The Housebuilder's Bible: 14th Edition

As an owner of a large building plot I have often entertained the idea of building a nice house on it and over the years whenever I feel the 'urge' coming on I get myself a copy of the latest edition of this book. It truly is a wonderful read with detail which will fascinate anyone who has ever tried diy or anything more ambitious (or just even to hold conversations with builder mates down the pub!). The book is nicely structured with lovely detail on new developments in building and gives a good contrast between traditional skills and the new products to make life easier. One word of caution...the index is rubbish which does force you to read every word and add your own bookmarks and highlights (no bad thing I suppose). I was a bit disappointed in his choice of benchmark houses as they seemed a bit removed from reality but an entertaining read nonetheless. The real chilling chapters are the ones on pitfalls and design which really do show you why the building industry is in such a mess. With so much quality planning legislation from zealous councils, the UK must surely have the best builders and houses in the world ;)What is really excellent are the costings, figures and estimates which give a good indication about whether it's really worth bothering. On recieving this latest copy I spent a day with calculator, tape measure, Council planning application forms, and estate agent's guestimates. I reckon the costs as shown are spot on and I concluded that it would be ridiculous for me to even entertain the notion of a self build. (My day job is as a Project Manager!). So once again the book has done its job and paid its way. I'll be doing some nice diy projects from out of the book but as for self build...not until house prices make a big jump. Equally I am sure some people will be inspired to go ahead and try it. Final word, the typos are hilarious but then again it was written by a builder ;)

I have just finished reading this book and I have been extremely impressed. The writer guides you through the different stages with clear straight forward language. The book has been broken down into sensible chapters that capture, at least to a beginner wanna be like me, the essential lessons for achieveing a successful house build. The book is full of useful and up to date examples including complete costings. The writer explains the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches of building, planning costing etc with what seems to be good impartial advice. At first I read this book almost as I would a novel it was that engrossing, at various points the author has pointed me in the direction of other information which I have eagerly rushed off to dip my toes in. I soon settled down and kept it with me to pick up a paragraph here or then as I found time and found both approaches worked. Overall I am quite surprised by how easy and enjoyable reading this book has been and learning about the complexities and potential pitfalls of the self build. I find it hard to imagine there is a better written book on this subjec. Although this is the only self build book I've read the author makes a compelling case for what is good practice to follow as potential client, project manager or site manager on a self build project.I would heartily recommend this book as a general guide for self builders. I'm sure that specific details will require more research to make informed decisions but this book is the primer for all that subsequent investigation.Buy it, read it and maybe we'll make our dream of a self build a little bit more likely.

Really quick deliver and great book. I wasn’t expecting it to be in black and white and so badly printed. But detail is good.

This book is excellent. It is written in an extremely likeable style and is superbly laid out, with copious photographs and tables and with very good use of colour. It's also satisfyingly heavy (in weight). Whether you read it because you are interested in having a house built specially for you or, like me, you simply wish to know more about the subject, I can fully recommend it. What's more, you can read it from start to finish because of the highly-readable style.I must draw attention to one aspect of the book though. It contains a high number of "typos" and mistakes. At first, these were annoying me (the word I quote in the title of this review crops up on page 49 of the 8th edition). However, after a while I quite enjoyed finding them. Some of my other favourites are the 5 questions on heating (4 questions follow, the first of which is "Heat is heat?" instead of "What is heat?"), the table of 21 energy-saving tips (19 tips follow and they're not in a table), and the curious maths ("9 = 16 = 25" and "5 x 5 = 125"). There is one sentence in the book with 3 "typos" (on page 259 if you don't believe me). The book could have done with some good proof-reading (or "draft proofing" to quote from a part of the book dealing with the correct sealing of external doors).Also, I must quote one more piece from the book, because it had my brain going round in circles: "Airbricks will only be installed with a suspended ground floor, so an absence of airbricks doesn't spell disaster (though it might, if you have a suspended ground floor. Do you? Often the presence of airbricks is the easiest way to tell.)".My advice is to buy the book, read it all, and enjoy the "typos" along the way. Don't be put off by the stated date of publication of the 8th edition (November 2008). It was actually published in April 2009 and is correctly described as the 2009-2010 edition.

Undoubtedly this is one of best books on the market and lays a good ground work for anyone into construction business or a self-builder. Five stars to the written content of the book. The reason I have given 3 stars is:1. The font of the book is not user-friendly at all. I have normal eyesight but it is too small and takes away the fun out of reading. I would not mind if this book is sold as part 1(say chapters 1-6) and part 2 (chapters 7-13). Honestly it becomes a pain to read the book. I have deducted one star out of five for this reason.2. In addition to the font, the colour of ink used is not jet black, at best the colour is dark grey which is a big minus in itself.2. The other thing missing from the book and which could further enhance the quality/usefulness of book would be lots of pictures/illustrations and that too coloured. Because many things are left to imagination of the reader or you need to Google every other minute. That would make it a true Bible.Another star deducted for this drawback.