Product Description

Product Description

In the end, it all lives up to authorWilliam P. Spence's promise in the introduction that this book willprove useful to homeowners as well as apprentice and experiencedcarpenters. --John Russell ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great book for all aspects of construction
Used it extensively to help me build a 500sg foot workshop in my backyard. Great read.

Excellent!
I can hardly build a dog house and I was able to build a nice home with this book.

If there is one book to have in your posession, this is it.
This book is an overwhelming source of information for the homeowner, amature do-it-yourself person, professional contractor and even students who are taking courses or apprenticeship training. But not overwhelming in a negative context. This book is formatted in such away as to provide a steady flow of information that brings the reader to the next level in his construction needs. You can open any section of the book in area that interest you, read it, learn from it and then proceed with your task. It isn't necessary to have to read the first seven chapters in order to understand the information presented in the eighth chapter. I believe this will be one of those books that you'll always find on top of the bench in your shop, with the corners of the pages well-thumbed from constant referral to the information inside. With over 2000 pictures and illustrations for referrals and examples, it far exceeds its book value.

Section I covers all of the common sense requirements for safety on the job site, building codes and regulations, and the how to's on reading architectural drawings and specs. A lot of emphasis is placed on falls which seems to be a major concern. Ideas like placing hand rails in wall window openings and on gangway planks is repeated. With good intentions too because I've been to many job sites where this practise was not followed. Also depicted are some very good diagrams on how to build scaffolding on site. Bracing is a key ingredient.

All kinds of charts listing wood dimensions versus span/weight capabilities. Building codes and zoning regulations are summarized with an outline as to what a builder/owner can expect when starting the initial planning stages of building a structure. A buildable area of a site is determined first by the setback. Setbacks are the minimum distances from the perimeter of the property to which a building's exterior can be constructed. The architectural drawings and specifications section goes into very good detail as to how to read drawings. Charts and diagrams showing methods of measurements, architectural scales and symbols, window, door and piping symbols, electrical symbols and abbreviations can greatly help even the layperson to read plans and drawings. Detailed drawings on how to read floor, frame and elevation plans can really boost the knowledge of anybody who wants to know "what is what" and "what goes where" in a building that is being constructed.

Building Codes and Regulations are touched on giving the basics but I would recommend to check with local codes first. Architectural Drawings and Specifications goes into great detail about measurements, scales and symbols. As well as how to read foundation, floor, elevation and reading plans.

Section II shows you all the how-to's for using the different types of leveling instruments found on the job site which include tapes and surveying equipment, leveling rods, laser levels and the Vernier scale. It also gives particular information necessary on how to setup and operate this equipment. The book then digs into the building location on site and foundation frame-ups. A lot of emphasis is put into explaining form work and proper procedures. With a whole chapter on concrete, it gives the details on different types and why its so important to get this step of the work done right ... the first time.

Section III talks about floor, wall and ceiling framing. It points out the types of support structures used and the importance of each. The diagrams in this section are very detailed and should leave no question unanswered.

Section IV delves into framing the roof and dormers. Again, attention to diagram detail is impressive. Information includes everything, and I mean, everything needed to but either a simple roof or a multi pitched roof with dormers. Explaination on the rise of a roof, reading the rafters square, marking the bird's mouth, plancher lines, collar beams, sway braces, purlins and cornices. Hip roofs and intersecting roofs are spelled out in laymen's terms. A complicated process made easy with the help of detailed diagrams. It seems that pages have no less than 3-4 images with every turn of the page. I guess they realized that a picture is worth a thousand words.


Section V deals with other framing methods, like Post, Plank and Beam construction, Heavy Timbers and Pole contruction.. With its advantages and limitations, this section shows how to build beams on site and how to case them in to look like one solid beam. Information abounds with charts like Table 20-1 "Examples of Column Slenderness Ratios" or Table 20-2 "Total allowable uniformly distributed roof loads for 3 inch nominal laminated wood decking."The diagrams included truely are incredible. Everything is detailed.

Section VI is an "open and shut case" on how to install Doors and Windows. And not a "pane" to read either (sorry, couldn't resist that one). It talks and shows how all types of doors are make, their construction, installation standards and weatherstripping and installing locksets. Window installation is a technique all its own and deserves fuul treatment with regards to explaining proper installation procedures. This book covers it.

