Wood Books

The Treehouse Book

Peter Nelson, Judy Nelson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

It seems that almost everyone likes treehouses. Smiles of recognition turn into grins of enthusiasm as more people discover them and dream about making their own private retreats or family play spaces. And it's nice to remind ourselves that treehouses are built into the oldest and most forgiving, living things on earth. Also, history records treehouses as being built as deliberate follies, as challenges for arboreal designers, for merrymaking, and for keeping the spirit of fairy tales alive. But treehouses can also be social places. We will visit many that were built to entertain, to hang out with friends, or as guest houses. Trees welcome all types.

Master treehouse builders Peter and Judy Nelson, with David Larkin, have embarked on yet another treehouse-discovery expedition across America, this time adding the investigation of backyard playhouses to their agenda. Now, in The Treehouse Book, they reveal their findings, illustrated and described in the most complete volume yet. From casual treeshacks made from discarded lumber to multitiered feats of fancy, they found shelters representing myriad builders-interesting characters ranging from childhood fanatics grown up, to weekend carpenters, to those who want their grandkids to have the best clubhouse on the block.

Detailed how-to information, including plans and drawings, is woven with behind-the-scenes tales of each structure's occupants and stunning interior and exterior photographic explorations.

Building the Timber Frame House: The Revival of a Forgotten Art

Tedd Benson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The details on this are excellent. Sketches, plans, perspectives, maths, tables, formulas, theory, you have it all. All graphics hand-drawn! Each joint has a photo, a drawing and cutting details and dimensions. Focused too: nothing outside the scope of the *classic* timber frame.

Editorial Review:

For centuries, post-and-beam construction has proved to be one of the most durable building techniques. It is being enthusiastically revived today not only for its sturdiness but because it can be easily insulated, it is attractive, and it offers the builder the unique satisfaction of working with timbers. Building the Timber Frame House is the most comprehensive manual available on the technique. In it you will find a short history, of timber framing and a fully illustrated discussion of the different kinds of joinery, assembly of timbers, and raising of the frame. There are also detailed sections on present-day design and materials, house plans, site development, foundation laying, insulation, tools, and methods.

A Timber Framer's Workshop: Joinery, Design & Construction of Traditional Timber Frames

Steve K. Chappell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I actually used the methods in this book to build my barn! 5 out of 5 stars.
40 of 41 people found this review helpful.

I actually used the methods in this book to build my 40 X 30, four-bent barn. I can't say enough about this book. From the dedication to the index this timber frame manual was crafted in the same manner as author Steve Chappell's structures: solid, precise and with artful beauty. This book teaches everything from the basic tools to advanced joinery and details everything you need to build a traditional timber frame structure. The illustrations are great and the exercises are extremely useful.

"A Timber Framer's Workshop" is an essential reference tool for anyone who's serious about timber framing.

A core title for any carpentry/architectural reference shelf 5 out of 5 stars.
31 of 38 people found this review helpful.

In A Timber Framer's Workshop: Joinery, Design & Construction Of Traditional Timber Frames is a complete instruction course under one cover in the carpentry craft and architectural art of building with timber framing technology. Included are engineering basics, builders math, tips, techniques, tools, and structural design considerations. Chapters are devoted to Bent Framing & Joinery Design, Tension Joinery, Roof Framing & Truss Design, Joinery Details, and more! A Timber Framer's Workshop is a core title for any professional, academic, or community library carpentry, architecture, and woodworking collections.

Editorial Review:

Timber Framing has been a part of our building culture and an inspiration to mankind since the Middle Ages. As we enter a new millenium, it is designed to remain as one of building's most enduring forms, not only because of its intrinsic beauty, but because it is a pure and complete structural system.

Timber Framing for the Rest of Us: A Guide to Contemporary Post and Beam Construction

Rob Roy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Many natural building methods rely upon the use of post and beam frame structures that are then in-filled with straw, cob, cordwood, or more conventional wall materials. But traditional timber framing employs the use of finely crafted jointing and wooden pegs, requiring a high degree of craftsmanship and training, as well as much time and expense. However, there is another way . . .

