The Wellbuilt House

With this book, you get facts, measurements, the best way to do things, and reasons why it needs to be done a certain way. You get the basic order of what happens. You learn how the builder thinks. It will be good information to have at hand while your house is being built. I'd sure like for James Locke to build my house!

I originally thought the author might have been capitalizing on his fame from being the subject of another book: Tracy Kidder's House. I was surprised to find it more intelligent than the competition. And I was put off by the title, thinking the book was only about those things that make a house a work of old-fashioned craftmanship. But it's a complete tour of the housebuilding process, seemingly written from memory, so easily do the words flow.He shares his opinions, and they're always sensible. Mostly he eschews the cheap stuff, and telling you *what that is* is invaluable. He prefers plywood to OSB, wood to vinyl siding, and steers you away from roof trusses, vinyl windows, wooden countertops (not cheap, but not practical), and fiberglass tubs. He tells you where to install thicker plywood or wallboard, and tries to talk you into a real masonry chimney instead of a metal lined firebox. His style is succinct, never offensive, and witty. Best of the dozen or so I'm familiar with.

Sure, there were a few chapters that we skimmed over--too much detail about construction techniques for our current pre-planning stage. But we read the bulk of the book with a "REALLY glad that you mentioned that" mental response.A major feature of this book is its discussion of design and hardware features in your future home. We will be able, now, to have an informed discussion with our architect and builder about many essential aspects of our home design.The extensive discussion--occurring throughout the book--about relationships between the owner, architect, builder and subcontractors was worth its weight in gold. MAN, the mistakes we are going to avoid!!This book gives extensive insight to the perspective of the general contractor, and of problems that the general contractor faces--with the architect, the owner, and the sub-contractors.As a result of reading this book, we are now contemplating the choice of a builder before we decide upon an architect--directly contrary to our earlier thoughts. As we read and contemplate more, we shall see.We are planning our first experience in building a custom home--and it is the home we intend to live in until.... So, this is a BIG deal.We learned SO much from this book. If there is a more informative book on the subject, we would like to know!!

Of all the books I've bought on building a new home, this is far and away the best. I just wish I could spirit Mr. Locke and his crew up to Maine to build our retirement home and horse barn. It will be the first, and last, home we build, and what I would give to have the craftsmanship of a builder like Mr. Locke to pass on to my son and grandson. An added gift is his humor and literacy - the book is as well-crafted as I suspect are his houses.Reading it will not make you a good builder - only long experience and caring can do that - but as one who knows nothing from cornice to casings, this book makes me far more comfortable in talking with those who are - or who aren't.Thank you, Mr. Locke.

The Well-Built House is an excellent book which everyone who is considering having a new house built, or remodeling an older one, should read. It was written by Jim Locke, a carpenter and partner in the Apple Corps contracting firm in Massachusetts, and one of the heroes of Tracy Kidder's best-selling book House. The process of home building is explained from concept to finished product in terms that a novice will be able to understand yet with enough technical tips to teach a seasoned builder a thing or two. Part One, Planning and Paperwork, will help you get started in the right direction and help you understand the people that you will work with in the home building process. These first 3 Chapters alone are worth the price of the book and will have the most impact on the overall job. Part Two, Building the House, contains 9 chapters describing the phases of construction, and Part Three, Finish Work, guides you through the final stages of completion. Reading about the author's real-life experiences building custom homes, will help prepare the prospective homeowner for a unique experience, while the veteran builder will be reassured that "this could only happen to me" is being uttered everyday by others in his profession.