Table of Contents

 

• • •

viii

 

CHAPTER 3:

Tools

Tool Safety Tools to Own Tools to Rent

 

34

 

CHAPTER 1:

Inspecting a House

 

34

image19

 

The Roof 7

House Exterior 9

Interiors 11

Mechanical Systems 15

Estimating Project

Difficulty and Costs 17

 

CHAPTER 4:

Building Materials

 

CHAPTER 2:

Planning

 

Creating a Home That Suits You 19

Documenting What’s There 21

Design Constraints 24

From Preliminary Designs

to Working Drawings 25

An Overview of Renovation 28

Case Histories 29

 

image16image17image18image20

image36 Inspecting

a House

With a little practice, you can train your eye to see both a house’s potential and its pitfalls.

Подпись: For Nesters: Keeping Emotions in Check When shopping for a house, it's hard to keep emotions in check. Unless you're buying a property solely as an investment, you're probably looking for a nest. If you're like most of us, you'll imagine yourself living there, surrounded by friends and family. Those warm feelings are all understandable human stuff but probably not the best frame of mind for making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. By all means, listen to your feelings; just don't lead with them. Look at a lot of houses. Read this chapter to get an overview of house systems and learn building lingo. Then scrutinize every house you enter—whether it's for sale or not. Be cold eyed: Look beyond the lace curtains and the fresh paint. Look for problems and try to figure out what's causing them. Then when you begin shopping "for real" and find that certain place that wins your heart, you won't lose your head. Also, if you like a house, check out the neighborhood, and talk to neighbors to see what they are like. Ask about traffic, schools, shopping, city services, and crime. This will help you imagine what living there will be like.

Every house f you know

where to look, you can see how skillfully the house was built or remodeled, how well it has weathered the elements, and how carefully the owners took care of it.

This chapter explains how to read a house’s history from sometimes subtle symptoms and then systematically figure out what caused them. So when inspecting houses, you need to observe closely and search for patterns, whether you’re a homeowner, a house shopper, or a renovation contractor.

► Inspecting your own home, you may be surprised to discover how many areas need attention, whether for safety, repair, updating, appearance, or preventive maintenance. Thus this inspection may guide your renovation.

► If you’re house shopping, your inspection may reveal conditions bad enough to dissuade you from buying. Or, if you decide to buy, those problems may give you leverage when negotiating price. Remember, most aspects of purchase agreements are negotiable.

► If you’re a remodeling contractor, this chapter will likely prove helpful in assessing systems you may be less familiar with, and subsequent chapters will specify techniques and materials that can make your renovation projects more time and cost effective.

Finally, think of this chapter as gateway to solu­tions throughout the book. Consequently, many of the house problems in this chapter are followed by page numbers or chapter numbers that direct you to further explanations or possible solutions. Note: Within this chapter and others, if you don’t find specific cross-references to topics you’d like to learn more about, consult the book’s index.

Updated: 11 ноября, 2015 — 2:01 дп