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House Plans books:
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Top Reddit reviews mentioning House Plans books:
> Contracting Your Home
Check out this book. The author goes into this and other overlooked ways to save material in chapter 2. (He even uses the exact image you linked.)
A lot of other posters seem to be dismissing this as not saving that much money. But the author gives all kinds of examples about how being smart about keeping components aligned cascades down the line. But when you stay in this "lego block" mentality, small savings roll into big bucks. Being smart about staying in standard unit lengths not only saves on the framing, but also the flooring, roofing, windows, carpeting, ductwork, plumbing, and trim.
Really recommend this book. It’ll explain the whole homebuilding process, the major decisions and their relative trade offs.
Learn to Timber Frame: Craftsmanship, Simplicity, Timeless Beauty
It has a set of plans with variations on size and modular expansions to fit your needs
Habitat for Humanity.
Read their book. The entire book. Reread the electrical several times.
Then, donate a few weekends to Habitat helping to build a house.
You'll learn more on site in a month than you will in years staring at a screen.
The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home by Kent Lester and Dave McGuerty was the most useful step-by-step homebuilding book I've read, and it includes a lot of tips on how to reduce costs.
I would LOVE to find a big shit-hits-the-fan library. Only relevant contributions I can suggest relate to woodworking, starting with a handful from Lost Art Press, including The Anarchist's Workbench and Toolbox, for making these woodworking starting essentials out of hand tools. I've also got Tedd Benson's book on building a timber frame construction. I'd love to find more about log cabin building, and how to fell/limb/buck/hew a tree with hand tools. Or how to make glue and hand tools. I'm surprised there aren't more of these sorts of collections around.
Will Beemer’s book is exactly that. Gives full plans plus some variations for a 12x16ft. We used it to build our cabin and it was great (also took a class with him!).
I’ve read through these books (linking one but two books in total) The Builder's Companion: Zero to Building Permit, Your Complete Guide to Home Building, Book 1, US/Canada Edition https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0645095907/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_359390CC8N97SCYX7K85?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Also subbed to “how to build your own home” channel. Some good insights.
If you're interested in DIY, you might check out slipforming as a way of simplifying the process of building with natural stone.
http://www.hopspress.com/Books/Stone_House.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Build-Stone-House-Down-Earth/dp/0882666398
You might be interested in this. I've been thinking of building a barn with hand tools and logs.
I'd really recommend picking up a copy of this book.
The author walks through the entire process of building a house, step-by-step. He very clearly lays out the different options and what tradeoffs come with them. Most importantly he comes at it from the lens of being cost-effective and easy ways to save money in the process. Even if you don't end up being your own GC, it'll really help you understand how to control costs.
I'd recommend reading this book. It basically lays out all the steps to building a home, what the options and tradeoffs are, and the best way to save money if you decide to be your own contractor.
I would highly recommend getting the book "Get Your House Right"
The structure you are working with has a lot of very strange and naive combinations of elements that don't quite work. If you were to correctly resolve the entablature, it would go a LONG way to making it read more coherently and harmoniously.
This book would be an invaluable resource for you in understanding exactly how to fix your building so it feels right, instead of clunky.
A friend who was licensed taught me years ago, I have my own pick set and a puzzle of really hard locks. While I see the advantage of using a bump, I think it defeats the purpose if you see picking as a puzzle, which is how I approach it. I'd love to learn safe cracking. This is a great book http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Lock-Picking-Steven-Hampton/dp/0873644239/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279869016&sr=8-9