No comments about Audel HVAC Fundamentals, Heating Systems, Furnaces and Boilers,.

No comments about The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction (Green Source) (GreenSource Books).

5 comments about Rustic Retreats: A Build-It-Yourself Guide.

1. For anyone with space enough, but without the money to build on it, this book has so many answers. It has line drawings on almost every page and is pure delight to read and dream over.



2. I don't get why you put a beautiful photo on the cover of your book and all 2nd rate hand drawn pictues inside. It's deceptive! Won't help you with Country Home ideas. Maybe good for a kids Fort or a Bowhunting stand...



3. These are true rustic retreats for adults. Just know this is not for children's tree houses or play houses. These are very rustic retreats, such as a lean-to to use as a nature retreat, or for the shack-like building the size of a garden shed for sleeping in as a weekend getaway,(sans electricity or toilets).

   The one I loved the most was a rustic arbor for grapevines that was basically 4 poles with a semi-roof--for the vines to grow up and over the top to form a roof. The idea of sitting under it with a table and relaxing outdoors was quite tempting. However, where I would get the rustic tree trunks to make this is beyond me (but it looked wonderful).

   There are no photographs. This is not a glitzy-beautiful tempting type of book. It is about the nuts and bolts of really building one of these structures. I suggest browsing this book first to see if there is a structure you are interested in.

   The plans are quite detailed and seem more than adequate to use as building plans.




4. I'm glad there are no photos in this book. Get an imagination! The drawings are fun and lively. They also give important aspects of the project that a photo rarely illustrates. Now I know how (in detail) to construct a tipi, or put together a simple door or roof that really would hold up to nature. The primitive shelters section is great. So are the tree houses. Not that all of these projects are practical homes, but now I have ideas for that "fort" in the back acre my kids are bugging me about. Thanks for a great book to just read, or get us outside with a saw and hammer.



5. I liked this book alot. Contains simple and practical ideas. But I would say it is best for someone who is ready to get off their duff and build something, anything. Instead of just looking for pretty pictures and dreaming. If I can do it you can too.

5 comments about How to Build and Furnish a Log Cabin.

1. This 'older' book shows you in simple diagrams how to build rustic log structures and furniture the original way. I have used the methods to build a fantastic fence from trees harvested from my own property. I have also built most of the birdhouses. This book is not really for building a log cabin. It is the greatest book of folk art for rustic log furniture and structures I've ever seen.



2. great book for beginners easy to read information lots of step by step details



3. I built a log cabin in the 1980's using this book and two others. The cabin is still dry and clean and will probably stand for another 100 years, especially after adding a steel roof 8 years ago.
   
   There is some very good information on various parts of the cabin. The book falls short in a few areas, however, because of newer technologies and available materials that can help keep a cabin strong and insect free for much longer. For instance, the use of "oakem" and mud for chinking which would always need replacing, perhaps yearly. A much better lifetime product would be PermaChink which you can find on the internet. Another example would be the building of cement piers without instructing about the use of a termite shield. A simple piece of angled flashing will keep termites from ever touching any wood of the cabin as long as the sill is at least 2 inches from the soil.
   
   But these are things that COULD be added in an update. The info that was used looks like something from the 50s, so it's no surprise that the book is dated. However most of the log construction methods are solid. The tools may have changed but the concepts are basically the same.
   
   If you are truly interested in the grueling-yet-fun experience of building a log cabin, I would also seek out "How to Build Your Home in the Woods" by Bradford Angier, as well as "Building a Log Cabin From Scratch" by Dan Ramsey. Each of these would help round out your education and the latter is the most modern and complete of these.
   
   NOTE: Be prepared for HARD WORK over several months. This is not something to be attempted by lazy people!



4. I got this for my 12 year old son who was fasinated with the PBS special showing the man who built a cabin in Alaska. It was a big hit! He has been reading it ever since Christmas morning. He says it really tells you how to build and furnish a Log cabin - and what tools you need.
   Anything that gets a 12 year old excited about reading is good in my book.



5. One dream of mine & my boyfriend is to pull up stakes & move to a serene, remote area of the country. This book tells us everything we need to know to handle the housing portion of that dream.

1 comments about Electrician's Exam Study Guide (McGraw-Hill's Electrician's Exam Study Guide).

1. A good start for the journeyman electrician test prep. This book is an excellent text book and is used by a local technical college in an electrical training course. The practice exam questions are on target with the Experion, Block, ICC, and Tompson-Prometric tests I have taken. By using this text and a loose leaf copy of the NEC an apprentice should be able to pass their exams with flying colors.

No comments about The Black & Decker Complete Guide: Build Your Kids a Treehouse (Black & Decker Complete Guide).

5 comments about Building An Affordable House: A Smart Guide to High-Value, Low-Cost Construction.

1. This book presents a wide range of cost-saving options on the foundation, framing, insulation, and other components of a new house. You have to pick and choose the ones that work for you. For example, if you have a beautiful view and a mild climate, you may not want to cut costs by reducing the number of windows.
   Instead, you can (for example) avoid a costly over-built foundation that is designed for more demanding climates.
   
   The author does not advocate building a "cheap" (sub-standard) house. In fact, in some parts of the book he recommends avoiding choices that would reduce up-front costs (for instance, by laying polyester carpet over an inexpensive foam pad, or by installing an electrical panel with room for fewer breakers).
   
   Many of his suggestions simply challenge conventional practices that have no engineering rationale (spacing studs 16" oc instead of 24", using 3-stud corners) or alternative products (such as Insulating Concrete Forms) that are not necessarily cost-effective.
   
   I think this is a very helpful book. If nothing else, it can alert you to the kinds of details that periodically need re-thinking when you follow one construction practice over another. Then if you want to put more money into an extravagant staircase or other detail, you'll have some ideas about how to pay for it without going over budget or cutting dangerous corners.



