1 comments about The New Outdoor Kitchen: Cooking Up a Kitchen for the Way You Live and Play.

1. Deborah does an amazing job with this how - to on outdoor cooking. beautiful pictures and designs to inspire even the most uncreative of readers. highly recommended - she even includes pictures of her own amazing outdoor kitchen which is just a testament to her knowedge and experience. even if you are just looking for ideas or creative possibilities pick up a copy and you will not be disappointed- you truly get what you pay for. i wish i could just carry out all of the projects she puts in here!

2 comments about How to Build Paths, Steps & Footbridges.

1. Outstanding selection of photos defining numerous material selections and their designed use.
   
   Paramount to the process is Peter's description of the planning and design process. Easy to follow, thorough, and it leads the amature and professional through the inital idea(s) to a well defined project - bricks and mortar.
   
   The step by step direction tool(s), material(s) and know how should result in a successful project for friends and family to enjoy and rave about. Just look at the pictures. HUNGER!!!
   
   A wonderful book for young and old, amature and professional.
   
   JOHN W. CAMPBELL
   Landscape Architect



2. A "fresh", well conceptualized and practical book that deals effectively and quite thoroughly with one of the two strategic components of any landscape --- the movement space. The other being landing or gathering space. The book is well illustrated and profusely augmented with simple clear diagrams. It benefits from a strong outline and simultaneous information on how to build paths, steps and footbridges It offers practical implementation tips. Stunning even inspiritational photographs complement the diagramatic graphics. A very good book for the "do it yourselfer" who could benefit from wisdom of those who have constructed well.

5 comments about The Complete Yurt Handbook.

1. It's amazing how much information is in this rather small book. You could keep it in your pocket as you built your own functional yurt. The writing is to the point and very informative. I've checked out many books on building yurts and this is the best. High points of this book for me: clear patterns, listing of materials and tools needed, time estimates for building, vocabulary of yurt parts, basic history of the people who use yurts, their various regions, and yurt variations. Get this book if you really want to build a yurt and do it right.



2. None of the chatter, just good info on how to build yurts and gers. Forget the other larger books. Simple and to the point. Most of the drawings are freehand and not cad, but nothing is lost in the process.



3. This book is an invaluable source of information on the history, building and use of the portable felt structures called Gers. Well researched and clearly written, the book covers all the detailed procedures needed for building one of these structures including authentic plans for a variety of sizes. There is a good glossary of terms and many helpful suggestions for the sourcing of materials.



4. One of the best books I've found with concise building instructions. It also gives the historical context and more period method of construction as well. Great book for a beginner, which I am.



5. Excellent pictures. Good overall introduction to Yurts. Quick read. Not a lot of stupid info.

No comments about Outdoor Rooms II: More Designs for Porches, Terraces, Decks, and Gazebos (Quarry Book).

4 comments about Backyard Play Areas You Can Make: Complete Plans and Instructions for Building Playhouses, Forts, and Swing Sets.

1. A very good introduction on constuction. Reviews materials and details methods of building from foundation to roofing. This book also includes detailed plans for fifteen projects for all skill levels. A very good book to use, for the plans or just for the ideas and instructions.



2. This book has great plans for building forts,play-houses, but it does not have much in the way of swings. If you want a swing set play area, better find another book.



3. the book contained almost no items to build like swing sets, slides monkey bars climbing stuff, great if you want a playhouse, but lacked variety. $16 wasted in my opinion don't recomend buying this book.
   
   It only had about 20 items to build. omly one swing set.
   
   major disapointment.



4. This book has alot of great plans for playhouses and backyard play structures (such as swingsets). It was easy to read and follow. You have to know a "little" about building with wood (basic tools needed, etc.), but everything else is laid out well in this book. Directions were easy to follow and the results were nice.

1 comments about Start-to-Finish Patios.

1. This guide, with instructions fully illustrated in color, will give you many ideas about how to plan the right patio, whether you build it yourself or hire a contractor to do the work. It could even be useful for ideas about adding plantings and minor improvements to existing patios." (summary by South TX Library System)
   If you want to build a retaining wall or add water features, this book will get you started. Make your patio area a welcoming space that gets your family outdoors more. Don't spend your summer trapped inside the house with the air conditioning and TV.

2 comments about Treehouses and other Cool Stuff.

1. I'm not one to write reviews of books, but this time I feel compelled to do so. The Stiles books on building are really quite unique and I particularly like their new one on Tree Houses and Other Cool Stuff. It is filled with inventive projects that parents can do with children.
   
   The instructions are just wordy enough and the illustrations look quite easy to follow. I'm going to give this book as gifts. It would make a good gift for a Mom or Dad with young children, or for active grandparents, come to think of it.



