Houses Are Designed by Geniuses and Built by Gorillas: An Insider's Guide to Designing and Building a Home

Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Bad Title
Review: "Gorillas" is an excellent book for those about to embark on planning and building a home. Unlike many in the genre, the usefulness of this guide is not limited to those who plan to be their own general contractor. Chapters on design, getting along with contractors, where to spend versus economize, are all excellent. One drawback: with its title emblazoned on the cover, we'll never be able to carry it on site -- we might risk a nailgun to the head!

Rating:
Summary: Terrific help for those about to take the plunge & build
Review: "Gorillas" is an excellent book for those about to embark on planning and building a home. Unlike many in the genre, the usefulness of this guide is not limited to those who plan to be their own general contractor. Chapters on design, getting along with contractors, where to spend versus economize, are all excellent. One drawback: with its title emblazoned on the cover, we'll never be able to carry it on site -- we might risk a nailgun to the head!

Rating:
Summary: A gem of a book
Review: Houses are Designed by Geniuses and Built by Gorillas by Bob Johnson

The book's subtitle --"An Insider's Guide to Designing and Building a House -- while not as glitzy as the main title, accurately describes the book's contents. This book is crammed with straight talk about building a house. Bob Johnson sounds like one who's been there and done that, and he gives it to you straight, in an in-your-face, no-holds-barred style -- as though he's sitting with you over coffee at the local diner. He holds nothing back, telling you everything you need to know, and more. More than half the book is devoted to matters that need attention before the first nail is driven -- everything from siting a house on a piece of land to getting building permits. Bob is also a raconteur. He illustrates many of his points with so-called "war stories" that recount his own experiences on the job. Even within chapters, he doesn't mind digressing a bit. So, he spices up what could be textbook-dull narrative with his opinions. He tells you flat-out what is stupid and what isn't, what works and what doesn't. As a result, this is one of the most readable and entertaining building books I've come across.

Rating:
Summary: great title, mediocre book
Review: I bought this book expecting to get lots of useful advice regarding building a new home. No such luck. These is very little content that I actually found useful in a practical way.

What I would have found useful would have been chapters on each major phase, and explanations about the impact of the many decisoins that have ot be made. Instead I was addled with lots of war stories that somehow didn't seem relevant to my situation.

Though I must admit that the book title does ring true, as we are working with both an architect and a builder who prove it out.

Rating:
Summary: great title, mediocre book
Review: I bought this book expecting to get lots of useful advice regarding building a new home. No such luck. These is very little content that I actually found useful in a practical way.

What I would have found useful would have been chapters on each major phase, and explanations about the impact of the many decisoins that have ot be made. Instead I was addled with lots of war stories that somehow didn't seem relevant to my situation.

Though I must admit that the book title does ring true, as we are working with both an architect and a builder who prove it out.

Rating:
Summary: Builder Written... Builder Apologist
Review: I read this book immediately after reading the Alan and Denise Fields book on building a new home. I had saved this book for last because it looked like it had a lot of good information.

What I found through reading it, though, was that a lot of the time the author (a builder) was giving the lines that the Fieldses had warned about.

The book is fine. It just seems to be more of a "Give the Builders a Break" kind of book compared to the Fields' "Trust but Verify these Things" kind of book.

I came away from the Fields' book thinking that they were looking at things from the Consumer point of view much more so than this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Bad Title
Review: I've built one house, remodeled another, and now starting to build on my first rural location. I've done a lot of research over the years and spent a lot of money learning lessons the hard way. THIS IS THE BEST BOOK IN ITS CATEGORY. Great attitude and writing style, complete ideas that are clearly communicated, and "Case Studies" peppered throughout that reinforce the points Bob is making.

"Reviewers" who don't get past the title haven't read the book.

Rating:
Summary: Succinct well written and informative book
Review: The reader who gave this a one star did not read the book. It acknowledges the fine qualities of the builders and the architects - in the forward as well as throughout the book. Maybe he should read books before he reviews them.

Rating:
Summary: Good outline, something here will save you $
Review: There is a lot of good information in this book and if you are considering doing an owner/builder project I can almost guarantee that the price of this book will be negligible if you read and apply even one tip. The two lists on how to spot a good sub or a bad sub easily make this book worth buying.

There are good overviews of the complete process of building a home and point the prospective owner builder in the right direction. This book is not an end all be all of the building process, however, it is only a guide. Get more information on each subject.

I had a few problems/disagreements with some of the material such as the following:

He mentions vinyl/lino as a good kitchen/bath flooring choice. While he does mention in his section regarding final walk through that vinyl is easy to rip so make sure you check this, he never mentions what a good choice (and probably cheaper in the long run) it would be to just install tile or stone instead.

In scheduling and planning a job he gives the approximate days it takes to do each trade or process. While he mentions that this time table is based on perfect conditions and full professional crews I feel he does a disservice to the reader because nobody reading this book and considering doing an owner builder project is going to come close to having perfect conditions and full scale professional crews doing the kind of "track" or "production" work that the author has spent many years working as a super.

The person planning on using this book for its intended purpose isn't building a track or production home. They aren't in the business of building homes (presumably) and they aren't going to get the same response from sub contractors that a general with lots of business will. I think he'd have done the reader a better service by describing how long it is going to take, how many unforeseen problems are going to come up and that the person(s) thinking that they are going to move in during March might want to be very certain that they have alternative summer accommodations.

Things always go wrong in building something. Always.

He mentions using flat paint on walls and semi-gloss on doors/trims. What? I think what he meant to say was talk to a professional painter unless you really know what you're doing. Flat paint on walls will look like crap in weeks, unless of course you don't have kids, pets or anyone that ever puts their hands on walls. I only mention this because such bad advice on such a simple topic makes me wonder what other information he gives that is erroneous on subjects I don't know much about and therefore would really need to rely on the advice of others.

He mentions that scheduling subs to work concurrently is rarely done. What? Not where I live and work. While it's true that you don't want to schedule a job like a recent one I was on where we were getting our final electrical inspection yet the dry waller was still taping, the painter still painting and the carpet layer started installing carpet. It was a commercial job, yes, but it is not uncommon to be on the job with other trades during regular old residential work. Sometimes it is good. If you don't have some overlap of trades you run the risk of having to call the plumber back because he ran some pipes where a light needed to go. It is not good to have every mechanical trade show up on a Monday, but it doesn't hurt to have the electrician start before the plumber is totally done with rough. Often they'll know each other and if they are true professionals they'll help each other out and give you a better job.

While I do recommend reading this book, it is worth the money and time, I also strongly recommend either reading other books on building as well as consulting with at least one seasoned construction pro that is familiar with your region. Even if you have to hire a contractor has a consultant, perhaps a day or two a month, it will be money well spent.

Everything and anything can go wrong in construction. If you think it will take a week it'll take two. If you think it will cost a dollar it'll cost three. Beware of anything that sounds too good or too easy or too quick or too cheap.

That being said, I'll say this: work with professionals and you'll get professional work even if you don't know thing one about construction management but if you work with anyone that is less than a real pro, you'll pay twice in the long run.

This is a very good book to read before you get too involved in your building process. He gives some great ways to plan on paper what it is you are trying to achieve in a house. Following his advice will make you look better when you first start to talk to designers or architects and will probably make the job of getting plans ready a smoother process.

All in all I recommend this book, read it and then plan, plan, plan.

Rating:
Summary: A great guide for the home builder. Humorous but informative
Review: This is a great book for anyone considering building their own home. Gives step by step directions. Easy to read and understand the various stages. Points out ways to avoid mistakes and pitfalls. I highly recommend this as must reading to make this stress producing experience as pleasant as possible.