Section VII covers in the issues of finishing the exterior. You won't be left out in the cold after reading this section. Everything from nail selection for wood siding, installing horizontal and vertical wood siding (no corners cut here), installing fiber cement siding and vinyl/aluminium siding, wood shingles and shakes, stucco and others.The "Finishing the Roof" chapter covers it all, you simply have to get the book to see it all. Naturally, what's a constuction book without talking about decks and porches. The pictures of examples by themselves will inspire you to build or re-do one.

Section VIII draws you into the lost art of paneling and moldings. Stock, custom and polymer moldings; choosing the right wood to paint or stain and the how to's on making your own. It details once again on how to "cope" with defects in the floors and walls. Nailing and splicing the shoes, caps and bases. It even shows how to install the more difficult installations of arches and other large radius'. And who would of thought there was so much involved in the installation of paneling and wainscotting. To do it right "the first time" this book is ~the~ primary source of information.

Section IX will sweep you off your feet! If your "significant other" is around watch out! If she catches a glipse of the hardwood floors in this book you can add another task to your "Honey Do" list! This chapter has it all. Types of flooring; laminate, planks, parquet blocks, end grain, inlaid and plastic. Then onto the installation of each type. Then there's the topics of other types, like cushion, carpet, resilient and ceramic. Ofcourse, then there's issue of stair construction. All the bases are covered and leads you "step by step" with, once again, pictures and excellent diagrams.

Section X offers 30 pages of important information about insulation and interior wall finish. Issues of heat transfer and resistance values, R-values of construction materials, thermal insulation, vapour barriers, moisture control, when and where to insulate, how mauch and the how to's. Then there is the task of drywall and plaster. Compounds, finishes, preparations, installation (like installing on curved walls and arches), corners and taping techniques.

Section XI is probably the most popular topic, cabinet construction. From how to read design drawings, views of many designs, kinds of cabinets, construction, to have or have not a face frame, installation the basics to installing peninsulas, island bases and of course, countertops.

Section XII is dedicated to the construction techniques of light frame steel products used in the basic construction of buildings. Tools to use, assembly methods of tying in the floor, walls and trusses to form one solid unit.

Section XIII jumps into the very wide topic of tools and materials. This chapter is assembles so it does not create an information overload to the reader. Some of the covered topics include: species and properties of different woods, log yield and how different types of board are obtained from one log, moisture content, dealing with defects, how to read classifications and stamp codes, span size values, fire-retardant-treated wood an dplywood and wood preservatives. Fastners (you name it, its explained here) is the next chapter and they "hit the nail on the head" offering all the information you need. The last two chapters deal with the carpenter's tool box, the basic tools, power tools and how to use them.

Lastly is the Appendices. Solid information about the following as well as other information.

* Structural Framing & Wood Floor Nailing Requirements
* Floor, Ceilingand Rafter Joist Spans in feet/inches and metric
* Built Up Floor Beam Spans in Metric and Feet/Inches
* Board Feet for Selected Sizes of Lumber

So, after all that I can only make one recommendation. If there is one book to have in your library, this is it.

Jim Barry
WoodchuckCanuck.com

This is a great book
I bought and built a good sized house kit home but wanted to know how a house is really put together and proper terms after all my years of remodeling and odd jobs in construction.

This book covers it all from safety to setting up a table saw to building on site scaffolding or a simple ladder. Not to mention how to build an entire house!

I still constantly use this book as a reference on many projects.

How To Do The Job Right
A complete do-it-yourselfer's guide to residential carpentry from basements to balustrades. If you're the type who wants to know how to do it right, this is the book. It's really an omnibus of carpentry because itdeals with rough and finish carpentry, drywall, floors and flooring,cabinets, insulation, doors and windows, tools and safety and more! It alsoexplains how lumber and plywood are graded in the U.S. and Canada andincludes great charts explaining architectural drawings and symbols. If youalready know what a Phillips screwdriver is you don't need half of the"home improvement" books out there. This one is different. Mr.Spence has placed homeowners in his debt with this exceptional volume. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Delightful
This is a wonderful collection of stories about the author's father.It was a rare insight into church politics,one pastor's antic's, and life in the midwest in the early 1900's.I thoroughly enjoyed it and have been passing it around to my church going friends. ... Read more

