(Part 2) Top products from r/Construction
We found 25 product mentions on r/Construction. We ranked the 165 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
21. Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers (Business and Legal Forms Series)
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
22. The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
23. Tips & Traps for Hiring a Contractor (Tips and Traps)
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
24. Managing Residential Construction Projects: Strategies and Solutions
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
25. Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
26. Construction Project Management (4th Edition)
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
27. Construction Estimating Using Excel (2nd Edition)
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
28. Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
29. Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
W. W. Norton & Company
30. How to Design and Build Your Own House
Sentiment score: -1
Number of reviews: 1
32. Labor's Untold Story: The Adventure Story of the Battles, Betrayals and Victories of American Working Men and Women
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
33. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
34. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Francis D.K. Ching
35. Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
36. Geotechnical Testing, Observation, and Documentation
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
37. Hiring Contractors Without Going Through Hell: How to Find, Hire, Supervise, and Pay Professional Help
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
38. Residential Framing: A Homebuilder's Construction Guide
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Used Book in Good Condition
Coming from a background in art & software development, the easiest way to prevent and manage disputes is clear precise written communication. Whether it's construction, graphics, art, or anything I do for clients, following these procedures has vastly enhanced my work.
A clearly written contract does help immensely beyond mere dispute resolution, it also greatly assists in clarifying the relationship between the service-provider and the customer. It's far from a contentious or litigious document if written properly, but rather a proper description - and even a means of guaranteeing your work (At Bob's Construction, we not only guarantee our work, but also guarantees it by contract).
Beyond a contract, there are perhaps even more important documents, including a project proposal, budgets, change-order sign-offs, and perhaps most importantly the project briefing/description which clearly describes both the price, and the product to be delivered. Properly following this procedure, and having the documents signed should eliminate misunderstandings and miss-communications.
For example, I've had clients described in emails, calls, and other communication exactly what they wanted, I wrote it down as described (and even written) and sent back the project briefing only to discover the client actually wanted it in a different color. In the rare case that a client things I'm not delivering on my promises, I typically tell them "Customer service is extremely important to me, and to ensure I am delivering the product you asked for, I am following the project briefing. If you would like to make a change to this briefing, we can discuss a change-order and pricing."
If the above subject(s) sound interesting to you, the most clear concise description of this has been "Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers". Don't be put off by the "graphic design" label, this works the same in all fields and I have assisted friends and associates in construction contracting services improve their businesses by using these standard professional step-by-step procedures for interacting with clients.
I'm currently a CM student, I'm assuming you came from a different education background.
The textbook we use in my building construction class is Building Construction 3rd Edition and I find it to be pretty comprehensive. It explains how buildings go up, everything from foundations to finishes. Its around 1000 pages, 37 chapters, has pretty good diagrams, and lots of pictures.
The professor for my class cherry picked 10 or 12 chapters that we study over 15 weeks. Its a great book if your looking to learn about some of the technical aspects of construction, particularly wood, concrete, steel, masonry, etc. Primarily the structural stuff.
For PM topics we use Construction Project Management 4th Edition, which is great if you don't have knowledge of how project development and delivery works. It goes into bidding/procurement, some estimating, planning/scheduling, things along those lines.
Unfortunately I'm early in the curriculum and we've only really touched on this sort of thing, so I can't comment on the quality. I'm sure you can't learn everything about project management all from one book, but it seems pretty detailed and at the very least a good place to start. That one is 350 pages and almost all text, it can be pretty dry.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
The mother of all open-ended questions.
Let's assume you're in Nuuk, Greenland and you're building a custom Yurt in the Qinngorput neighborhood. I can make this assumption since you didn't provide any useful information in your post. Well, you're only choice in Building contractors is Rasmus Rasmussen and I don't think you'll have a lot of room to haggle or get his price down. He's a nice enough guy, if a little gruff, but since he's also the CEO of Greenland Mining Services, as well as the operator of Viking Diving Company, he just doesn't have a lot of time for getting the run-around. As for materials, it's really all about what you brought in; and when the crate will arrive, so the quality is mostly up to you. I could go on about best Yurt building practices, if you're interested?