2. 't was great fun! We already built two of the projects described with detailed directions and plans in this wonderful book: the downhill racer ... and what fun do the kids have with it! and the lemonade stand on wheels, which we take sometimes to the beach. We are looking forward to build a tree house next spring. If experience is any guide, it should be ready for the summer.

5 comments about Poolscaping: Gardening and Landscaping Around Your Swimming Pool and Spa.

1. Transform the swimming pool of a backyard into a Tuscan paradise with tiles and flowering plants, or create a pool with a beach-like presence filled with beach plants: that's the idea of Pool Scaping, a title which covers both swimming pool decor and appropriate landscaping around it. Pool Scaping is a lovely guide which covers the specifics of plants in a water surrounding.



2. This is one of the not so good books for pools like many many others. I don't know may be it is too hard to write for pools. There are inside some pictures but nothing to catch the eye neither spectacular. THis book was suppouse to guide you how to create your own pool but I have see much better books!
   So if you are going to spend money to build a pool keep on searching for another book!



3. Based on the description, I believed this book would be full of design ideas and photos of well-landscaped pools. It isn't. If you are looking (as I was) for examples to show a landscaper (or to do it yourself), you should look elsewhere.



4. This book was an excellent resource for the designer looking to work with swimming pools. The ilustrated examples and artistic tips were an invauable inspiration for sparking the imagination when designing pools. Before reading this I did think of pools as slabs of concrete filled with water, but I believe this book has put far down the path of being able to design elegant swimming pools. I consider this a must read for any architectural designer.



5. I had high hopes due to high reviews, but I was very unhappy to find that only a small section of the book is actually about plants! You would think with a name like "Poolscaping" that the book would have had more to do about plants and landscaping around the pool. The book is instead divided in chapters about how to build a pool and many pictures on waterfalls and spa's. Very generic as a whole.

3 comments about Deck Designs: Plus Pergolas, Railings, Planters, Benches.

1. Deck Designs packs in a wealth of deck design ideas and patterns, featuring designer's unique approaches and their tips on how the deck feature was achieved. Color photos of patterns and decks supplement information on design considerations and details on construction techniques for the homeowner who wants to create his own custom deck.



2. I almost made the mistake of letting the contractors design my deck. They came up with a big boring rectangle. Thank goodness I bought this book first! It is packed with many wonderful ideas, including photos and tips to making a deck interesting and functional. It covers layout, railing design, and yard and use considerations. It is a very small investment for a big project, I suggest that anyone building a deck take a look at this book before proceeding.



3. If it hadn't been for this little gem of a book, I'd have ended up with exactly what I thought a deck was: a 10x30' rectangle on stilts outside my back door.

   Thanks to the inspiring designs outlined here, I was able to upgrade my $4K do-it-yourself deck with some snazzy details and useful layouts with little additional work and expense. Please do yourself the favor of flipping thru the pages of a book like this - if for nothing else than to see how it can be done by the best designers and builders.

   No, just like me you will never be able to afford the hand-sanded grade A redwood beauties that are featured on a couple of these spreads - materials alone would run into six figures. But you will be able to steal the design of the railing, or perhaps the notion of a split level or a nifty little nook for a bench or some other detail from the top end decks. There's enough closeups and sketches of the design to run with a concept that you find appealing, and the narrative will help you think thru the elements of your design that might open up new possibilities.

   After reading it from cover to cover a couple of times I shared the book and my comments on post-its with the contractor I had hired to help me complete my project, and it inspired him to come up with some ideas of his own, as well as better understand where I wanted to go with the project.

5 comments about Building Doors & Gates: Instructions, Techniques and over 100 Designs.

1. If you want to learn how to build doors, as the title suggests, do not buy this book. You will be sorely disappointed, and guaranteed that this book will not aid you in building a door. If on the other hand, you are simply looking for some black and white sketches of various types of doors, then this could be the book for you.
   
   A complete waste of money.
   
   Jeff



2. I bought this book because I need to make a new, exterior door for an old house in my hobby woodshop. Allthough the book has many drawings of more architectural nature, it doesn't really show the technical details for the guy that has to build the door, so to me the book was somewhat disappointing.



3. I think that the reviews of this book are indicative of a typical problem of books of this type. The publishers take a book on a certain aspect of woodworking and pad it out with a lot of superfluous "basic woodworking" type filler, making it appear to the casual observer as if it is a detailed "how to" book. Buried within this padded and filled book is a good overview of English style gates and doors, with descriptions and general construction notes. So, if that is what you're looking for, you'll like the book. But you do need to have the required carpentry skills before you approach the text. As is so often the case in the woodworking press, the authors were undermined by the clueless publisher.



4. A good basic book. A bit dated. Would benefit from an update in techniques. Readers might enjoy the options of new joinery methods incorporated into door building.



5. I got this for my husband who is building inside panel doors. It has been very helpful, good techniques, great instructional book.