Product Description
Univ. of Texas, Austin. Examines how gender defines male and female behaviors. Divided into three parts: the genesis of gender research, the complexity of gender stereotypes, and the modern forms of sexism and their consequences. For researchers and clinicians. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

woodworking basics-is a very good book for a absolut beginne
I was very pleased, to find this book! i searched very long to find abook, where I could learn the basics of woodworking. I like the clearpictures which discribe exactly each part of machines you need. i just atethe book and I enjoyed that the editors marked the stuff which you reallyneed and not much else! for me as a young woman without to much nowledgeabout wood it was just a very good book to have. it is very good made and Iwished we would have such a book in german! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

A good reference guide...
I bought this book before starting my own house.I didn't do much framing on the house but the book gave me a good idea of what was going on with the framing while the house was being raised.It gave me a good basic understanding of how things are done and of the terminology used by framers which provided me with the knowledge to work with my framers without sounding like a complete novice.I also used the book to make some decisions on some of the framing techniques I wanted used in the house and I was able to use it as a reference to show my framers what I wanted.The diagrams are great.It's a good book.It's a little wordy in some of the more boring areas but it covers a wide range of topics and does so in a fashion that is easy to understand and follow.

Simply the best tool in the home
So nice to see such a quality book that cover every detail big and small. It is my building bible! Every one who either owns a home of wants to do a building project should make this their first purchase.

This is a great book.
Excellent diagrams, well-written, very thorough. If you can swing a hammer and have some basic mechanical inclination, this book will be invaluable. Or, even if you have a really good idea of what you're doing, this book will fill in the holes of your knowldge and you'll frame like the pros. This is probably the most useful book I have ever bought - on any subject.

excellent resource, however ...
Consider "Carpentry & Building Construction" by the same author.It seems to include most of the content of "Residential Framing" plus much more.

An invaluable reference on framing
Spence's book is the most easily read reference I have seen on basic house framing. Excellent diagrams of everything from batter boards to installing crown moulding. Good info on scaffolding and other saftey items. Good basic reference on lumber grades and markings. I have consulted this book during every project from my shed to my addition and deck. ... Read more

Product Description
DEWALT Construction Professional Reference Master Edition is a must-have resource for anyone working in the residential or commercial construction trades. This comprehensive job site solution provides contractors with easy access to a wealth of reference material including construction specifications, site work, concrete and masonry construction, foundations, carpentry, roofing, and drywall/plaster. Covered exclusively in the master edition are topics such as job site safety, architectural design information, rigging, electrical and plumbing installations, fasteners, finish flooring, protective and decorative coatings, metal structural products and lightweight steel construction, engineering data and much more. Be sure to have this professional job site reference guide in your toolbox. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Interesting Reading, Good For Straight, Conventional Stair Building.
This book will not give you all of the information required to build any staircase - anytime. But if you're interested in building stairs down to your basement or up to your 2nd floor addition, this is a very good source of information on the lay-out and space requirements. Professionals looking for new and interesting ideas will more than likely be disappointed. But if you're looking for a teaching aid for your guys, or a good book of examples of stairs, to show to your customers, then this book is a good buy.

Don't EVER take the book "A Treatise On Staircases And Handrails" on jobsite to show to your customers unless your planning to move in with them. It takes a major investment in time to build those old antique designs with all of the decorative achitectural mouldings and ornamental handrailings. This book will have your guys using phrases like newell post and quarter turn landing as if they know what they're talking about.

For the non-professional,, this is a good resource for the basics.

This book has everything I needed.
I purchased every book I could find on staircase building including _Basic Stairbuilding_ (usefull but not as straightforward as this one) and _Stair Builders Handbook_ (absolutely useless - don't waste your money).

This book (Constructing Staircases...) contained the clearest diagrams and language that was easy for someone with no construction background to understand. I've used it exclusively to plan the construction of my staircase and am ready to begin building.

Most of the reviews of this book are negative. I don't really understand why. If you want to build a staircase and have very little construction experience, this is the book you need. Building a staircase isn't rocket science but is reasonably complex as far as construction goes. Good luck!

Great Inexpensive Staircase Book!
I purchased the "Constructing Staircases, Balustrades & Landings" book after getting frustrated by the lack of details in the general purpose books out there, reguarding stairs.

