Your Engineered House

It is wonderful to update a book, from the past, that has so many good ideas for creating "off-the-grid" design. Wonderful job on the sequel to a fine publication.

You know how tradesmen can often tell you the specifics of what they think you should do to a building but not the conceptual basis of those decisions? This book is very helpful in understanding underlying concerns when you build, like how water travels, and where and when it causes rot and damage. Also how to achieve solar gain and how you lose heat through radiation, convection and... what was the third? Oh well, it's in the book. Also how to plan for ventilation, and how you can use fixed glass. There is even brand new reflective insulation that reputedly works the way Roberts hoped tin foil would work. Besides that, the author writes in a clear and amusing style. I'm trying to rebuild a cabin made from a travel trailer and a one car garage. Believe it or not, I found this book in the library of the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. It has really helped me understand what problems I need to address in order to succeed at this project and to get the most for the money I put into it. The book has even made the heinous crawl space I'm insulating now more understandable and managable. I love it.

This 1964 book is a testament to the individual's ability to imagine and build one's own home. Ir is a book to be inspired by. I read the book while overseas and immediately became convinced that I could build my own home. After retirement, my wife and I did just that, with great success. Do not buy this book thinking that it will provide explicit directions. The engineering is old and often outdated. Read it rather as an evocative tribute to human ingenuity and ability. This should not be your last book on building design, but it might very well be your best first book.

Other opinions notwithstanding, Charlie Wing has done a much needed update on a classic, innovative reconsideration of housebuilding. Wing had the benefit of 20 years of hindsight on what worked and what did not work among Rex Roberts many sugggestions for fundamentally changing the basic American house. Wing, educated in physics and experienced in the building trades, helped found an owner-builder school prompted by Mr. Roberts' original book. His buildings and Mr. Roberts are the basis for his update. The tin-foil insulation is not mentioned because it was a disaster -- it did not insulate but it did cause condensate and rotting, even on Mr. Roberts own house. Enough said. If you insist on reading the original, take no action based on it until you determine whether it's included in Mr. Wing's update. Otherwise, enjoyable and thoughtful reading all round. I've built a house based on these principles and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a wonderful book. In spite of being written in 1964, it provides insight that withstands the test of time. Unfortunately it's out of print and the publisher says they will not be reprinting it. A few copies are still available if you're willing to hunt for them!