Working Alone: Tips & Techniques for Solo Building

Library Journal

Carpenters will be enthusiastic about both these new efforts. Together they make a complete package for anyone interested in building. Spence has produced a hefty textbook-style guide to carpentry that covers the entire process of building from planning through finishing. The scope is impressive--704 pages and 2300 black-and-white photographs and drawings, building codes, foundations, framing, doors and windows, exterior finishing, cabinet construction, and tools. Newer techniques, such as steel framing and popular trends, like post-and-beam construction, are covered in separate sections. The comprehensive safety section is outstanding. Many of the processes are way beyond the comfort zone of the average do-it-yourselfer; however, there is something here for everyone, beginner to expert. Most do-it-yourselfers have encountered jobs where they could have used three or four hands; Carroll, a solo homebuilder, has come to their rescue with a slim volume that shows many of the tricks he uses to safely and efficiently complete work on his own. Readers who have completed projects will be suprised at how much easier their projects would have been had they known Carroll's techniques. Using straightforward text and line-drawings, he shares a variety of tips and labor-saving techniques for masonry, framing, siding installation, measuring, and hanging drywall. He shows how to cope with problems such as the collapse of the overextended tape measure. There really isn't anything else like this book on the market. Spence's title will get greater use in the library because it is a more general reference title; but both are excellent and will appeal to both do-it-yourselfers and professionals. Recommended for larger public library collections.--Jonathan N. Hershey, Akron-Summit Cty. P.L., Akron, OH Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.