5 comments about Building Screened Rooms.

1. This book helped me to understand that there is much more involved with building a screened porch than I could handle myself. The directions were clear enough that I think any do-it-yourself-er with some experience under her belt could do a fine job. Not as many examples as I would have liked to have seen.



2. A great book, Many picture, giving great ideas and also many helpful notations for builind one.



3. This book has good information, nice pictures and usable designs for building screened rooms. Excellent "how to" methodology along with lumber specifications, loads and design detail. Best book I've found for screened room subject matter.



4. I bought this book specifically because it said it would show you how to build a screened room. From the book's front cover, "A complete how-to guide." I had been turned off by other books which simply said if you want a Gazebo, buy a kit and here's how to put it together. I don't have the budget to build from a kit. I need to put in the sweat equity. I bought Building Screened Rooms because I saw that it did have directions and a material list. I took it to the lumber yard to buy the materials. They explained that there was not enough detailed instructions or material specs to be able to build this. He said, "If you have a really knowledgeable builder, he may be able to figure this out for you." Not everyone is rich enough to just drop a wad of money on some architect, landscaper, builder, gardner and step back and watch them do the work. There are real live people out here who need directions because we are willing to work to attain what we want and can't just buy everything. I am so completely and hopelessly disappointed!!!



5. I purchased this book to see if I could learn how to put my own screened room. Tons of ideas.

No comments about Home Tree Home: Principles of Treehouse Construction and Other Tall Tales.

5 comments about How to Build Small Barns & Outbuildings.

1. This is a great general building reference book. I pull it out whenever I'm starting something new or if I want a refresher. This book has helpful detailed information on all phases of building design and construction. This includes: 1. Foundation design layout and pouring for slabs, piers, & footings of all sorts; 2. Framing design & construction-- whether pole or platform framing, roof trusses or rafters; 3. Siding & roofing options, design & construction details for each; 4. Wiring details from power to the service panel to switches, lighting and outlets; 5.Plumbing from the well to the septic leach field.

   It also has over 20 plans for various buildings ranging from pole barns and equipment sheds to guest houses, garages and studios. I have built several sheds from plans in this book and plan to build more.




2. I never built a building before, I did help build a deck.
   I bought this book to build a small music studio (16'x24')
   and it was easy to read. It had everything I needed in it to build the building and the project came out great. After reading this book you will think it is easy to build small buildings.



3. This book is written with simple jargon, clear illustrations and concise instructions. A great spring-board book for those new to construction.



4. Clear writing, accompanied by excellent illustrations for all the steps. Everything is included: planning, foundation, material, tools, foundation, windows, wiring and finishing. If you're a newbie, you're not wasting your money by buying this.



5. Although all the details are there I don't think this is a beginner's book. There are a lot of terms and language that is not familiar to someone not in the construction industry. For a beginner I think there should have been more pictures and diagrams and maybe more explanation of the terms used. It's not unclear but I had to do some digging to understand everything.

2 comments about Step-by-Step Outdoor Stonework: Over Twenty Easy-to-Build Projects for Your Patio and Garden.

1. Twenty different projects are presented in color photos and detailed drawings. Lawrence concentrates on patios, paving, steps, garden walls, stone furniture and decorative ponds. These are all projects that homeowners can handle themselves with this concise guide.



2. This large paperback book may only be 96 pages but it is incredibly detailed and the color photos and illustrations are excellent. For each project the author covers types of materials, site preparation, design, estimating quantities, measuring, as well as step by step instructions on building the project. Projects covered: Garden Walls, Arches, Patios, Paths, Steps, Planters, Rock Gardens, Seats and Tables, and Ponds. A section on "Small Weekend Projects" shows how to make a mounting for a sundial, paving around trees, laying stepping stones, and building a patio planter out of rocks.

   A "Reference" section in the back of the book includes detailed information on tools, natural stone, man-made wall blocks, paving slabs and blocks, mortar and concrete, dry mixed materials, mortar mixes and ready made concrete.

3 comments about Kid's Places to Play.

1. Book is very informative and give several plans. Also explains how to make your own cargo net (if you can find the materials) and a really cool spider-web climbing net



2. This is a very comprehensive book on children's play structures that begins with lists of what children like to play with by age, what they can do to help build by age (nails, screws, shoveling gravel) and how to involve them in the design.
   
