Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The 1930s house is a design icon and the first truly modern British home, with over three million built. But many are now in need of 'essential repairs'. Problems like cavity wall tie failure, corroded metal windows, unstable bays, collapsing drains and subsidence are well-known, but how can you tell if your house has major defects or is just typical for its age? Forget 'makeovers': this easy-to-use manual shows where to look for danger signs, what's 'normal' and what isn't, and how to fix common defects. You'll also be able to talk the same language as builders and property professionals. This is the first book to cover logically all defects common to 1930s houses.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Like most people, my experience of Haynes Manuals has been limited to their technically explicit, but dreadfully dull, tomes about cars. I was, therefore, very surprised and pleased to find that Ian Rock's house manual was far from the dry volume I had been dreading. His style throughout is relaxed and informal, even when describing the technical aspects of structures and features, and the inclusion of personal comments and asides makes the content very readable.
The 1930s was a boom period for house-building with a range of new materials used to construct the houses and all the mod-cons inside. Style-wise, the designs ranged from the conservative to the innovative, from one-foot-still-in-the-Victorian-era to the moderne cruise-liner look with its curved, sun-trap windows. Houses had never been so affordable for so many people or, in some cases, so shoddily built. Some houses were built in a mere four months and the need to keep costs low meant that corners were cut. Add to this the fact that building regulations were nowhere near as stringent as they are today and you can see why the current owner of a 1930s house may have many problems to deal with.
Ian Rock tackles these problems, chapter by chapter, in a very methodical fashion. He starts at the top of the house with the roof. The structure of a typical roof is described in depth with photos and diagrams to clarify the text and then he details the many types of tiles with which the roof might be covered. He continues with the various shapes which will be found in 1930s roofs such as valleys, bays, porches, eaves, gables, verges and flat roofs. Now that the reader knows what an ideal roof should look like, Ian Rock outlines the various defects which are likely to be found and their solutions. The chapter finishes with a DIY project - in this case how to replace a defective roof tile.
Each chapter follows a similar format so that the reader gradually builds up a picture of the features and structures which make up a 1930s house, and their variations. The defects and solutions section of each chapter also gives you clues about the way in which these problems have been solved so that you will know what you are looking at when you see it.
I found this book very readable, highly informative and, having been brought up in a 1930s house, rather nostalgic.
The 1930s was a boom period for house-building with a range of new materials used to construct the houses and all the mod-cons inside. Style-wise, the designs ranged from the conservative to the innovative, from one-foot-still-in-the-Victorian-era to the moderne cruise-liner look with its curved, sun-trap windows. Houses had never been so affordable for so many people or, in some cases, so shoddily built. Some houses were built in a mere four months and the need to keep costs low meant that corners were cut. Add to this the fact that building regulations were nowhere near as stringent as they are today and you can see why the current owner of a 1930s house may have many problems to deal with.
Ian Rock tackles these problems, chapter by chapter, in a very methodical fashion. He starts at the top of the house with the roof. The structure of a typical roof is described in depth with photos and diagrams to clarify the text and then he details the many types of tiles with which the roof might be covered. He continues with the various shapes which will be found in 1930s roofs such as valleys, bays, porches, eaves, gables, verges and flat roofs. Now that the reader knows what an ideal roof should look like, Ian Rock outlines the various defects which are likely to be found and their solutions. The chapter finishes with a DIY project - in this case how to replace a defective roof tile.
Each chapter follows a similar format so that the reader gradually builds up a picture of the features and structures which make up a 1930s house, and their variations. The defects and solutions section of each chapter also gives you clues about the way in which these problems have been solved so that you will know what you are looking at when you see it.
I found this book very readable, highly informative and, having been brought up in a 1930s house, rather nostalgic.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
We bought this book as we bought a new modernist house and wanted some information about 1930's architecture.
It not only gave all the basic information that we wanted but also help us with simple house repairs and DIY.
The book explains everything very well from roof to cellar and wall to windows including decorative features.
Recommended
It not only gave all the basic information that we wanted but also help us with simple house repairs and DIY.
The book explains everything very well from roof to cellar and wall to windows including decorative features.
Recommended
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
if you live in a 30's house buy this book. If you are lucky you will realise that not all the problems possible apply to you and that those that do are emminently fixable.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
demystifying 1930's house repairs
This is a great book for anyone who loves their 1930's property and wants to place it in its historical context architecturally, understand how it is constructed and look after it. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Cathy
Essential reading
We have just bought a house built in 1935 and this book has been constantly in use for reference. My husband is in the building maintenance trade but had not had any experience of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Linda
1930's House manual
Very good overview of these houses with sound advice on what to look for and how to fix common problems.
Published 17 months ago by timo
Background reading
Good book if you have (not surprisingly) a 1930s house. Though generally I find the Readers Digest or Collins DIY manual far more useful and would refer to them first nearly... Read more
Published 23 months ago by M. Epton
Needs more information to be helpful...
The first half of this book is interesting, covering design and build techniques of this era, but it then drifts into a scary story outlining all the things that can and probably... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2010 by G. Boyle
Very Happy
Excellent book, very informative with lots of pictures and indepth text to give you an insight into houses of bygone times which are still very much part of todays society. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Mudpiemillionaire
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
