-- Covers the subject from land issues, through the entire construction process, all the way to plandng the lawn.-- Contains anecdotes, real life examples, diagrams, applicable political comment and special exposition on such subjects as basic electricity, Radon, energy saving, windows and much more.-- Written for the aspiring home owner, but is equally valuable to building professionals and real estate agents.
A #1 best seller for years, Bill Hirsch's Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect has been called an essential read for Homeowners as well as Professionals. Bill's flowing style of writing makes you feel like you are sitting with him having a chat about your project. The philosophy behind design decisions is explained with stories, photos, sketches, and checklists. The book is divided into Twelve Lessons, with an additional Bonus Lesson ," Building Green, Naturally". You will learn how to evaluate your needs and work towards creating a suitable design, perfect for you and your family. The experience of home design and construction should be controllable, gratifying and enjoyable. With the valuable advice that Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect provides, it can be.
If you’ve ever dreamt of designing and building your own home, this book is for you. Becoming a ‘self-builder’ doesn’t necessarily mean learning to build a house physically from scratch. Anyone can be a self-builder – you can do so without ever having to lay a brick yourself. Self-built homes can also be more individual, better designed and more economical than buying from a developer. This book is designed for homeowners and self-builders, whether aspiring or on the brink of starting a project. It provides a jargon-free, step-by-step guide to the process of designing and building your own home, distilling all of the practical information needed to make your dream house a reality. Carefully crafted to offer friendly, easy-to-understand practical guidance and packed with watch points, hints and tips, it also highlights the potential pitfalls and suggests ways of avoiding them. Including indications of costs and timescales, Self-build demystifies the process of budgeting, finding a site, gaining planning permission, designing your home and all of the surrounding issues to do with sustainability, planning, regulations, procurement and the use of building contracts. Beautifully illustrated with over 230-colour photos, diagrams and plans, it provides all the inspiration and ideas you need to bring your own project to life. Featured houses include: Amphibious House by Baca Architects Corten Courtyard House by Barefoot Architects Haringey Brick House by Satish Jassal Architects Shawm House by Mawson Kerr Architects Sussex House by Wilkinson King Architects The Pocket House by Tikari Works Architects.
Keep construction on track with helpful checklists Turn your dream of a custom home into reality! Thinking about building your own home? This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to plan and build a beautiful home on any budget. From acquiring land to finding the best architect to overseeing the construction, you get lots of savvy tips on managing your new investment wisely -- and staying sane during the process! Discover how to: * Find the best homesite * Navigate the plan approval process * Obtain financing * Hire the right contractor * Cut design and construction costs * Avoid common mistakes
Pretty Good House provides a framework and set of guidelines for building or renovating a high-performance home that focus on its inhabitants and the environment--but keeps in mind that few people have pockets deep enough to achieve a "perfect" solution. The essential idea is for homeowners to work within their financial and practical constraints both to meet their own needs and do as much for the planet as possible. A Pretty Good House is: * A house that's as small as possible * Simple and durable, but also well designed * Insulated and air-sealed * Above all, it is affordable, healthy, responsible, and resilient.
"I began building tiny houses back in 2009 when I built one for my mom. The house she was living in was starting to fall apart and become unlivable, so I knew I had to find her alternative housing. After researching various options I discovered the tiny house movement and realized that it was the perfect solution for her. A tiny house could be constructed to very high standards and still be affordable, plus it can be easily moved"--Author
The industry-standard guide to designing well-performing buildings Architectural Detailing systematically describes the principles by which good architectural details are designed. Principles are explained in brief, and backed by extensive illustrations that show you how to design details that will not leak water or air, will control the flow of heat and water vapor, will adjust to all kinds of movement, and will be easy to construct. This new third edition has been updated to conform to International Building Code 2012, and incorporates current knowledge about new material and construction technology. Sustainable design issues are integrated where relevant, and the discussion includes reviews of recent built works that extract underlying principles that can be the basis for new patterns or the alteration and addition to existing patterns. Regulatory topics are primarily focused on the US, but touch on other jurisdictions and geographic settings to give you a well-rounded perspective of the art and science of architectural detailing. In guiding a design from idea to reality, architects design a set of details that show how a structure will be put together. Good details are correct, complete, and provide accurate information to a wide variety of users. By demonstrating the use of detail patterns, this book teaches you how to design a building that will perform as well as you intend. Integrate appropriate detailing into your designs Learn the latest in materials, assemblies, and construction methods Incorporate sustainable design principles and current building codes Design buildings that perform well, age gracefully, and look great Architects understand that aesthetics are only a small fraction of good design, and that stability and functionality require a deep understanding of how things come together. Architectural Detailing helps you bring it all together with a well fleshed-out design that communicates accurately at all levels of the construction process.
· A comprehensive how-to guide to building your own tiny home from one of today’s leading designers and tiny house visionary – Chris Schapdick · Detailed opening chapters cover everything you’ll need to know before the build, including essential skills, tools, safety, and resources · Sections on building a tiny home are carefully laid out in progression from start to finish, from laying the foundation, framing, and roofing to plumbing, adding personality, towing, and more · Also included is an inspirational gallery of real completed tiny homes, as well as access to a how-to video of Chris building a tiny home project from beginning to end · Author of The Joy of Tiny Home Living, Chris Schapdick is the founder of Tiny Industrial, a tiny house building company, and he was awarded the “Best Tiny House Award” by the New Jersey Tiny House Festival in 2017
Hale provides a tour of our buildings and our social history, examines the principles that animate beautiful buildings, and offers hope for recapturing the lost magic of architecture.