Product Description

If You're Thinking About Building A Home, whether you want to be your own General Contractor, and SAVE up to 50,000 Dollars or more, or you want to hire a builder, there are many things that you absolutely must know to avoid costly errors and mistakes. "HOW TO PLAN, SUBCONTRACT AND BUILD YOUR DREAM HOUSE" has been written by Warren V. Jaeger, a Master Designer-Builder, with more than 45 years experience. Thirty four chapters, more than 130,000 words, and dozens of diagrams take you step by step through the entire building process with practical advice and real life examples. Learn what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and how to get it done!

But, before you even think about construction, PART ONE guides you through: lot evaluation, drainage, sloping sites, public water and sewer connections, well drilling, septic systems, zoning, wet lands, flood plains, deeds and restrictions, easements, foundation designs and many vital considerations and decisions you must make long before you hire a builder or start to build. Part two covers: how to get plans, when plans are worthless, types of builders, how to choose the building process. Part three covers: the detailed process of construction, mortgages, financial discipline, hiring subcontractors, scheduling and supervision.

There are great chapters on Radon, Principles of Electricity, Energy Saving Windows, and much much more. You will save many times the cost of this book alone by following Proper Insulation Techniques and Construction Methods revealed by the author.

WARREN V. JAEGER explains the 69 essential rules of construction learned through his many years of practical experience. They cost him money to learn, and they will save you money if you follow them. Because the scope and detail of this book is so comprehensive we are including the complete Table of Contents so you can appreciate all the thing that are covered which you need to know to succeed.

You wouldn't remove an appendix, or represent yourself in court, without the necessary knowledge. Don't undertake an expensive building project without getting the information you must have to succeed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147336 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 269 pages

From the Publisher
This book has been sold by mail order to people all over the world such as Australia, Canada, Turkey, Germany, Puerto Rico and every state of the United States.

From the Author
I am delighted that you have decided to take the first and most important step in building a home, and that is to gain the necessary information and knowledge to assure your success.

I have been in the construction business since 1949 and with a few years out for the Korean war, have operated my own contracting business since 1954. I have been a subcontractor on Manhattan sky scrapers, schools, hospitals, airports and industrial plants.

I have always had a creative urge and in 1973 I designed and built my own home in the beautiful Hudson River Valley in New York. I must have done something right because people heard about the house I had built and came to me asking that I design and build their dream house for them.

Building and designing homes was love at first sight. I never felt so fulfilled and satisfied. The excitement and delight of my clients as they saw their life's dream take shape was a big extra bonus and I never looked back. Over the years I have designed and built hundreds of original homes, developed sub-divisions and condominium projects.

I was often invited to give seminars on new home construction to real estate brokers and sales people who wanted to know more about the product they were selling. The lectures were popular and I was more and more in demand. After every seminar people told me how helpful and informative my little talk was. They always asked, "Why don't you write it all down?" But with running a very active building business there just never was time.

Well a few years ago, after I had finished selling out my condominium project the housing market was pretty poor so I decided to take some time off. Suddenly I realized that I had the time to write that long delayed book. SO NOW I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE I HAVE GAINED BUILDING CUSTOM HOMES, IN A WAY THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO AVOID THE MISTAKES AND PITFALLS THAT I MADE ALONG THE WAY IN LEARNING THE BUILDING BUSINESS.

This book pulls no punches. It tells you exactly what you are in for if you decide to build your dream house and what will be required of you for success.

This is your first important decision and it must be an informed one. "HOW TO PLAN, SUBCONTRACT AND BUILD YOUR DREAM HOUSE" will give you all the facts you need to know.

There are important things you need to know before buying land or a building lot. In this book I explain to you all the factors and pit-falls that the broker trying to sell you the lot is not going to tell you about, even if they know!

How do you find and hire good sub-contractors? How do you motivate them to do what you want? How can you tell if they are doing the work properly? All of these things are carefully spelled out for you in easy to understand language and with real life examples.

Just learning how to insulate the RIGHT way will save you hundreds of dollars every year in energy costs. The TABLE OF CONTENTS will show you how many topics and details are covered, from selecting the lot to planting the lawn.

THERE IS ONE MORE THING! I WANT TO MAKE YOU AN OFFER NEVER BEFORE MADE BY ANY AUTHOR. IF YOU BUY THIS BOOK, I WILL GIVE YOU FREE CONSULTATION SERVICE ABOUT ANYTHING IN THIS BOOK OR ANY ASPECT OF YOUR BUILDING PROJECT FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. JUST E-MAIL ME AND I'LL SEND YOU MY PERSONAL REPLY TO YOUR QUESTION.

When have you ever gotten an offer like this? Act now and start on the road to the excitement and satisfaction of building your dream house! I'll be at your side every step of the way. Very truly yours, Warren V. Jaeger LaGrangeville, NY. Email: Buildup28@aol.com

Customer Reviews

Excellent resource when researching builders
I purchased this book as part of my research during escrow on a lot where we plan to build a vacation/retirement home. Even though we would likely not serve as general contractor the information inside is invaluable. It has helped me to understand the right questions to ask during escrow (from surveyors to septic to view to laterals) to ensure the lot, county and sub-division will allow the home we envision. The chapters on foundation, windows, doors, etc are all extremely helpful when it gets down to desiging the home. I'll know what to look out for with the interior and exterior design, drainage and when dealing with the builder.

I skimmed most of the book in about an hour and came away with two pages of notes which will undoubtably be greatly extended when I sit down and read in detail. There's so much great information that it really takes two passes.

That said, the illustrations are a bit primitive and I found some of them hard to understand. Also, an update to include smart home/home theater considerations would be a welcome addition. For those iterested, I've found some of the "XYZ for Dummys" books to fill that gap.

Recommended.

Great book!
Covering all of the main topics, this book on homebuilding is a must have for any person intent on building his or her dream home. I keep it with me all of the time for easy referral.

Voice of experience--good advice
The best part of this book is its easygoing style. Written seemingly entirely from memory, you'll understand and remember every word. The author skips the commonly available info and writes about the crucial nuts-and-bolts problems of building a house: what do you do if you've drilled a hundred foot well and come up dry? (Keep drilling.) His advice on some details, vapor barriers for example, is OK but you'll want to check the latest thinking on the topic too. Some harmless misinformation is passed along, like that Palladio, eponym for those short-tall-short windows, "invented" them. (He may have invented residential architecture, but those windows date to antiquity. In his day they were known as serliana, after the architect Sebastiano Serlio.) The scientific explanations fall a bit short, and the chapter where he disparages Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's engineering does not show him in a good light. However he does caution you that drywallers, more than any other trade, will try to rip you off with a high materials estimate. Stuff like that you can't get anywhere else.