The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling, 3rd Edition [Paperback]

 

The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling, 3rd Edition [Paperback]

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press; 3 edition (December 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600852467
• ISBN-13: 978-1600852466
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  

By : Charlie Wing
Price : $19.77
You Save : $10.18 (34%)

Consumer Evaluations

June 2000
I have been utilizing Mr. Wing's book for about 9 months for remodeling my residence. It is an definitely indispensable supply of knowledge about remodeling or rebuilding. You will effortlessly get your capital back from the saved time that this book will give. It also will offer you with guidelines to check against what the contractor(s) you hire tell you they are going to do. Unfortunately, a number of contractors are not worth spit and countless are dishonest. This book will support you to avoid them.
It is not a perfect book. The section on plumbing, even though quite good, is minimal for the remodeler. E.g., Do-It-Yourselfers need to have even more details on how to replace 50 year old(i.e., Cast Iron or Concrete) DWV plumbing and the Significant pitfalls of Galvanized piping and items like Drum Traps. It also does not have explanations or formulas for calculating flow rates and pressure for water supply lines. It will need to. One particular can not install an irrigation system or even the home water provide devoid of figuring out that information in advance.
The electrical section is missing the worksheets for calculating the property loads, proper tactics for rewiring an old residence, i.e., where should all those runs go and how to adequately install the wire so that nobody can 'accidentally' pull them loose, and could use alot more diagrams of wiring techinques for lights and switches. The short section on circuit theory is a joke, I assume. Mr. Wing need to have felt obligated to put Ohms law in the book. If you do not understand circuit theory and the basics of electrical wiring, do NOT use this book to do your wiring - employ a contractor or go to school for a year or two and understand about them.
Mr. Wing tends toward 'hiring a contractor' to get those jobs performed. As an engineer, I appreciate the wisdom of the guidance, but that does not assist the individual that is going to do it but has never done it prior to. In brief, you are going to need other references that produce far more detail. In other words, the title of the "Only" Guide... is false. It will need to be the "Preferred" or "Greatest".
The book is actually even more of a reference guide and not a "how to" book. It might possibly be all the knowledgeable do-it-yourselfer ever desires, but not the novice. I'm a novice at a lot of of the remodeling tasks but have a lot of years of training and education as an engineer, so this book truly helps me a lot. I am pretty confident that everyone in the remodeling business enterprise would find this book to be full, even though their skilled opinions could possibly differ from Mr. Wing's tips in certain sections.
I have to agree that the span tables are overkill for just about any individual since Local codes overrule any data that is in the 50 pages! of Span tables and Truss data. Mr. Wing should have had a fine supply for Span specifics.
I should also mention that this book sat on my shelf for several months, unused, although I gathered standard data on remodeling. Once that info was absorbed and I required even more, I opened the book. It has not been closed because then - I can not close it simply because it has too a number of notes in it.
It is a awesome book. Not the "only" book you'll need to have, but if you don't get it you are going to kick yourself later.

If you are contemplating building your own house, or if you're having a custom residence built, this book can give you fundamental details on the alternatives available to you in choosing materials, styles of construction, etc. and, can supply you with the standard expertise required to know if your contractor is getting sincere with you about the have to have for some items involved with the construction which the typical layman could possibly question - e.g. - why do I need to have radon protection?, or why is plastic sheeting really crucial under my basement slab? If you are creating your own house (like I am) there are tables to guide you in deciding upon points like glue-lam beam sizes or the pros and cons of a number of varieties of kitchen counter tops, or what height should really a bathroom lavatory be if your mother in law could possibly move in two years from now and she's in a wheel chair. All in all, a extremely informative book.

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