   There are water features, sand areas, play houses (from forts to teepees to castles), tree houses, cable rides, bike "roller coaster," climbing walls, skateboard ramp, and other fun things. There are amazing details like a periscope on a tree house, window boxes, steering wheels and a telephone of rubber tubing and funnels.
   
   Don't think you need a huge lot either, as these projects scale well and there is even a tiny yard shown with a water feature, a stage for plays, a circular bike path, and a sand box beside a grassy garden area.
   
   If you build these, they will come.



3. Places to play is what a grandparent wants.
   Ideas are great and easy to understand.

5 comments about Sheds and Garages.

1. We have found this book to be extremely helpful so far. Has easy to read instructions with pictures to show exactly how to do things. My husband stated that this was the best book he has seen so far.



2. If you do not know what a plumb bob is, or how to mark a chalk line, this book will be of great value. If you are looking for plans to build a shed, buying this book is similar to paying for an order form.

   This will show you from the ground up how to build a shed, yes. However, one must pay another 15-30 dollars for the actual plans, despite the covers boast of "special section: 33 Great New Plans!". Reason #298 why to look at the book at a real bookstore before buying, too.

   If you know how to build anything, you may see this as a waste of time/money.




3. This book has an abundance of helpful information for the novice carpenter. Lots of good building designs also. Very good reference and learning book.



4. I loved this book!!! Not only did you see ideas on how to decorate but if you wanted to, "bulid it yourself", then it gave you step by step and tools as well as land lay out you needed.
   
   Also gave you garage/loft plans to choose from. Again loved it!!



5. This book gives good step-by-step instructions that are useful for building a shed, as well as for any framing or repair work. Amazon's price is well below Home Depot's.

5 comments about The Ultimate Guide to Pool Maintenance, Third Edition.

1. The book was very well written and an excellent resource for someone who needs to understand how the different aspects of a pool or spa work. Certain readers may find some of the information too detailed. However, this reader being a new pool owner and an engineer greatly appreciated the comprehensive explanations that were provided.
   The text includes a plethora of information pertaining to pools, spas, and the support equipment. It provided a basic explanation of construction, repair, replacement, and maintenance of the structure and equipment. There are many pictures and detailed diagrams. In addition, there are numerous quick tips throughout, which are presented in bold fonts and segregated from the main body of the text. Although the information that was provided was thorough, the explanations do not require a doctorate to understand. This reader would recommend the book to any new or existing pool owner with even a slight amount of mechanical understanding.



2. Cover all items, and for an engineer and new pool owner like me it covers things I'll probably never need but are interesting to know. It is a heavy read and appears to be for pool builders in places.



3. I found the book to be very helpful for a person with technical background and for the average homeowner. It is very easy to understand and useful. I highly recommend this book for the pool technician as well as the homeowner who wants to know if his pool service company is not ripping him off.



4. This was shipped quickly and promptly. Only problem it reads more like a text book. So take you time reading this.



5. This is really the only spa and pool maintenance reference many people will need. It gives just the right amount of detail without boring the reader with the mundane. I work at a hotel and this is my first spa and pool to maintain. It has made my life far easier.

1 comments about Lawnscapes: Mowing Patterns to Make Your Yard a Work of Art.

1. So we got this book for my father-in-law because this year he finally purchased the John Deer of his dreams. As you see, it went along nicely. It was kind of a gag gift, but with him retiring soon, we all figure the gag will come when he actually uses the directions and makes some elaborate pattern for next Thanksgiving at his house.
   
   Seriously though, without being overly complicated, this tells you the basics of how to make lawn patterns.If you are really looking to learn this skill, you might want to find something with more tips, tricks, hints, etc. But, if you just like playing around in the yard and want some simplie how-to, this is a good choice.

5 comments about A Child's Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children (Archetype Press Books).

1. Every page of this book has full color photos from some of the most incredible gardens for children I have ever seen, from the large elaborate planned spaces of botanical gardens, to small modest spaces that will fit any space or budget. While this is not a heavy-duty "how to" book, it is a book of ideas--and we all know that ideas lead to other ideas! The cover of this book alone is inspiring!

