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rebeccacider's review against another edition
5.0
This book was wonderful! I am basically a construction know-nothing but found it very accessible. At the same time, it would be a good choice for someone more skilled who wanted a primer to alternative building.
The book is mostly about design and problem-solving principles that could apply to any thoughtfully sited and well-built house. There are lots of step-by-step instructions, but they're there to illustrate principles rather than teach you every possible building technique. The authors are also super-pragmatic about their use of natural building techniques and warn you against jumping on the eco bandwagon for no reason.
In fact, I decided that if we end up building our dream house, we're not likely to use any of these techniques (with the exception of lath and plaster on a stick frame). I will probably seek out another title that discusses eco-friendly stick houses in more depth, but I'm glad that I started with this book to orient me.
The book is mostly about design and problem-solving principles that could apply to any thoughtfully sited and well-built house. There are lots of step-by-step instructions, but they're there to illustrate principles rather than teach you every possible building technique. The authors are also super-pragmatic about their use of natural building techniques and warn you against jumping on the eco bandwagon for no reason.
In fact, I decided that if we end up building our dream house, we're not likely to use any of these techniques (with the exception of lath and plaster on a stick frame). I will probably seek out another title that discusses eco-friendly stick houses in more depth, but I'm glad that I started with this book to orient me.
glamourfaust's review against another edition
4.0
This book is chock full of info. I was mostly interested in the section on building with cob and found it to be very useable information.
cateresa's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent overview of green building techniques through the lens of building a single, small, free-standing guest-house. You can use it to go in depth on how to build foundations, walls, etc. You can also skim it and enjoy the photos to get a loose sense of how the processes work.
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