Outdoor Structures Books

I was looking for ideas on simple structures for the homestead. The book is a bit dated, but you have to go back to find simple, uncomplicated ideas. We have grown so accustomed to specialized fasteners, tools and other hardware. Building a simple shed can be expensive when you have to buy materials. We have an abundance of raw materials and this book provided some ideas towards cost effective structures.

This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

I know that most people will find this book to be anything but "green" however, I found this concept to be perfect in a world that sometimes forgets what it is like to be young at heart. Some of the shelters are not safe and one should always supervise young children who if left alone will build forts and such, yet there is a certain allure about thinking you are back in time and surviving on your own wits. Great ideas for survival campouts or if you like getting out "there" and just might once or twice get too far out "there" and find yourself in the need of an overnight shelter. Loved the book and will use or adapt many of the detailed plans.

I'VE KNOWN OF AND ENJOYED "SHELTERS, SHACKS & SHANTIES" SINCE MY GRANDFATHER GAVE ME THE ORIGINAL EDITION, WHEN I WAS A MERE PUP.
A LOT OF THE ITEMS HAVE BEEN ACTUALLY "FIELD TESTED" (SUCH AS THE "TRICK" OF MAKING A BOG-SHANTY FOUNDATION OUT OF A BRUSH-MAT!) AND REALLY PROVEN TO "WORK" IN THE WILD, OVER A YOUTH FRITTERED AWAY PLAYING "SASQATIL," AS THE THE GREYHAIRED ELDER INDIANS CALLED HIM.
AS A YOUNGSTER I THOUGHT NOTHING OF GOING OUT FOR A COUPLE WEEKS WITH 25-30 POUNDS OF GEAR, FEASTING ON FISH AND CORNPONE AND SLEEPING IN A SIMPLE BEARD-INSPIRED STICK-SHACK TO KEEP THINGS "CIVILIZED."
EVEN THE BOG-SHANTY WAS BUILT, AND DAN BEARD'S SUGGESTION FOR MAKING A STONES-AND-SOIL HEARTH FOR COOKING WAS TESTED AND FOUND PRACTICAL! (YES, YOU CAN COOK ON AN OPEN HEARTH, IN A POLE SHACK, ATOP A WOODEN FLOOR, BUILT ATOP A 7-FOOT-THICK PAD OF BRUSH, WITHOUT MAKING AN ASH OF YOURSELF!)
THE TRICKS AND TIPS REALLY WORK, IN "THE REAL WORLD," AND THE ADVANTAGE IS THAT ALL OF THESE STRUCTURES UTILIZE SUCH SMALL STICKS & TIMBERS THAT THE SO-CALLED "GREEN IMPACT" IS TRIVIAL; SUCH SAPLINGS AS ARE USED ROUTINELY DIE AS THEY ARE CROWDED OUT BY BIGGER TREES, AND THE THINNING-OUT FOR BUILDING MATERIALS FREES UP WATER AND NOURISHMENT FOR THE MORE ESTABLISHED TIMBER.
SO LONG AS SOMEONE DOESN'T GO BONKERS AND TRY TO BUILD A HAMLET IN A HECTARE OF TIMBER, AN OCCASIONAL SHELTER, SHACK OR SHANTY SHAN'T STRESS MOTHER NATURE, UNDULY!
EVEN IF YOU NEVER BOTHER WITH SUCH PRIMITIVE CONSTRUCTION, EVERYTHING YOU'LL READ ABOUT WAS SOLIDLY BASED ON HOW THINGS WERE DONE BY "PREHISTORIC PEOPLES," GOING BACK AS FAR AS YOU CARE TO LOOK!
YOU'LL CERTAINLY GET A VERY NOVEL HANDS-ON INSIGHT INTO HOW EARLY PEOPLES HAD BUILT THEIR DWELLINGS, AND THE BOOK'LL BREAK KIDS OF THE TIRESOME MYTH THAT "ALL INDIANS LIVED IN TEEPEES." (GIVE ME A BREAK!) JUST MAKE SOME OF THESE SHACKS FOUR OR SIX TIMES AS WIDE, AND ONE OR MAYBE EVEN TWO HUNDRED FEET LONG, AND YOU'VE GOT PRETTY GOOD VERSIONS OF THE LONGHOUSES OF THE IRIQUOIS CONFEDERATION!
THE BOOK'S ALSO GREAT FODDER FOR FUN FANTASIES AND DELIGHTFUL DAYDREAMS, AND DOZENS OF IMAGINARY DEEP-WOODS OUTINGS, AS WELL AS BEING A WONDERFUL RESOURCE TOOL FOR WRITERS WHOSE OUTDOOR WORKS OCCASIONALLY TURN THEIR BACKS ON EDDIE BAUER & CO.
ENJOY!

This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

This is a great book. It is very imformative and easy to read. The chapters are clearly labeled and the information is very concise. The information is amazing. I have never seen a book that shows such clearly defined gardens to make the most of limited space.

I love this book. Even my kids have enjoyed finding information in it.

this book goes into detail on how to grow your own food, make wine, beer, chesse, and raising chickens. Good reference book for anyone interested in growing a garden, raising chickens, livestock, etc.

