Build Your Own Outdoor Structures in Brick (Build Your Own...(New Holland))

Appealing to enthusiasts and beginners alike, this series offers detailed information on planning, costing and constructing for specific DIY tasks. This text is an illustrated guide to building your own outdoor structures in brick, with information on tools and equipment, plus advice from professional bricklayers. It shows how to lay basic brickwork including corners, openings and lintels, throwing a foundation, screeding and plastering, and includes information on fitting doors and basic roof structures.

Price: $9.95

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So... You Want To Build a House: A Complete Workbook for Building Your Own Home

Build your dream house without getting a headache!

From selecting the property and meeting with an architect through resale considerations and construction, So You Want to Build a House walks you through every step of the building process painlessly, on-time, and on-budget.

Price: $19.95

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Build Your Own Smart Home (Build Your Own)

Wow! If you’ve got the time and inclination, there isn’t anything that cannot be automated in your home. This one-stop resource shows you step-by-step how to plan and install smart home systems using clear step-by-step instructions and illustrations. Discover projects for automating entertainment systems, home security systems, utilities and more.

Price: $29.99

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Home Improvement 1-2-3: Expert Advice from The Home Depot (Home Depot ... 1-2-3)

The first edition of Home Improvement 1-2-3 quickly became a workbench classic. The new edition—with 340 projects, 3,500 color photographs, and more than 100 illustrations, charts, and graphs—offers up-to-the-minute solutions for homeowners tackling home repair, maintenance, and improvement. Chapters cover painting, wallpaper, plumbing, electrical system, walls and ceilings, flooring, doors, windows, cabinets, shelves, countertops, insulation, weatherproofing, exterior maintenance, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. Clear, concise instructions accompanied by detailed how-to photographs ensure your success no matter what your skill level. Every project offers tips, shortcuts and advice on buying and using tools and materials, working safely, avoiding common mistakes, saving time and money, and developing skills. Home Improvement 1-2-3 also reviews new tools, technology, materials, and installation techniques.

Price: $34.95

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Hillside Homes: 208 Sloping-Lot & Multi-Level Designs : 1000 to over 5,500 Square Feet

-Inventive designs that make the most of today's beautiful and challenging building sites.
-An elegant book featuring contemporary and traditional styles sure to enhance a unique lot.
-Split-levels and split-foyers.
-One- and two-story designs.
-Walk out basements.
-Homes from 1,000 to over 5,000 square feet.
-Complete construction drawings available separately.

Price: $9.95

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How to Build with Grid Beam: A Fast, Easy and Affordable System for Constructing Almost Anything

Grid beam is a modular, reusable building system that is fast, easy, affordable, and virtually goof-proof. Ordinary people with few skills and even fewer tools (all you need is a wrench!) can tackle projects ranging from furniture and shop benches to more ambitious projects like wind turbines, truck racks, small buildings—even electric vehicles.

Grid beam’s modular pieces and bolt-together construction make the system fast and straightforward to work with. It has all the advantages of an industrial building system: standard, modular sizes; uniform materials; and interchangeable parts. Projects knock flat and are easy to transport. Since the pieces can be used over and over again, grid beam is easy both on your wallet and on the environment—the authors have been using some of their components for over thirty years.

How to Build with Grid Beam includes hundreds of photos of real projects built over a sixty-year period, showing the many uses of grid beam, from shelves for college students to projects involving alternative energy. The versatility of grid beam is inspiring for beginners, more experienced do-it- yourselfers, and innovators who will develop their own designs. Even school-age children can use grid beam to build simple projects.

Phil Jergenson is an innovator who built the first grid beam vehicle.

Richard Jergenson built his first grid beam project in 1977.

Wilma Keppel is a writer and editor who is also a welder, carpenter, and grid beam builder.

Price: $29.95

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Building Your Own Home For Dummies

Keep construction on track with helpful checklists

Turn your dream of a custom home into reality!

Thinking about building your own home? This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to plan and build a beautiful home on any budget. From acquiring land to finding the best architect to overseeing the construction, you get lots of savvy tips on managing your new investment wisely -- and staying sane during the process!

Discover how to:
* Find the best homesite
* Navigate the plan approval process
* Obtain financing
* Hire the right contractor
* Cut design and construction costs
* Avoid common mistakes

Price: $19.99

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Patios and Walkways 1-2-3: Design and Build Beautiful Outdoor Living Spaces (Expert Advice from the Home Depot)

• Design and installation techniques, tips, and shortcuts used by professionals

• Provides step-by-step instructions, timeframe for completing plus skills and materials lists

• "Wisdom of the Aisles" on every page guarantees success

• Details how to design, layout, maintain, and work with a variety of materials in building patios and walkways

• Features walkways using soft set paths, hard bed paths, brick and paver patterns, and boardwalks

Price: $24.95

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Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable... (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

An earth-sheltered, earth-roofed home has the least impact upon the land of all housing styles, leaving almost zero footprint on the planet.

Earth-Sheltered Houses is a practical guide for those who want to build their own underground home at moderate cost. It describes the benefits of sheltering a home with earth, including the added comfort and energy efficiency from the moderating influence of the earth on the home’s temperature (keeping it warm in the winter and cool in the summer), along with the benefits of low maintenance and the protection against fire, sound, earthquake, and storm afforded by the earth. Extra benefits from adding an earth or other living roof option include greater longevity of the roof substrate, fine aesthetics, and environmental harmony.

The book covers all of the various construction techniques involved, including details on planning, excavation, footings, floor, walls, framing, roofing, waterproofing, insulation, and drainage. Specific methods appropriate for the inexperienced owner/builder are a particular focus and include:

• Pouring one’s own footings and/or floor
• The use of dry-stacked (surface-bonded) concrete block walls
• Post-and-beam framing
• Plank-and-beam roofing
• Drainage methods and self-adhesive waterproofing membranes

The time-tested, easy-to-learn construction techniques described in Earth-Sheltered Houses will enable readers to embark upon their own building projects with confidence, backed up by a comprehensive resources section that lists all the latest products such as waterproofing membranes, types of rigid insulation, and drainage products that will protect the building against water damage and heat loss.

Rob Roy is a former contractor with 27 years of experience and 12 previous books to his credit, including Cordwood Building and Timber Framing for the Rest of Us. An expert on underground building, he founded the Earthwood Building School in 1981 with his wife, Jaki, and is frequently a speaker at events throughout North America.

Price: $27.95

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Outdoor Kitchens: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Design and Construction (Better Homes & Gardens Do It Yourself)

• Insights and ideas for the cook, as well as smart tips for the builder.
• Imaginative and detailed plans for outdoor kitchens in a variety of locations.
• Addresses both form and function to help homeowners assess their needs for cooking and storage space.
• Color photos provide inspiration on how to apply designs to any setting.
• Special section provides all-time favorite grilling recipes and tips for outdoor cooking from the Better Homes and Gardens experts.

Price: $19.95

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