2. Both beginners and experienced professionals should feel the contents very easy to understand. It is filled with lots of illustrations and as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words".
   
   A big bonus is all the illustrations in color that bring alive various arguments made by the author. I may not agree with all the suggestions from the author 100% but I can say that I would have been "flying blind" without this book.
   
   In about 200 pages, this book pretty much summarizes what you need to do control your budget and to catch the low-hanging fruit first.



3. If you are planning on building your own home, reading this book is a must! This book goes beyond the typical how to be your own contractor. You will find very valuable information on how to get the most house for your money. Unlike many other books, it gives information on specific building products and lists the pros and cons. I have read many books on this subject and this was by far the most useful.
   
   The only item I completely disagree with in this book is the portion in which the author recommends using a "Wood Foundation". If you every lived in a home that had termites, the last thing you want is wood touching dirt.
   
   The author writes the book from a builder's perspective. His intent appears to be helping other builders find a niche in building a high quality home at the lowest possible price. If you want information on the most luxurious products and home plans, you will not find it in here. Regardless of the book's focus on value, it contains copious amounts of useful information for all people who are considering building their own house or having a home built for them.



4. I bought this book and "The Owner Builder Book" before I started building my own house. "The Owner Builder Book" was a very useful tool while this book mainly served to warn me about building techniques used by some contractors to save money, barely meeting minimum building codes. I'd recommend looking at this book in a library before buying to see some of the house pictures. If they look like things you'd be happy with (uncased doors and windows, carpeted stairs, closets without doors, wire closet shelves, stairs with knee walls instead of balustrade, laminate counters and fewer doors and windows to save money), then buy it. It could save you some money.



5. I came about this title from a seminar with SMA Consulting Group in Utah. Working in the residental sector, I feel it is imperative to understand and grasp the concepts outlined in this book. From prelim all the way through, having the mindset up front to reduce costs and refine construction should be a must for anyone in any type of market, custom to production. Many of the items dicussed are currently in use with some of the larger builders in the nation and the returns from those practices are proof that this elements can used and applied across the board. Even if you think your business must design and build inefficient homes in order to make the sell, you are missing the point and potential. Any market can do this, it just requires you to be creative within a framework. Reducing material waste and labor costs can be done by using some of these simple and common sense practices. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to increase their margins and reduce their costs. If your designer cannot work within these ideas and concepts, maybe it's time for a new designer!

1 comments about Unified Design of Steel Structures.

1. This book is well written and is up-to-date with the AISC 13th edition Manual. The explanations given are clear and concise. However the book is too thin to cover the breadth of Steel Design. More topics need to be addressed and each topic needs to be presented with a lot more depth.
   In summary, a better title for this book could have been "Unified Steel Design for Dummies".

2 comments about Exterior Siding, Trim & Finishes (For Pros by Pros).

1. I picked this up when I was starting to do a cedar lap siding job and I wanted to get some tips. The book is very well written as are all the (For Pros By Pros) series of books seem to be.
   
   It gives you a lot of details on exterior siding but doesn't spend much time talking about the most effecient way to do it. Not many tips for saving time or calculating waste or total material.
   
   I don't regret getting this book, it gave me a starting point. Having moved from hardi-plank I wasn't totally prepared for wood siding with this book.



2. I gave this book three stars because it is basically a rehash of articles that have appeared in Fine Homebuilding in the past. No wait, it's not a rehash, it's exact copies of articles that have appeared in Fine Homebuilding in the past. Maybe they said that in the description and I just missed it, but as a religious reader of FHB, I felt a little cheated. If you don't read FHB on a regular basis, bump the review up to 4 1/2 stars.
   The articles are well written, but if you're looking for a step by step primer on how to start with a bare exterior wall and put up siding, this is not the book for you. What it does do is give you several different contractors thoughts and ideas on how to put up siding.
   Some of the information is transferable from one siding type to another, some is not and only applies to the siding being discussed in the article.
   In the future, I will only buy Taunton books, specifically the By Pros for Pros series, that are written by a specific author, not one that lists editors.

3 comments about LEED NC Sample Exam: New Construction.

1. If there is a question in anybody's mind regarding the need for 'Leadership in Energy and environmental Design,' they need only look at what's happened to their winter heating bill over the last two or three years. And it is going to get worse. In an attempt to remove some of the fraud and misrepresentation from the industry the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has created the LEED Professional Accreditation exam.
   
   This book is just a sample exam. It is not a tutorial on the material, nor does is it an 'exam cram' type book. It consists of a simulated examination, as close to the real test as they can make it, followed by the answers and a detailed solution describing how that answer was derived.
   
   For a text on the material covered by this book, the USGBC (you can find them using a search engine) puts out several documents including the New Construction Reference Guide.



2. Very informative, the answer format helps to explain the logic behind the answers to the test questions.



3. A LEED AP is a person who passed at least one of the three LEED Exams (LEED-NC, LEED-CI, LEED-EB) and has the skills and knowledge to encourage and support integrated design, to take part in the design process, and to control the application and certification process for a LEED building. Since most people tend to take LEED-NC exam to become LEED AP, "LEED NC Sample Exam: New Construction" can be very helpful to them.
   
   "LEED NC Sample Exam: New Construction" is not a study guide or an exam cram book. It is a sample exam. The nice and helpful feature is that it gives you the answer and explanation. This can save you time and let you know if you are ready for the exam. You can download the sample exam from USGBC website, but it only has 12 sample questions.
   
   "LEED NC Sample Exam: New Construction" has 39 pages. It is a useful book for preparing for the LEED-NC v2.2 exam.
   
   Gang Chen, Author of "LEED AP Exam Guide" & "Planting Design Illustrated," LEED AP, AIA