Books

I've wound up with another pile of books to go through, this time all from Amazon.com. It gives me something to do when there aren't any new owner built castles to be found on the internet and I've run out of ideas for sketchup. I usually go to the local mega book store and check out as many books as I can, I like to see what they contain before I buy them seeing as Amazon's previews can be almost worthless at times; in which case I usually wind up making a decision based on the user reviews. It's just not worth buying new books from the big book stores anymore, the below mentioned Carpentry and Construction book cover price is $50, the Amazon price is $33. I can certainly wait for it to ship while saving $17 minus shipping. At any rate, here's the list of books that I now have for reference or learning purposes:

The Timberframe Way by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo. This book was another "idea" purchase. I wanted to see some examples of homes that had timberframe construction and maybe get some inspiration or at least a little more knowledge of the building method. Honestly, I wouldn't buy this book again. I don't mind that it's a coffee table book, but it's more of a "look at my massive modern home with expensive stuff all put together by a designer, oh and it's timberframed too..." kind of book. Not that there aren't some neat examples in there, but it's all modern, and the design is more about the "stuff" and how it's arranged rather than the design of the woodwork. My fault I guess for not paying closer attention to the description, but I think Amazon.com is partly to blame as well due to a preview that doesn't give you the whole story.

Timber Framing for the Rest of Us: A Guide to Contemporary Post and Beam Construction by Rob Roy. This is the second book I've purchased from this author and I like his writing style. The subjects in the books are very simply explained and relatively easy to understand from the writing. The only dislike I have for this book is that even though it is well explained, it still is lacking in true "how-to", insert tab "A" into slot "B", type information.

Country Wisdom & Know-How by The Editors of Storey Publishing's Country Wisdom Boards. I got this one just for fun. There is an incredible wealth of information in this book, everything from tasty recipes to basic equine care and gardening. I take snacks with me to work and there's a tasty looking granola recipe in there that I'm gonna try tonight. Something you could pick up and learn something from every day by opening a random page.

A Visual Dictionary of Architecture by Francis D. K. Ching. This is the second book I have from Ching (first one is Building Construction Illustrated). As with his other book, it covers hundreds of items very briefly with excellent illustrations. This one I picked up to learn the language of how buildings are put together, such as truss types, brick types, structural elements such as the sofit or dropped ceilings. A wealth of basic information that will help making decisions and understanding what a sub-contractor may be telling me or what I need to ask for from a materials supplier.

Roberts' Illustrated Millwork Catalog: A Sourcebook of Turn-of-the-Century Architectural Woodwork by Dover Books. I got this for reference and ideas. This book is a catalog in the real sense. It has various pieces of historical woodwork and hardware along with period prices. Various styles, from Victorian to simple country. Lots of nice pictures and cross sections of trim and the like should one choose to reproduce some of it.

The Stonebuilder's Primer: A Step-By-Step Guide for Owner-Builders by Charles Long. Even though it looks like I'd use CMU to build the basic structure of our house, I still entertain the possibility of part of it being stone, or perhaps some of the outbuildings might be. This book offers good working practices and pointers on pitfalls to avoid. If you could find land in an area where the city or county allows it, you could probably use this book to build a basic house. EDIT: I finished this book in a couple of days. I liked it quite a bit, it seems to split the difference between "Build Your Own Stone House" and building a true stone walled house using ashlar or closely fitted stones. Good stuff, still need to filter it through whatever local code may require.

Pictorial Encyclopedia of Historic Architectural Plans, Details and Elements: With 1880 Line Drawings of Arches, Domes, Doorways, Facades, Gables, Windows, etc. by Dover Books. Another reference book like the illustrated millwork catalog, this one having more to do with architectural elements rather than decorative.

Carpentry & Construction (Paperback)
by Mark R. Miller, Rex Miller, Glenn E. Baker, Mark Miller, Glenn Baker. This one appears to be a classroom textbook for those learning the construction trade; there are study questions at the end of each chapter. It probably wouldn't hurt for me to actually do them... This book covers modern construction methods, everything from carpet to electrical. It will probably be pretty useful, it shows a lot of things that are hidden from view once the walls are up and finished, and it's written to be read by someone like me learning the construction trade. EDIT: I've read a little way into this book by now and I'm liking it quite a bit. It starts off a little slow, "...this is a hammer, these are called nails, you'll need a toolbox...", but it gets into some of the things that a lot of do-it-yourself homebuilding books seem to gloss over; things like how to site a house, how to use basic surveying tools, different types of foundations and how they are set up, considerations for local code, storage of materials on site, insurance... Lots of information, some not very detailed but it lets you know that these are things that should be taken into consideration. I'll look for other textbooks from these authors when I'm done with this one.

As you can see, that's a lot of material to read. Time to hit the books.