With this comprehensive book, you will learn enough about construction materials and labor to save up to 70 percent on the cost of your home and still have a house more sound than any ready-built structure. You will learn enough about creating a plan so that you or a professional builder can translate your dream into a reality. You will learn enough about good building methods to avoid the "high cost of cheap construction." Included in this volume is complete and detailed information on all the following topics: Basic Tools and Use * Doors and Windows * Site Selection * Exterior Finishes * Building and Zoning Laws * Interior Non-Bearing Partitions * How to Read Plans * Soundproofing * Preliminary Design Studies * Plumbing * Designing for the Physically Handicapped * Heating * Air Conditioning * Dangerproofing * Electricity * Cost Control * Solar Energy * Staking Out * Fire Stops * Introduction to Construction * Insulation and Energy-Saving Techniques * Foundations * Termites and Carpenter Ants * Ceiling Finishes * Floor Framing * Interior Wall Finishes * Wall Framing * Floor Finishes * Ceiling Framing * Interior Finishes * Roof Framing * Saunas * Plank and Beam Framing * Site Work * Sheathing * High Cost of Cheap Construction * Roof Covering * Construction Forms and Contracts Written simply enough for the layman to understand, with enough sophisticated knowledge and creative ideas for the professional, here's a book no home builder should be without.