tub's pump that "oh, no! can only be reached by removing the toilet." (A real example.)
He is a strong advocate of function, although not without sensitivity to form. "In most cases," he says, "there is little conflict between form and function....Rather, its simply a matter of remembering function."
"In one custom house I visited," he wrote, "the door from the master bedroom opens right across the door into the room where the toilet is. So to get to the toilet, you go from the bedroom into the bathroom, then you must close the door you just through so you can open the door to get to the toilet. Wanna try this in the middle of the night?"
People building custom homes can use the book to avoid the problems described. Tract-home buyers might not be able to avoid them, but Ferguson wants them at least to realize what theyre getting into.
Ferguson says hes seen some houses in which he can't find a thing to criticize. He says he also understands when a builder does something because the alternative would be expensive. What really annoys him, to this day, are all the things that could be changed, at little or no cost, but the builders just don't think about.
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