You could try providing some useful information about the proposed building (climate, soil, lot size, finished house sq. footage, occupancy, etc.) or you could try this or this or this or this or this.
Carpentry, 6th Ed is about as close to a carpenters bible I've ever found. It's a bit pricey but covers pretty much everything you could ever encounter as a carpenter. I read from it daily as part of my go to bed ritual to keep it fresh in my mind.
A lot of the information is presented in freedom units though, so keep that in mind if you are in a metric area. A lot of the information is specific to building in the USA, but I'd imagine the processes are the same or close to the same as other nations.
Can't recommend enough "Francis D.K. Ching - A Visual Dictionary of Architecture : 2nd Edition"
It's an exceptional book that covers a wide variety of very well illustrated, no-nonsense, single sentence descriptions of everything you could think of when it comes to construction & even includes some slang use, I have a searchable eBook copy if anyone's interested (PM me for a Google Drive link) but I would highly recommend supporting the author and purchasing a paperback copy for your own use.
Edit: Here's an example image of a page that specifically mentions fly rafters: https://i.imgur.com/D6le772.png
Every page of the book contains illustrations like this!
Why buildings stand up
And it's inevitable sequel:
Why buildings fall down
Probably the best primers on the topic. It will give you enough of a background to have an intelligent discussion with most engineers. You still won't be able to do the math, but you should be able to follow it.
Also, consider subscribing to /r/engineering. Just having it on your front page and perusing the comments when something is interesting will help build your vocabulary over time.
read books. You can usually find some good ones at your local libary, and if they don't have some they should be able to help you find some from other libraries you can get on loan. Or, buy them from amazon. I like Fundamentals of Building Construction
get some magazines like This Old House or Family Handyman, or you can get trade specific ones from http://www.freeconstructionmagazines.com/
finally, watch youtube videos
Back when I was in school, we used this one - Residential Framing. It is a pretty good reference with lots of diagrams and tables.
I still have mine and keep it in the office for a reference book.
While I haven't taken nicets, as they aren't accepted in several places. I have taken a few icc's, and twice certified aci. If you still need help, just pm me.
Ninja edit: I strong suggest this for study material Geotechnical Testing, Observation, and Documentation https://www.amazon.com/dp/0784409498/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_8I0yzb0AWF9KK
Check with your local technical college/school. Many of them will offer an estimating course for much cheaper than a community college. You could also check your local library for textbooks or how-to books.
This is the book we used in school. It's heavy on the old-school method of estimating and takeoffs, and helps you build your own spreadsheets for calculating. It's a good option if you don't have a take-off software package.
http://www.amazon.com/Construction-Estimating-Using-Excel-2nd/dp/0138007195/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426618875&sr=1-1&keywords=construction+estimating+using+excel
I'm not big on construction books, and it seems that everybody has a slightly different way of doing everything, but the closest-to-reality book I've found is "Managing Residential Construction" by Derek Graham (Amazon Link)
PS nice username! In general, I concur
I found Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day and the author's follow up The Construction MBA: Practical Approaches to Construction Contracting to be good reads.
I would check them out still, you may find something applicable, although that will be issue dependent.
Here is the text book; there should be pictures of the table on contents. Hopefully this is helpful even though it is more residential, terms/materials should be of use.
JLC has a Field Guide online that I just started reading.
$9.99 for a years subscription to get access to it.
http://www.jlconline.com/how-to/
There is also: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Electrical-Equipment-Buildings-Grondzik/dp/0470195657
I have a PDF copy if you like.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0442273118/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
https://www.amazon.com/Well-Built-House-James-Locke/dp/0395629519
https://www.amazon.com/Labors-Untold-Story-Adventure-Betrayals/dp/0916180018
I've built about 10 homes.
Everyone has already given you the best advice which is to hire a gc to manage the project. Even if you hire a GC it would be a good idea to understand the process.
The book I always recommend is How to Design and Build Your Own Home by DiDonno and Sperling
General advice in random order.
I don't live in any of the houses I built, so I'm uncomfortable posting pictures. I'll pm you a picture of the house I built for myself.