How to Design and Build Your Own House

Rating:
Summary: Tells what to think about
Review: Anybody can sit down and draw a rough floor plan. But this book tells you to think in terms of how you use space rather than rooms. That simple piece of advice makes you think differently about what you want in a house and what you need. If you are thinking of building, GET THIS BOOK. Even if you're going to a contractor or architect, get the book and sit down with your whole family to make plans. You'll find out about personal privacy issues, how your rooms and spaces should flow, how to make your house more efficient not from an energy standpoint, but from a "how I use my house" point of view.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of process!
Review: Great attention to many points which must be considered for design and building a home. While the material (particularily the pictures) are dated, the overall advice is timeless. Impressed that it admits not everyone is suited to the demands of the process.

Rating:
Summary: Tells what to think about
Review: I used this book to design and build my first house 15 years ago. I am now a general building contractor and continue to use it so much that that first copy is worn out and I'm buying a replacement. It offers a wonderful combination of design ideas, structural tables, and common sense advice.

Rating:
Summary: How to Design and Build Your Own House
Review: I used this book to design and build my first house 15 years ago. I am now a general building contractor and continue to use it so much that that first copy is worn out and I'm buying a replacement. It offers a wonderful combination of design ideas, structural tables, and common sense advice.

Rating:
Summary: Broadest coverage, patiently explained
Review: It's not easy to cover such a huge subject, but these two architects do a remarkable job. The illustrator gets equal billing, and it's well-deserved, as the drawings alone are worth the price of the book. The best part is on design. I've never seen a book that allowed you to figure loads and size columns, or provided a worksheet to calculate heating requirements. The final section on construction is more of an overview but the important issues are always addressed. You'll need to supplement your reading, especially since newer technologies--housewrap, truss roofs, engineered lumber--are not covered, but everything in this book is useful.

Rating:
Summary: out of date
Review: Many of the concepts are timeless but the edition I received was 15 years old and much of the technology and materials in house building have changed.