Product Description

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EDITION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY THE SEVENTH EDITION WHICH IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON ISBN 9780954867447

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123787 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Mark Brinkley, 49, lives and works in the house he built for his family in Cambridgeshire. He worked as a carpenter and a housebuilder for 15 years before he wrote this, his only, book which has now established him in a new career as a writer. He is a regular contributor to the selfbuild magazine, Homebuilding & Renovating and an occasional contributor to many more.

Customer Reviews

brilliant
this is a great book, so much useful information in there. in my opinion theres already enough good reviews to convince one to buy it, so theres not really much to add.
although its important to know, this doesn't tell you practical skills, 'how-to's like roofing, plumbing etc. its more about prices of materials verses labour, explains the ins and outs of employing an architect to design for you, explains how to deal with building regulations, that kind of thing.
VERY useful
paris

Remove any Donald Rumsfeld from your life
The ex-Secretary of Defense is now most famous for his quote about knowledge. "...as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."
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When I started thinking about renovating my house and building an extension I had very few known knowns. After using the Housebuilder's Bible as a guide I now have no unknown unknowns and very few known unknowns. I and know how to know those.

So, if you're building or thinking of building and you feel an outbreak of Donald Rumsfeld is imminent; buy this book !

Essential reading for self-builders and project managers
Despite having no previous building experience, we have been building and/or project managing the build of our house for the past 2 years: see www.timval.com for a diary of the build.

Mark Brinkley's Housebuilder's Bible has proven to be invaluable. It provided us with sufficient technical information to allow us to select, negotiate with, and manage our architect and tradesmen. It gives realistic estimates of the main costs incurred, and highlights the potential pitfalls of self-building or project managing a build.

There are many books available which delve further into the technical aspects of building, but none draw together the essential points from design to finishes in such a clear and practical way.

The Housebuilder's Bible is the most useful tool you can buy if you are thinking of self-building or managing the renovation or new build of your own house.