How to Plan, Contract, and Build Your Own Home

By Richard M. Scutella and Dave Heberle

Book Overview

The All-in-One Custom Homebuilders Guide--Fully Updated with the Latest Green Construction Methods How to Plan, Contract, and Build Your Own Home, fifth edition, gives you the information you need during every step of the homebuilding process--from selecting materials to designing the rooms to working with a contractor. Featuring practical, cost-effective ways of planning, designing, and building energy-efficient homes, the book presents money- and energy-saving options in every chapter. This thoroughly revised reference explains how you can implement many of the green construction strategies that make up the U.S. Green Building Council's award-winning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines. Written by experienced instructors and builders, this is the most complete planning and homebuilding resource available. Learn how to: Select the building site that best suits your project Determine floor plans and types of construction, foundations, framing, and finishing Use energy-efficient electric, lighting, heating, cooling, and insulation Choose the best quality floors, wall coverings, fixtures, and appliances for your budget Integrate green construction systems, components, and materials throughout your home Include amenities such as decks, patios, gazebos, sidewalks, and driveways Find and work with an established, skilled, and reliable contractor This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830675841
• ISBN13: 9780830675845
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Tab Books
• Length: 410 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

I built my house using this! My builder was impressed!!

This book gives excellent strategic advice. It is not a tactical manual on how to build a house with your own hands, but rather informs a buyer on how to get the job done and which decisions are critical (e.g. site selection, architecture design selection, and builder selection). If you want to learn how to install drywall, then this is not the book for you. If you want to get a general idea of how it is done, but want...

Good Introduction to the Building Concepts

I have a slight problem with the title of this book. Will it enable you to build your own home? Yes, if by build your own home you mean hiring carpenters, plumbers, electricians and the like. But no if you mean grabbing a hammer, pipe wrench and a roll of wire. This book is a general introduction to the concept of building a house. Here's what to think of when you are planning a house. Here are some of the basic concepts...

How To Plan, Design & Contract Your Own Home

This book is very helpful for you to work with and speak the language of your contractor. It is not designed for you to be your own contractor, but to work with one that you select. In Part II "How to Build It", the book shows how a house is put together. If you never lift a hammer throughout the entire construction process, it still pays to know how a house can and should be put together. The difference between mediocre and...

Excellent, Great Advice

This is an excellent book with a lot of great advice. The part of the title that says "build your own home" is misleading -- it does not mean it shows YOU how to build your home, it means it in the general sense of whether people will buy a pre-owned or build-your-own-home. I was fine with that because that is exactly what I was looking for.I spend a half hour poring over a wide selection of similar books. This one looked...

Big on ideas

I found this book to be great! It gave me alot to consider that I had not even thought about. It you are planning to build a home this is a great book. It starts out giving you advice on what to look for in your floor plan then walks you thru the complete building process. I was hoping for a little more advice on how to go about being your own contractor but the book did not promis that. This book will be by my side for a...