Concrete at Home: Innovative Forms and Finishes

That people expect to have the years of knowledge and experience Mr Cheng possesses handed to them on a platter in this book. Any true craftsman wouldn't ask for that, and any novice shouldn't expect it (and particularly not for $22!). This book is a wonderful overview of the amazing qualities and possible applications of concrete. It's designed to get your mind working, and the creative juices flowing. Not as a "Concrete for Dummies" (and how flattering are those books to the average intelligence anyway?). Buy this book for inspiration, for some tips and tricks, and prepare yourself to be amazed. If you want further insight into the methodology, buy the first book as well. And despite another reviewers claims, most of Cheng's work is NOT poured on site, but in the shop, and the pictures on the website are gorgeous! Professional jealousy perhaps, but even as 'just' a coffee table piece, this book is really beautiful.

My fiancee bought this book to learn about our home design options. I've never been crazy about home design, but I sat down to peruse this book and couldn't put it down. The tone is clear, dry and witty; the pictures are great to look at and the details are enlightening; overall, I recommend this book to anyone interested in adding on to a home, building a new home, or learning about an interesting topic: concrete...who knew?

In his new book, Fu-Tung Cheng gets inspiration from timeless concrete design - found in such places as churches, theaters, hotels or antique walls - and translates it into functional elements for residential homes. It proves to the reader that it doesn't take an army of designers, architects and engineers to transform a regular home into a stylish and expressive living place. Moreover, the book points out that even a small detail - such as creating two different floor levels in a room - can achieve a striking effect while conveying a powerful message about the division of space in that particular room. Unlike Cheng's "Concrete Countertops" (which was entirely dedicated to creating countertops), "Concrete at Home" is obviously not intended to walk the reader through the entire process of building the concrete forms it talks about. Nevertheless, the book offers a variety of useful tips and indications on what to consider when pouring concrete into different elements and forms. "Concrete at Home" will inspire you to unleash your creativity while adding elegance and functionality to your home. If you are interested in getting practical design ideas as well as a basic understanding of interior concrete techniques, then this book will reveal a plethora of valuable information you won't find anywhere else. Two thumbs up!

Fu-Tung Cheng has done it again. In fact, he's giving it away, in my opinion, with lots of even more innovative ideas and practical instructions. While the novice may still want to enlist the help of a qualified contractor, he or she can definitely explore their own creativity in giving the contractor input. The fact that concrete can be used in so many different ways at home or at a business, shows what a truly versatile material concrete is. However, one would never have thought that, without Mr. Cheng setting an example! A delightful, well organized, superbly informative book. Art again meets function. Bravo!!

Concrete has been what you put down in the ground for footings, and use for sidewalks, etc. But the common way of stick building homes has some severe limitations in areas of high fire risk, like in Southern California. So when I saw this book it was of immediate interest. Then one of the first pictures was of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, built of concrete because of the fire danger. There are then several photographs of the hotel, showing design points that were built into the structure when it was constructed in 1926. As the author says, the innovative use of concrete in the hotel opens a whole new set of thoughts about how to build using concrete. From there he goes on to discussing floors, walls, countertops, and as he puts it, 'the untimate kitchen.' This is, to me, an idea book. It serves to illustrate what some very creative people have done to produce some most interesting designs that look like they will last a very long time, and be quite inexpensive.