Decks & Patios Books

Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build

David Stiles, Jeanie Stiles

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Gibbs Smith, Publisher Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $6.96

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Perfect for the young builder 4 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is the latest installment in a long string of wonderful books from David and Jeanie Stiles. Inside you won't find glossy, double page spreads of extravagant treehouses ... this is not a coffee table book. Rather, it is a how-to book, and the best one available for those that want to build their own whimsical play structure. Inside you will find excellent line drawings and readable explanations of intelligent, creative, and well though-out designs.

David starts with the basics: tools. From there you follow a complete and logical progression to completed treehouse. In between you'll get solid building advice. David has built his designs. He knows how to make life easier for you by using common materials and minimizing cuts. The building advice is spot on throughout.

The huge, huge, huge problem with this book is the 20 or so options David gives you for connecting lumber to tree. They are almost all bad. Never girdle a growing limb with rope or cable. Never use nails. This leaves you with only lag bolting. To be sure, there are other ways. But the only safe and tree-friendly way presented in this book (and any of his other works) is to use lags.

This is the by far the best book to give to a young builder and is probably a treasure to any 8 or 9 year old lucky enough to have a copy. It will get their mind working. The crazy schemes they come up with will amaze you.

The ideas inside this book are great. Fun, imaginative, unique. If you know a young boy (or girl) with a tree, get him this book. And when it comes time to actually build their creation, call an arborist and he'll set you straight about properly attaching it to a tree.

Editorial Review:

Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build shows how average "do-it-yourself" families can easily and affordably bring to life a "Hobbit's Treehouse," a "Pirate's Playhouse," or a "Crow's Nest" in their own backyards! There are a lot of books out there filled with enchanting photos of elaborate treehouses and playhouses built by professionals and costing tens of thousands to build. For the rest of us, there's bit of elbow grease, a lot of imagination, a trip to the hardware store-and Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build.

Building a Shed: Siting and Planning a Shed, Building Shed Foundations, Adding Custom Details (Build Like a Pro Series)

Joseph Truini

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Taunton Amazon Marketplace: 60 new & used starting at $4.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Better than I hoped it would be 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book has far exceeded my expectations! I feel confident that I can plan and build my own shed (suited to my needs and budget) and do it for far less money than a chintzy pre-fab one from a DIY store. This book has a great format and loads of helpful information, things only someone who builds sheds for a living would know. I can't wait for the ground to dry a bit so I can get started building!

Disappointing 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The shed on the cover is the best one. If you want that specific one buy it, but if your looking for ideas find another book.

Building a Shed 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Glad I bought this one. I had a customer looking for a shed that didn't look 'prefab' and was rustic, but "cute" (her term). I showed her the cover of the book and, with a few modifications, she was sold.

I've never built a shed but I do have some framing knowledge The info on roofing is very helpful to me. I was also psyched the section for the shed on the cover had measured drawings for the trim boards and keystone pieces for the gable ends and over the windows. Should make life a little easier for me.

Editorial Review:

This well-illustrated guide offers a range of building options, with complete instructions and plans for four popular projects: saltbox potting shed, garden storage shed, storage barn, and lean-to tool locker. Author Joe Truini walks the reader through each step, from evaluating storage needs to basic construction to putting the finishing touches on the roof. Over 350 color photos and black-and-white illustrations are included.

Building a Deck (Build Like A Pro)

Scott Schuttner

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Taunton Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $6.12

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

Has most of the details needed to build a deck... 4 out of 5 stars.
21 of 21 people found this review helpful.

Building a Deck (Build Like A Pro)

My construction experience includes home additions, house remodeling/renovation, and many indoor upgrades, but only one deck. So, when we decided to replace our own old deck with one using the latest materials, a how-to book was in order. After reviewing deck books at local stores, this one stood out as the most useful.

Cons:

- This book was written in 2002 and needs a major revision to incorporate current building materials. For example, the deck railing chapter talks mostly about building railings out of wood. The same is true for decking, where almost the entire focus is on wood. The author devotes a page or so to Trex and a few other materials available in 2002, but a host of newer products are now available. Today, there are a wide variety of composite planking (plastics & wood) choices; all synthetic decking such as Azek deck "boards"; PVC and perma-cast balusters; and metal-reinforced vinyl/PVC railing (stainless steel cables, aluminum, steel).

- The book explains attaching the top of a staircase to the deck and methods for anchoring the stairs bottom to a concrete pad; without addressing the frost heave issue. In my area, outside concrete pads frequently frost-heave upwards up to an inch by mid-January. If the author's approach was used here, heaving would jack up the stair bottom, weakening or destroying stairs-to-deck connections. This was inexplicable since the author addresses the frost issue in other places.

- There were a few techniques described that, lacking a diagram or photograph, were too ambiguous to be useful.

- One book can't cover every construction scenario, but it was frustrating that it didn't cover some of the things I needed. E.g., in the section on how to flash the ledger board, the examples show houses with siding above and below the ledger. There were no examples of having siding above the ledger and a masonry wall below.

