Review of The Modular Home [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

If you are considering the purchase of a modular home, I highly recommend this book. Every page is bursting with great information, and the amount of detail is tremendous. The author doesn't gloss over important topics. The only complaint I have is that after reading the book, you get the impression, that modular homes are the greatest thing since the Hoover Dam. Modular homes are like cars. Some are great, and some are awful. I think the author's main goal is to promote the entire industry, rather than share unbiased information on the topic. You have to be very careful with an investment of this magnitude. I've heard a lot of bad things about Modulars in my area. Is that the dealer or manufacturers fault? It could be both. The author warns you about this, but it's very difficult to separate fact from fiction in this business. There is no Consumer Reports for Modular homes. If there is such a publication, I'd love to know about it. I think you can tell a lot about a dealer by who he uses as a manufacturer. If you could determine the good and bad manufacturers, I think you would be half way there. Of course, the same could be said of stick builders, I guess. But most stick builders are not using open faced floor joists and glued drywall. Is that a better way of building or a huge savings in material and labor costs? My feeling is that it's merely a cost savings, and not really a revolutionary way to build. But most, if not all, modular manufacturers use these building techniques. Unless you see visit a home that's been in place for more than 10 years, how can you really know if these techniques are a problem? And since dealers will tell you that the manufacturing continues to improve each year, if you do see problems in some of these older homes, you might be led to believe that your home won't have the same issues because the technology is so much better. The author does not go into such details. Nor can he, because he would be raising questions about the very business he is in.



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Review of Housing Ourselves: Creating Affordable, Sustainable Shelter (Hardcover)

I'm surprised that this is the first review here for 'Housing Ourselves', but if you haven't read this book already, you should buy it now. Or at least go to your bookstore and read it.

'Housing Ourselves' essentially is a theoretical manual for the construction of affordable and sustainable rural houses; not to say that practical applications and examples are absent, or that the ideas can't be used on a suburban or urban lot, but I think Burnham himself makes the point that he's writing this book for the owner-builder out on the land.

Regardless, this is one of the very few books I've seen written for the every-day family who wants to build well, sustainably, and for the future on a budget; in addition, it's an idea-rich and inspirational book for affordable housing in general.

Read it as a how-to manual, read it as an essay on how to get back to affordable and sustainable design simply and for the long haul, but just read it. It's well-illustrated, well-written, and a good gift for your friends who want to build their own house.

- George Oliver georgeolivergo@yahoo.com



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Review of Simplified Design of HVAC Systems (Hardcover)

The college text book provides the basics of HVAC, with applicable examples, for typical residential and small commercial buildings.The book is a bit light on heat pumps and programmable control systems.



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Review of Insulating Concrete Forms Construction : Demand, Evaluation, & Technical Practice (Hardcover)

I am having a house designed to use ICF construction, but I wanted to come up to speed on the construction methods used.This book was a good source to get that knowledge.I covers many specifics about ICF as well as general concrete construction methods.



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Review of Design-Build: Planning Through Development (Hardcover)

Design-Build: Planning through Development covers most aspects of this project delivery method and is an excellent source of information for all the parties involved in the design and construcion business. Owners, Contractors, CMs and Designers can benefit from this book by obtaining guidelines and good orientation of how and when implement D-B as an effective project delivery method that is getting more followers everywhere.



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