   The author asks, "How important are the old childhood pleasures of collecting seed pods, fishing in ditches, making bowers, picking flowers, and climbing trees?...long hours of unstructured outdoor exploration are a fast-vanishing aspect of contemporary childhood." She continues, "...the environment [on her uncle's farm] was so complex--full of smells, varied land forms, and mesmerizing creatures. I remember a scooped out pond surrounded by mud in which pigs, geese and ducks joyously wallowed. The strange pungency of the air, the frighteningly gigantic hogs, the mysterious, billowy grasses...still fill my senses." The author talks at great length about the psychology of nature, and of German educational reforms of the early 20th century (but only the good ones ). Each page has a line fron a Robert Louis Stevenson poem, for "...you may see, if you will look Through the windows of this book, Another child far away, And in another garden play."

   The book includes suggestions for water gardens, sensory gardens, vegetable gardens, themed gardens, natural sand boxes, mazes, and attracting wildlife, plus many resources for strange seeds, odd plants, and landscape designers in varied areas of the US and the UK, all geared towards making a child's space a natural one.

   BTW, when I bought the book, my kids grabbed it from me immediately. They love to look at the gardens and plan ours. Oh, and there are two black and whilte photos in the book: One is of children during WWI, tending a large city garden; the other is a 1940's style playground, with the steel and concrete structures that many of us recall from childhood. My 4yo playground-lover looked at both, and declared that he'd rather explore the garden.




2. Our whole family has enjoyed reading this book to get ideas for our Sunflower/Fairy Garden!! Every section offers wonderful ideas that we would never have thought of to add...What Fun our Magical Garden will be thanks to, A Child's Garden : Enchanting Outdoor Spaces for Children and Parents! One section offers the idea of planting different berries around the yard so the children can snack as they play! I have given this book to our landscaper to see what ideas he has for adding water to the garden...Already he has suggested using a water pump to circulate water in order to make a small trickling brook for our boys to sail their boats on! I also got the idea to make a willow archway that will be child size for the children to cimb through! We are so very excited to spend this summer creating and adding to our Enchanted Fairy Garden!



3. I have not read this book, but was disturbed to read, in the description of the book, the suggestion to plant norway maple as a climbing tree for your child. Norway maple is an invasive species in northern forest zones, and is threatening habitat for sugar maple, an important tree for wildlife, tourism, maple sugaring, history, and the regional economics that accompany those. Norway maple became very popular in urban areas for its pollution tolerance. It should not be planted anywhere near natural habitat for sugar maples. American beech is an excellent choice for a hardwood tree with good climbing branches, and delicious nuts. All hardwoods grow much more slowly than softwoods. There's nothing wrong with climbing a white pine tree. And try swinging on birches.



4. I just received this as a gift today, and I loved looking through the beautiful photographs. So many interesting ideas for treehouses, mazes, theme gardens, and uses for those left-behind stumps and odd-shaped small yards-- it truly encourages people to plant where they're blooming, no matter how less-than-ideal the yard. It does seem to favor northern climates on the surface, but a Miami garden is highlighted, and the basics-- structures and uses of space are more of a focus, rather than specific plants or seasonal values. (This is important to me as a southern gardener-- we just don't have the same gardening calendar.)
   
   Of course several of the featured gardens are owned by professional landscape designers or are part of large public gardens. But that shouldn't deter the novice with a vision; don't we all want to learn from the pros and use them as a springboard? If nothing else, I am inspired to continue creating a fun place for my children to play and roam, as well as consider ways to branch out into other local institutions that could provide these play spaces.



5. I first discovered this gem about 10 years ago in a little independent bookstore in Blue Hill, Maine and I've recommended it to many friends and schools. I'm so delighted it is reprinted and in paperback. It's a book that will enchant adults as well as children. It makes we wish I had acres and acres in which to create these great play spaces. One doesn't even have to have young children to be inspired or create something for yourself.
   
   How gratifying to have authors who know how important it is for children to play--and especially outdoors so they can smell, dig, feel the earth, grow plants, play in sand or water, and build something from their imaginations. I hope they included the same spectacular photographs as in the first printing hardcover. Now if they could only be incorporated in public play spaces in urban settings!

2 comments about Porch & Sunroom Planner (Better Homes & Gardens).

1. I am glad I ordered this book. It gave me a lot of info and ideas.



2. This is a great book got lots of good ideas the pictures really help explain what they are doing with the different rooms.