The book is GREAT! I learned a LOT about the basics in just the first two chapters. At under [$$], this book is a steal if you are looking for info on making your own staircase!

The Price Is Right - The Book Is Wrong
Like the photograph on the cover, this book is not what it seems. The text is simplistic, skimming the surface of a topic that people can devote a rich lifetime to studying.

I bought it on the price and the strength of the cover photograph, because I'm Scottish (i.e. cheap), felt ambitious, and wanted to build a circular staircase from scratch.

The book doesn't touch on that subject at all. The cover "photograph" is actually a poorly-rendered computer graphic, and the text inside matches it well.

(By the way: DO NOT attempt to build a circular staircase from scratch unless you have years of woodworking under your belt, a very complete workshop at your disposal, are completely comfortable with extremely complex geometry, and have a source of income that allows you infinite free time :-)

Not useful for railings
I'm in the process of remodeling my house and am replacing a stair railing.I used information from instructions the stair parts manufacturers produce and help from a stair parts salesman to figure out the parts I would need but needed some additional help in actually installing it.I found this book at a woodworking show and thought I was set.Unfortunately almost all it covers is the design and constructions of the stairs themselves.The design and construction of the railing is barely touched on.I got more information from the manufacturer's instructions and the instructions that came with some of the installation hardware.

I can't really comment on how good the stair construction information is since that's not what I was interested in, but I can't recommend this at all if your looking for information on stair railing design and construction.

If you're looking for railing information I would recommend the book "Stairs: The Best of Fine Homebuiling". (ISBN 1561581313) ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: London : G. Bell and sons, ltd.Publication date: 1920Subjects: Spence, Thomas, 1750-1814Ogilvie, William, 1736-1819Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809Land useLand tenure -- Great BritainPropertyNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Bob Hawke, Harry Bridges, Chummy Fleming, Ted Theodore, William Spence, Bill Shorten, Greg Combet, John Garden, Samuel Mauger, Ted Holloway, Jack Mundey, William Lane, Hugh de Largie, Emma Miller, Edward Brooker, William Trenwith, Harold George Nelson, Norm Gallagher, Donald Grant, John Mcneill, John Verran, Jennie George, Clarrie O'shea, Michael Easson, Brian Harradine, John West, Bernie Banton, Eliot V. Elliott, Alice Henry, Francis "Frank" Hyett, Stewart West, Joe de Bruyn, Kathy Jackson, Pat Mackie, Rose Summerfield, David O'byrne, Fred Evans, Richard Marles, James Mathews, Tom Bramble, Brian Boyd, Dudley Watson, Laurie Short, Jack Egerton, Tas Bull, Henry Ernest Boote, Leigh Hubbard, Doug Cameron, John Grant, Paul Howes, Selina Anderson, Grace Grace, Sharan Burrow, Jean Beadle, Leontine Cooper, Augusta Zadow, Jeff Lawrence, Bill Ludwig, Jack Mcphillips, Kevin Reynolds, Bill Kelty, Charles Lamp, Hughie Williams, Thomas Ryan, John Cummins, Phil Doyle, Cesar Melhem. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 234. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke, AC (born 9 December 1929) was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia and longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister. After a decade as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he entered politics at the 1980 election and became Prime Minister within three years. He became by far the longest-serving and most electorally successful Labor Prime Minister, achieving the rare feat of winning four consecutive federal elections. He is Australia's third longest-serving Prime Minister. Hawke's memorial at the Turf Tavern for downing a yard of ale (2.5 imperial pints or 1.4 litres) in just 11 seconds in 1963 while at Oxford Uni, a record at the time, and entered in the Guinness Book of Records. The re...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4059 ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
This collection reveals the history of English common law and Empire law in a vastly changing world of British expansion. Dominating the legal field is the Commentaries of the Law of England by Sir William Blackstone, which first appeared in 1765. Reference works such as almanacs and catalogues continue to educate us by revealing the day-to-day workings of society.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
Bodleian Library (Oxford)

T215227

Dated at head of the drop-head title: July 25. 1765.

[Edinburgh, 1765]. 19,[1]p. ; 4° ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
British Library

T069653



[London, 1769]. [4],163,[1]p. ; 8° ... Read more