Independent Builder

Designing & Building a House Your Own Way

by Sam Clark

The most complete and easy-to-use house-building handbook available. With an emphasis on accessibility, ergonomics, and "pattern languages," this comprehensive manual of design, planning, and construction provides readers with the tools to build a home that will be beautiful and comfortable long into the new century.
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Sam Clark: First Steps To Building Your Own Home, Your Way
Builder Sam Clark (Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way) explains how to construct and design a simple, affordable, energy efficient house, using solar power, native materials, and imagination. He takes us on a tour of how to envision what methods, techniques, and economic constraints make a home a warm, inviting, and unique place. He gives great tips on how to live well using less space, and combining ecological methods without the economic stresses of high cost projects that won't save you money in the long run. Instead, Clark provides us with helpful expertise on how to save money and build green.Here, Clark walks us through the first steps in building a home. He stresses the importance of building within your means, so as to conserve economically, and about the need to think carefully about the site—for example, tuck your home into the land, with the goal to preserve it, not hack away at it. He urges us to consider where the house is in terms of the local water source, the electricity pole, and how to build from a solar point of view. To Clark, bigger isn’t better—small spaces are easier on the wallet, and create warmer, friendlier rooms. He’ll tell us: Where should your favorite workspace be located? How can you make the most of light and solar power? Watch this for new energy and space efficient tips, including a shelf that doubles as a dish rack, and windows high up on the wall to make use of morning sunlight. Clark's style, where utility combines with ingenuity, can be affordable for just about any homeowner. Watch this and learn how to let the land and its resources work for you in a cooperative relationship between your home and habitat.