Timber Framing for the Rest of Us describes the timber framing methods used by most contractors, farmers and owner-builders-methods that use modern metal fasteners, special screws and common sense building principles to accomplish the same goal in much less time. And while there are many good books on traditional timber framing, this is the first to describe in depth these more common fastening methods. The book includes everything an owner-builder needs to know about building strong and beautiful structural frames from heavy timbers, including:
the historical background of timber framing
crucial design and structural considerations
procuring timbers-including different woods and recycled materials
foundations, roofs and in-filling considerations
the common fasteners

A detailed case study of a timber frame project from start to finish completes this practical and comprehensive guide, along with a useful appendix of span tables and a bibliography.

Highly illustrated, this book enables "the rest of us" to build like the professionals and will appeal to owner-builders, contractors and architects alike.

Rob Roy is a former contractor with 11 previous books to his credit. He has been utilizing timber framing techniques for the past 25 years in the construction of homes, as well as in the numerous outbuildings at Earthwood Building School which he founded in 1981 with his wife, Jaki. He is most recently the author of Cordwood Building: The State of the Art (New Society, 2003).

Wood: Contemporary Houses in Wood

Joaquim Ballarin, Mariona Villavieja

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> Building Types & Styles -> Residential

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Wood presents a comprehensive survey of international wood architecture highlighting the incredible versatility of this building material and the environmentally friendly possibilities of using it in residential construction and design. Wood as a material evokes alternate images of warm comfort or sleek cool modern design, and its many special characteristics are explored through the selected projects, interiors, and furniture detailed in this book.Wood provides a unique opportunity to examine contemporary wooden architecture as a global phenomenon rich in cross-cultural influences and universality. It also illustrates the diversity in the use of this material in different climates, cultures, and countries.The book is divided into four main chapters: a short historical introduction; a compilation of different projects shown as a whole, and typologically catalogued according to the use of wood; a compilation of interior designs, arranged like the different spaces of a house and combined with wood furniture; and a catalogue of the most commonly used woods and their properties.

Low Cost Pole Building Construction: The Complete How-To Book

Evelyn Loveday, Ralph Wolfe

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Storey Publishing, LLC Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $7.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Pole construction - a wonderful alternative for great value. 5 out of 5 stars.
70 of 73 people found this review helpful.

I gave the book five stars because there was a total lack of books on the subject when I read it months ago. Thanks to Amazon, there is now more available. I am a developer of lots. I have seen what the family faces with home buying. The pole house will only be for the stout-hearted, brave and good humored. But for those few souls it will be a wonderful experience. This book takes you from day one - walking onto your lot - to the finished product. And it tells you everything in between like, how to get your friends to gleefully help you plant your poles to having an old "barn raising". It's good stuff. It's dated, but if you're an ol' fashion American pioneer like me, you'll love the challenge.

READ ME! How to build a house cheaply 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I thought this was a great book, I picked this up at the library and this was a wonderful read from front to back.

PROS:
1. Learn how to build at a low cost.
2. Provide shelter/housing one weekend at a time.

CONS:
N/A

I also purchased a real estate book on how to get land cheaply:

Investing Without Losing (ISBN: 0978834607 NOT on amazn, on other stores)

Editorial Review:

278,000 copies in print.

The Craft of Modular Post & Beam: Building log and timber homes affordably

James Mitchell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I actually did it. 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

The other reviewers of this book allude to the fact that they will someday get around to using the information. I have already done it and wanted to add my comments here.

I used this book as my "bible" to construct a 24x40 log home with a porch wrapped all the way around. It took two years, but I couldn't have done it by myself without the theories and examples in this book. My joinery isn't as pretty as the ones in the book, but I used them and wooden pegs to secure all the posts and beams in the house.

I highly recommend this book to all who have their own 'library' of log home books and need some practical advice that works.

