5 stars (An excellent guide to incorporating concrete's positive qualities into a home) - Fu-Tung Cheng and Eric Olsen's Concrete At Home may sound like an unlikely mix for a home environment, but when used property, concrete can look and feel soft and warm while retaining extra durability. Cheng demonstrates how to mix colors and textures for this effect, from achieving a translucent effect to using thermal foam insulation to provide insulation to concrete, which typically has no insulating qualities to speak of. An excellent guide to incorporating concrete's positive qualities into a home. 5 stars (An excellent guide to incorporating concrete's positive qualities into a home) - Fu-Tung Cheng and Eric Olsen's Concrete At Home may sound like an unlikely mix for a home environment, but when used property, concrete can look and feel soft and warm while retaining extra durability. Cheng demonstrates how to mix colors and textures for this effect, from achieving a translucent effect to using thermal foam insulation to provide insulation to concrete, which typically has no insulating qualities to speak of. An excellent guide to incorporating concrete's positive qualities into a home. 5 stars (Mr. Cheng inspires) - Fu-Tung Cheng's latest book "Concrete At Home" is a wonderful journey to what is possible in home design using concrete as the expressive medium. It is full of wonderful photographs illustrating projects underway and in their finished appearance. I believe it's intent was mostly to excite and inspire and not be a step-by-step guide. With so many preconceptions out there about how things "should" look and be constructed, Fu-Tung Cheng has had the patience and inspiration to bring a whole new aesthetic to the discerning homeowner. While many projects showcased in "Concrete At Home" were for those with deeper pockets, I believe Mr. Cheng offers this timeless body of work as a place from which those of more modest means will be inspired to have the b... The Taunton Press :: House & Home & Design & Construction :: Methods & Materials :: Materials :: House & Home :: Home Maintenance And Repair :: Home Improvement & Construction :: Dwel :: Concrete at Home - Innovative Forms and Finishes- Countertops- Floors- Walls- and Fireplaces
5 stars (Essential reading for every homeowner!) - Insulating your house is fraught with dangers and there are lots of sharks out there only too delighted to take your money and ruin your house. Although I am still learning this stuff, I'm still confident that I know more than most of the insulation contractors that have come through my door. Scary, isn't it? The dangers of doing it wrong aren't just a waste of money. There is a real risk of mold in the short term and rot in the long term. Read this book, but let it be your first step. See the Taunton forums at their web page, the Building Sciences Corp web page, and do your homework before you let anyone do anything to your house. I agree with a previous reviewer that a weakness of this book is its lack of step-by-step guides, and as a complete novice on house construction I had to look elsewhere for some of the terminology. But I'm still giving it 5 stars just because it has so much important information, to counteract all the misinformation and misconceptions out there. 3 stars (Very useful overview, but not a step-by-step manual) - This was one of the first books that I bought after purchasing an older, leaky home. And not having insulated a house for ten years or so, and knowing many people with rigid-insulated McMansions, it was a relief to see a book that treats insulation as something to be planned, like any other infrastructural component, not just done ad hoc. Like other Taunton publications, this one is nicely laid out and designed. However, as an amateur, I wanted to see a game plan that I could follow, including which tasks I could be expected to do reasonably well myself, and which things should be left to a professional. Sure, this advice is scattered in the content, but having something like a checklist and timetable would make this a great reference, not just a great overview. 5 stars (Clears up common misconceptions about insulation) - I am very pleased with this book. In addition to covering... Taunton :: House & Home & Reference :: Sealing (Technology) :: Repair :: Insulation :: House & Home :: Home Maintenance And Repair :: Home Improvement & Construction :: Dwelli :: Insulate and Weatherize - Expert Advice from Start to Finish (Taunton-s Build Like a Pro)