Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook

If you plan to build your home, read this as you go, when you turn the last page you will have your home finished.

If you are thinking about being involved with building your house, in any way, buy this book NOW! This step-by-step handbook is complete. From choosing a site to understanding the mechanical systems this writing together with the generous number of photos and drawing help you understand every aspect to building your home. Even if you choose to contract out the building of your future domicile, this book helps you understand what will be going on, therefore helping you to avoid various pitfalls, shoddy shortcuts and other issues that can come up during the building process.I enjoyed reading this book - something not said of many do it yourself books - and feel that I easily got my moneys worth, especially when I considered what I learned.

The dedication at the beginning of this book sums it up: "For Dad, This is the answer to your question, if I wanted to be a carpenter, why did I spend four years in college?" This book is superbly written, by an extremely knowlegable man who can explain every aspect of building clearly. True, it is loaded with details, but they are put into a larger and very orderly context. In fact, I LIKE the details, since I don't want any surprises in the building process. It's a refreshing change from the glib overviews presented in so many how-to books. This book is not just for homebuilders; the chapters on plumbing, electrical, etc. far surpass the usual do-it-yourself books on these subjects, and are great for anyone comtemplating home improvements of any kind. It is a GREAT BARGAIN. If you are going to build anything larger than a doghouse, buy it! It's in a class by itself.

when we decided to try and takle this home building adventure, we started with selecting several how to books for help. the only one that seems to be in plain english, and a real step by step process is this book. this is the only book we are using out of the 8 we purchased.

Ten years ago, when I worked as a carpenter, I used the then current edition of this book as a reference for details of jobs I worked on. It is a book that anyone with even a passing thought of building their own addition or doing their own remodelling job needs. The completeness of this book in every edition I have seen, is such that anyone reading it could build a complete house from start to finish, cover to cover. A very, very good book.

This book tells would-be house builders everything, from design issues all the way to making sure the cabinet doors latch. The book is full of technical details about how to do anything related to building a house. Mr. Nash's book presents alternatives to everything in such a way that the reader is able to make very educated decisions about construction. The level of detail is comprehensive, but not overwhelming. Anyone who wants to build a house needs to read this book.