The Craft of Modular Post & Beam 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I first stumbled on this wonderful book in our local library. Read it cover to cover in two weeks and unfortunatly had to return it but, it is on my birthday wish list. This is the most informative book on the subject I have read to date. Mr Mitchell did an excellent job in the chapters covering the details of modular log home construction. Many of which I plan to use in the very near future.

The Log Home Plan Book

Cindy Thiede, Heather Mehra-Pederson

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Gibbs Smith, Publisher Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $6.59

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I found a plan 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I bought this early on in the planning stage of our log cabin as a resouce. After looking through dozens of books and magazines I actually used one of the plans in the book after modifying it slightly. This has many plans that give you some great ideas and has enough difference between them to be a nice starting point in the design process.

A great place to start dreaming 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This was the first log home book my wife and I purchased after making the decision to not settle for any old house on the market and to build our dream home. It was a great way to get the ideas flowing. I appreciate the layout of the book: lots of exterior and interior photos, floor plans to put the photos into perspective, text descriptions of the houses, and great side bars on everything from windows to roofs to heating. The photos and descriptions are inspiring while the floor plans and side bars are practical. Buy this book early in the process and continue to refer to it as your design comes together.

Editorial Review:

9 3/4 X 9 3/4 In, 128 Pp, 125 color photos, 30 floor plans. Thirty fabulous log home plans-the favorites of builders and designers, selected form across the united states. More than just renderings, each floor plan is illustrated with beautiful color photographs of the landscaped exterior and fully styled interior. Weaving pictures and plans together are valuable information, advice, and planning tips from the people who design and build log homes. Ranging in size and accommodations, they include: *Cabins, Bungalows & Small Abodes. *Family homes, cottages & moderate residences. *Havens, Retreats & Grand Estates.*< BR>

Quick and Easy Weekend Woodworking Projects (Popular Woodworking)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Quick and easy? Not quite but still good 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I have picked a few projects from this book that I will attempt and I consider myself just a little bit above the beginning woodworker. The last project in the book is a Greene & Greene table that is well above the "Quick and Easy" realm. Most of these projects require a fairly experienced hand and jigs or equipment that the average woodworker may not have. For that reason I drop this one a star to 4. The projects are well laid out and the instructions easy to follow.

Editorial Review:

For the majority of woodworkers, time is a factor when choosing projects. Now, Popular Woodworking has compiled 23 of its quickest quality home improvement projects - all of which can be completed in just one weekend. Readers will find: A diverse group of 23 home improvement projects from Christmas ornaments to an arts & crafts bookcase; Step-by-step colour photos with captions, so beginners and advanced woodworkers can easily complete a project in a weekend; Simple projects requiring only basic woodworking tools and skills; Quick and Easy Weekend Woodworking Projects is perfect for anyone looking for a woodworking project that won't take weeks or months to complete.

The Black & Decker Complete Guide to Wood Storage Projects: Built-in & Freestanding Projects For All Around the Home (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

Editors of creative Publishing

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Creative Publishing international Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $9.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Awesome! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My husband got this book from the library and liked it so much that he had me order him his own copy.

He is at an intermediate level of woodworking and liked how they have pics for many of the steps of the projects featured. I doubt he'll make any of the projects shown as they are, but he can use the techniques shown to come up with his own furniture.

Editorial Review:

Organized, efficient storage is a goal sought by most homeowners, and this book is an indispensable tool for achieving it. With more than 50 step-by-step projects and dozens of ideas for inspiration, homeowners will be able to bring order to the jumble, to tame and civilize the hoards of small and large household items begging for permanent, logical storage. Each project is designed for adaptability and versatility, allowing it to be used for a variety of purposes. Readers will find a broad range of projects, from installing convenient drawer and cabinet accessories, to constructing their own custom cabinets and entertainment centers. Also included is a chapter on framed-in projects, featuring instructions on how to frame and finish a new closet, how to create a closet organizer, and building recessed kneewall shelves. Finally, the new edition includes updated and expanded inspiration pages featuring new materials and additional ideas for efficient storage.