Book Recommendations for New Builders

[gbleuc]

Hi all, newbie here. After a long time of reading everyone's posts, I finally made an account. In the next year or so I'd like to start planning a land/small home project; Having grown up on a farm, I'm handy with building fences, sheds, barns, automobile/mechanic work, etc and the general understanding that things can often be hairier than they appear. However a house, even a small one, still feels a bit daunting (though I've been inspired by reading about everyone's houses here!) and am wondering if folks could share their book recommendations for learning about owner-builder construction, particularly for people who are not otherwise in construction/formal building. I'd like to learn as much as I possibly can before beginning planning.

Thank you!

[akwoodchuck]

Go to the library 
....seriously, though...you will need a hefty stack to cover the full range of building even a tiny house, no one book comes close to covering it all!
....some of the old Black and Decker or Taunton how-to volumes are mighty fine....if I could choose only one book on the subject it would be A Pattern Language....the construction details it gives are completely useless, but the concepts of design are invaluable....

[NathanS]

The Larry Haun videos (free on youtube) along with his book the very efficient carpenter clicked for me. You still need to learn the codes but it is a good overview.

Stuff by Taunton... 'for pros by pros' I liked most of those. Like akwoodchuck said, I did spend some time in the library. I would check out something like 5 plumbing books, skim them and then wound up buying my favorite, but still found good tidbits from the others.

It is definitely good to start with books because you know they have gone through an editorial process and that what you're reading is going to be generally correct.

I did get a lot of good info on youtube and reading through professional forums. You do have to use your judgment on these sites, lots of people don't know what they're talking about.

For home performance, buildingscience.com and Joe Lstiburek are a great resource. I would buy the version of his book that is applicable to your climate.

Part of what worked for me was to get a general overview of how to do things before starting to build. But I didn't research hanging and mudding drywall, laying and finishing a wood floor, building a wooden staircase, tile shower, ... list goes on ... until I was at that step. I learned enough to make sure that my rough framing layout would enable me to do all those things, though.

For now I'd focus on general framing and masonry, as well as Joe Lstiburek's book.


Also this list is still good:

https://countryplans.com/books.html

[Don_P]

I like this one;
https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Guide-Frame-Construction-Revised/dp/163186372X

apawood.org  hit the resource library tab, you'll need to register, they don't spam
awc.org  hit the publications tab, they also have an online span calc.

Start with chapter 3 in the IRC codebook;
https://codes.iccsafe.org/search/?category[]=I-Codes&page=1
Hit the categories tab to see if your state's version is online

[gbleuc]

These are awesome recommendations, thank you everyone! Good call on the library for cost, editorial, resources, etc. Having everyone's recs is really helpful-  I also hadn't seen the CountryPlans book page either, so that's great.

Part of what worked for me was to get a general overview of how to do things before starting to build. But I didn't research hanging and mudding drywall, laying and finishing a wood floor, building a wooden staircase, tile shower, ... list goes on ... until I was at that step. I learned enough to make sure that my rough framing layout would enable me to do all those things, though.

This is also helpful in terms of how to approach the project, thank you.

I'll keep checking back here in case folks add to it. In the meantime I will be tracking down everyone's recs so far!