Reddit Reddit reviews Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook

We found 4 Reddit comments about Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook
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4 Reddit comments about Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook:

u/ArizonaLad · 10 pointsr/HomeImprovement

I am going to suggest two things:

(1) You need to know how things work, and why they work the way they do. So you need a Bible for this house. I recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0806904240/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook by George Nash. At 700 pages, it's a beast. Here is what one reviewer has to say:

It has chapters on everything, starting with selecting a site and house plan and ending with landscaping. There are plenty of drawings, charts and photographs to illustrate the topics. For example there are almost three pages of drawings of various types of electrical boxes and their installation. The dialog is clear and easy to understand. You can learn why you need to do something, not just how to do it.

The chapter about stairs describes rise and run and how to figure out how to build and place stairs. Again there are lots of diagrams showing things like how to measure angles on stringers accurately and how to get the tread level.

Each chapter covers various types of building practices and materials and isn't limited to any particular style. For instance the roofing chapter covers asphalt shingles, wood shingles and shakes, concrete and clay tiles, and even what I was interested in - tin.
Not only are there pictures of how to do things correctly, but there are occasional shots of owner-builder mistakes. It helps to know what not to do as well as what to do.
If it's not covered in this book, there's a bibliography in the back with a section for each chapter.


This is perfect for your new/old house.

(2) If you are concerned about taking something back apart later, use screws in just about every phase of renovation. They are your friend. They hold everything together, yet you can take it back apart with ease.

And this is just me. You are going to make mistakes, and you are going to waste money. That is the nature of home renovation. But as you get better at this, those will become fewer and fewer.

It's not a crime to mess up now and then. It is only a crime if you cannot learn from those mistakes. And trust me on this; your time, and your money, are great motivators to learn and remember all that you can.

Best of luck to you guys. Take lots of pictures. This is one hell of a journey you are on, and it deserves to be documented. One day you'll look on those pictures and laugh, telling each other "Remember when it looked like THAT?!".

u/Carpe_Noctis · 6 pointsr/HomeImprovement

Based on your follow up questions, it's pretty clear that all this is pretty new to you. I'm a huge believer in do-it-yourselfing it, but I'm not really sure this is a good place for you to start.

It might cost you, I dunno, a hundred bucks to have an electrician come in and do this. It will be done right AND you get to watch the entire process. (Don't get in his space, but let him know you are just interested in learning). I think it's money well spent.

All this stuff is relatively easy once you have some experience, but it's also pretty easy for a newbie to make a mess of it. Here, you have old wiring w/o a ground, combined with an outlet going next to a sink. Also, you have to cut a hole in your sheetrock (?) or plaster wall to sink the new box. Again, easy enough, but consider the money spent on getting it done tuition.

I salute your efforts to learn. I was fortunate to watch my dad do a lot of handyman type stuff as a kid. I've learned a lot on my own since then, but my early experience gave me the confidence to know that it was doable.

BTW, consider purchasing this book. It's out of print but still available. It's mainly geared towards building your home, but building and doing repair work are two sides of the same coin. Knowing how something is built helps you know how to tackle the repair. It's an EXCELLENT book, and I highly recommend it.
https://www.amazon.com/Do-Yourself-Housebuilding-Complete-Handbook/dp/0806904240/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1480823080&sr=8-4&keywords=george+nash

u/fireduck · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

I've seen designs like that in this book which has a chapter on low energy housing:

http://www.amazon.com/Do-Yourself-Housebuilding-Complete-Handbook/dp/0806904240