- If a ledger is lag-screwed against the house sheathing (through to a rim joist), our county building code requires flashing (metal, butyl rubber, etc.) between the sheathing and the ledger. Following the book's approach of having nothing at all there wouldn't pass inspection.

Pros:

- The main focus is teaching the reader how to build a deck, rather than how to deal with a contractor that will build your deck.

- Intelligently organized, with excellent "pro-tips", details, safety tips, building codes, diagrams, and photographs throughout.

- I didn't want a deck book for the novice. Not to worry; the author uses a writing style that worked for me, but should still work for a novice. The book may be too basic for a decking contractor, but it should be helpful for anyone else.

- Multiple approaches are described for most aspects of a deck project, versus having one this-is-the-way-to-do-it, approach.

- Occasional mention of the applicable building code (e.g., balusters can be spaced no farther than 4" apart), with advice of how to exceed standards, when the author believes building codes are too lax.

- Every aspect of a deck project is well discussed, except for financing. It starts with deck planning, and things you should consider, and progresses logically through foundations, ledgers, posts, and beams, joists, decking, railings, stairs, and custom details.

Summary:

This book was clearly worth its small cost, even though it didn't [adequately] cover newer materials or all construction issues. I improved several aspects of our planned deck, based on ideas in this book, and, found out most of what I needed to know in order to do the detail plans required by our county building inspections department.

Editorial Review:

This is the definitive guide to building the most popular exterior building project there is: the deck. By walking the reader through the entire process -- from the planning stages, through construction step-by-step, to the custom details that make a deck unique -- Building a Deck covers the practical side of building as well as design considerations that make a difference to discriminating homeowners. 35 drawings and over 300 color photos are included.

How to Build an Igloo: And Other Snow Shelters

Norbert E. Yankielun

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $4.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An illustrated guide to constructing everything from igloos and quinzees to spruce traps and snow trenches.

How are the ice blocks of igloos so perfectly formed and fitted, able, it's been said, to withstand the weight of a polar bear? How can you determine if the fresh snow that's fallen outside your front door is as good to make a slab shelter with as a snowman? What is a slab shelter, anyway? For that matter, what are drift caves, spruce traps, snow block walls, and bivy bag shelters, and how would you go about building them, whether for winter fun or protection from the weather? In this instructive, whimsical, illustrated manual, Norbert E. Yankielun, a seasoned cold regions explorer and researcher, takes readers step-by-step through the process of constructing and inhabiting a range of useful snow structures—from the most basic to the more complex. Introductory material on igloo physics, proper winter hydration, fueling tips, and much more, is also included. 100 illustrations.

The Black & Decker Complete Guide: Build Your Kids a Treehouse (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

Charlie Self

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Creative Publishing international Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $12.06

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Editorial Review:

Treehouses Anyone Can Build! Black & Decker Build A Treehouse! that is a basic yet complete presentation of how to plan, design, and build a safe, fun treehouse structure for children. The book begins with an inspirational chapter showing the many treehouse variations that are possible. Next, a chapter on basic techniques shows how the essential treehouse platform can be built and secured in any tree configuration-nestled high among the branches or designed so the trunk passes up through the center, and every variation in-between Then, separate chapters show the techniques for adding walls, roofs, ladders, access hatches and accessories. The final chapter of the book gives complete plans for the treehouses, from the very simple to the surprisingly sophisticated.

Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations

Debra Prinzing

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $18.25

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Virginia Woolf was right. Women–and men, it turns out–yearn for a room of their own.

But instead of a little nook beneath the eaves, that room is now a shed. Today’s sheds, however, are not dusty shelters for plants and tools. Lace curtains have replaced cobwebs, charming antiques stand where shovels and rakes once rusted, and instead of corrugated walls, you will find cedar shingles and window boxes. Sheds are stylish and elegant and offer a hassle-free and affordable way to create more space without undergoing a major renovation. They function as artists’ studios, writers’ retreats, yoga dens, entertaining pavilions, children’s playhouses, garden rooms, or serene hideaways for any personal pursuit.

In Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, Debra Prinzing and William Wright showcase twenty-eight innovative and beautifully imagined spaces from New York City to East Hampton, from Seattle to San Diego, and from Atlanta to Austin to Santa Cruz. Some are elaborate and luxurious; others are delightfully modest. They are built in urban gardens and suburban backyards and tucked away on rural properties.

Stunning, lush color photography graces Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, bringing the reader into each space and face-to-face with all its nooks, crannies, and details; the text describes how the owners’ needs and interests inspired the shed practically and aesthetically. With sample plans for building a shed, advice on the practicalities of designing and decorating it, and thoughts from backyard philosophers who celebrate the appeal and possibilities of simple structures, Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways is both an inspiration for creating your own backyard destination and an armchair journey to some of the country’s most private and serene places.

