37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive manual for the aspirant self-builder, 18 Aug 2001
This review is from: Building Your Own Home: The Essential Guide to Anyone Wanting to Build a Home for Themselves (Paperback)
Certain fields of endeavour seem to have a book that is "the definitive guide." This appears to be the one for self-building in the UK. Now in the sixteenth edition, the book covers everything from finding, evaluating and buying a site through all the aspects of designing a house, dealing with planning and building regulations and managing the project. It is written in a wonderfully clear style and is larded with real case studies illustrated with diagrams and colour photographs. It is also full of useful contacts and references to other sources of information. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is building a large extension.
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75 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Basic background (non-practical) book on building., 30 Oct 2001
This review is from: Building Your Own Home: The Essential Guide to Anyone Wanting to Build a Home for Themselves (Paperback)
...It gives almost no practical advice on how to build your own home, which is in direct contradiction of the title.
It gives case studies and details of how to organise and manage, but on a very superficial level .... a bit like the Blue Peter approach. i.e. here is one I did earlier .... tempting you with the finished product but giving no real help or ideas in how to achieve it.
On almost every page Murray mentions how much was saved by a particular self build, or cost per sq. ft ...... but if you think this book will help you achieve this you'll be disappointed.
There are some sample plans which give ideas, and sample specifications and costings that helped bring out the details a bit.
Maybe worth considering if you want a background book to see if you want to dip your toe into the self build game.
It is also now out of date with modern energy conscious design requirements.
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13 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Self build project here I come!, 20 Jan 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Building Your Own Home: The Essential Guide to Anyone Wanting to Build a Home for Themselves (Paperback)
I have just received the book this morning and am already tucking in to a feast of delights (?!) about planning, design and finance and so much more. The style of writing is simple, easy to grasp and very friendly. I feel as though I'm actually talking to the writer personally. Not yet 30 and organising my first selfbuild project I have wondered about the sanity of it all, but now I feel armed with knowledge and experience will come soon enough when the project gets started. If a book can create such an impression after less than 2 hours of its possession, then it has to be good in my view! In fact I'd recommend it as essential reading if you're planning to build your own home (and I've not yet finished the book). Happy building to all you self-builders out there...
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