Smart Guide: Ponds & Fountains: Step-by-Step Projects (Smart Guide)

Editors of Creative Homeowner

Amazon Price: $8.95 List Price: $8.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: CREATIVE HOMEOWNER PRESS - Model: 274643 Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $1.46

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Features:

• Creative Homeowner Press #274643 Pond/Fount Smart Guide
• CREATIVE HOMEOWNER PRESS

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> Water Gardens & Ponds

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A water garden, pond, or fountain is today's sought-after companion to almost any backyard landscaping project. Whether you are deciding on the type of pond that best suits your wants and needs or trying to decide whether a stream or a waterfall fits better into your landscape, Smart Guide: Ponds & Fountains has it all. Packed with detailed full-color illustrations, this guide will help you plan, build, and maintain your pond or fountain with step-by-step do-it-yourself sequences and easy-to-understand directions. Chapters cover everything from plant and fish selection to tips on choosing a spray or statuary fountain, how to install pond shells, digging out a watercourse, and even adding accents such as bridges and stepping-stones to your backyard. For those of you who cannot wait to get started in the spring and want to show off your creativity, Smart Guide: Ponds & Fountains will not only help your project take off but will instill confidence to the finish.

More than 175 full-color illustrations on everything from ponds and fountains to streams and waterfalls

Over 40 color photographs

Helpful information on water quality and testing, fish and plant selection, care, and maintenance

How to bring a stream or waterfall into your backyard the easy way

Advice for installing a pond shell liner

Tips on installing flexible pond liners of any size, on any kind of terrain

Softcover, 80 pages, Published 2002

Ideas for Great Backyard Cottages (Ideas for Great)

Cynthia Overbeck Bix

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sunset Books Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $6.69

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Another Sunset "fluff" piece 4 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

Actually, I liked this book. It has fantastic color photos of various cottages, cabanas, potting sheds, sleeping/dining sheds, greenhouses, trellises, etc.. If you are just skimming for visual ideas for what to build in somebody's back yard or vacation property, this book is "tops".

Unfortunately there were no sketches or plans accompanying the pictures. So the reader is left unsure of how to reproduce what he sees. Also, the plans available for sale in the rear of the book are fine as far as they go -- but they don't have anything available if you want a cabana, trellis, or outdoor kitchen.

Delightful to relax with 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book is just a delight to sit and page thru for dreaming up ideas of your own. Page after page of beautiful cottages, quaint little retreats, and even custom doghouses. I have my own "carriage house" converted into an artist studio and just love it. There is really nothing more relaxing then building, decorating, then enjoying your own backyard cottage. If you have the yard space put the effort into building one; then get this book. Even if you don't have a backyard cottage you will enjoy the book. Hope the author will consider publishing Edition II.

Editorial Review:

Choose from ideas for stand-alone backyard additions that reflect a variety of architectural styles, from English cottage to backwoods rustic, from Victorian gingerbread to Asian. Includes guesthouses, offices, pavilions and gazebos, childrens playhouses, potting sheds, structures made from kits, and more.

Sheds: The Do-It-Yourself Guide for Backyard Builders

David Stiles, Jeanie Stiles

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Firefly Books Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $9.60

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Easy-to-follow shed designs with loads of color examples.

The new edition of this classic do-it-yourself guide for backyard builders now contains more material and photographs than ever.

Sheds helps the do-it-yourself builder think through all the issues involved in designing and building a shed: intended use, size, cost, placement, degree of construction difficulty, and much more. Following a chapter on construction basics, the authors preview each step of building a beautiful and useful shed -- from foundation to cupola, and everything in between.

Sheds contains:

• Material lists
• Cost estimates
• Step-by-step illustrations
• New tips and hints
• Detailed instructions
• Schedules
• 16 pages of color.

Packed with detailed illustrations, plans and commonsense advice, this new edition of the classic book on building a shed is like having a professional carpenter beside you, making the project easy to control and successful.

(20070408)

Backyard Idea Book: Outdoor Kitchens Fireplaces Sheds & Storage Play Spaces Pools & Spa (Idea Books)

Lee Anne White

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Taunton Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $3.80

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

Very helpful book with great ideas 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I haven't finished reading it yet but so far love it. It has many photos along with a paragraph about why/how this works - the type of landscape and things to make sure you do/don't do. I am buying a copy for my sister for xmas.

Editorial Review:

Much more than just lawns, the backyards of today make full use of this area's unlimited possibilities for lounging, dining, playing, and communing with nature. Outdoor kitchens make cooking a treat for the senses while backyard fireplaces create a natural gathering place for friends and family. Decks, patios and porches can be transformed into fully furnished outdoor rooms with floors, walls and ceilings.

Backyard Idea Book helps readers unlock the extraordinary possibilities of this incredibly flexible area, and showcases a huge array of cutting-edge ideas for turning backyards into personal, satisfying spaces. New twists on old themes are offered, as well as some of the freshest ideas from the brightest talent in landscape design. An effective combination of stylistic concepts and hands-on advice helps readers select specific projects, while hundreds of color photos serve to inspire and delight.