I bought this and had skimmed through almost all of it in a day. The author covers about every topic I was interested in learning more about. The advice and sketches are SUPER practical. HIGHLY recommended to anyone who wants to make a first step towards being more independent in their food production. If you want to dive deeper into any of the topics, she even lists references for each each chapter. I bought this at a retail store for $20. I was happy with that. Looks like you can get it for half on Amazon.

This book has it all. From garden planning, to crop rotation tips, to bee keeping tips, to raising chickens, and so much more. If you are serious about turning your back yard into something that actually helps to feed and support your family, no matter the size of your yard...This book is a "must have" for you.

I purchased this book but returned it because I already had "Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance" and it contains almost all of the same information. For the little bit of new information contained in this book, I didn't think it was worth purchasing this book in addition. I didn't realize this book would be so similar. If you don't have or never read "Storey's Basic Country Skills...," this book will be a great find for you. It's a smaller, easier to handle book than "Storey's Basic Country Skills..," but it has much less content, for those deciding between the two. However, the information it contains is valuable for backyard homesteaders.

I bought this product because one of the reviews of the other deck books said that this was the best book. My husband has learned a lot from it, and hopefully one day, we will actually have a deck in our yard :) Seriously, this is a good book, it is very thorough from beginning to end of the project. Highly recommended.

I bought this book and several others so that I could dismantle and rebuild my deck. This book was by far the best of the lot. I wound up changing the design of my seating based upon some of the examples and am very happy with the results. I'm almost sorry that I am finished with the deck because it was so much fun.

I bought his book used through an affiliate and it was delivered quickly as advertised in like new condition.

This is a good book for beginners. Wish there was a little more variety of design style. Haven't built my deck yet, but either way if you follow this books suggestions I imagine it will be a very good deck.

Building a Deck (Build Like A Pro)

My construction experience includes home additions, house remodeling/renovation, and many indoor upgrades, but only one deck. So, when we decided to replace our own old deck with one using the latest materials, a how-to book was in order. After reviewing deck books at local stores, this one stood out as the most useful.

Cons:

- This book was written in 2002 and needs a major revision to incorporate current building materials. For example, the deck railing chapter talks mostly about building railings out of wood. The same is true for decking, where almost the entire focus is on wood. The author devotes a page or so to Trex and a few other materials available in 2002, but a host of newer products are now available. Today, there are a wide variety of composite planking (plastics & wood) choices; all synthetic decking such as Azek deck "boards"; PVC and perma-cast balusters; and metal-reinforced vinyl/PVC railing (stainless steel cables, aluminum, steel).

- The book explains attaching the top of a staircase to the deck and methods for anchoring the stairs bottom to a concrete pad; without addressing the frost heave issue. In my area, outside concrete pads frequently frost-heave upwards up to an inch by mid-January. If the author's approach was used here, heaving would jack up the stair bottom, weakening or destroying stairs-to-deck connections. This was inexplicable since the author addresses the frost issue in other places.

- There were a few techniques described that, lacking a diagram or photograph, were too ambiguous to be useful.

- One book can't cover every construction scenario, but it was frustrating that it didn't cover some of the things I needed. E.g., in the section on how to flash the ledger board, the examples show houses with siding above and below the ledger. There were no examples of having siding above the ledger and a masonry wall below.

- If a ledger is lag-screwed against the house sheathing (through to a rim joist), our county building code requires flashing (metal, butyl rubber, etc.) between the sheathing and the ledger. Following the book's approach of having nothing at all there wouldn't pass inspection.

Pros:

- The main focus is teaching the reader how to build a deck, rather than how to deal with a contractor that will build your deck.

- Intelligently organized, with excellent "pro-tips", details, safety tips, building codes, diagrams, and photographs throughout.

- I didn't want a deck book for the novice. Not to worry; the author uses a writing style that worked for me, but should still work for a novice. The book may be too basic for a decking contractor, but it should be helpful for anyone else.

- Multiple approaches are described for most aspects of a deck project, versus having one this-is-the-way-to-do-it, approach.

- Occasional mention of the applicable building code (e.g., balusters can be spaced no farther than 4" apart), with advice of how to exceed standards, when the author believes building codes are too lax.

- Every aspect of a deck project is well discussed, except for financing. It starts with deck planning, and things you should consider, and progresses logically through foundations, ledgers, posts, and beams, joists, decking, railings, stairs, and custom details.

Summary:

This book was clearly worth its small cost, even though it didn't [adequately] cover newer materials or all construction issues. I improved several aspects of our planned deck, based on ideas in this book, and, found out most of what I needed to know in order to do the detail plans required by our county building inspections department.

My wife and I successfully built a deck using this book 2 years ago. Planned, submitted plans to village got building permit and final inspection. It felt good to accomplish such a large task with only 2 people who are not carpenters and haven't built a deck before. The deck is around 300 sq. ft. so it is not small. The book has all the information you need to build a solid deck. It also includes information on problems you could run into and ideas for customizing the deck. We are now building a smaller 100 sq. ft. deck for the front of our house. Believe me, we could not have done this without this great book.

I had been looking for something exactly like this for a class that I help teach.
We wanted the "Other" Shelters, not igloos and not caves. This book has the
best treatment of any book that I have been able to find. The illustrations
are also outstanding. It would be great for kids too, although my students are
adults. We wanted to find the other shelters because the igloo/cave take too
much time to build when you are running out of day light. Most other books
have just lifted ideas from old Army manuals. This author is a distinguished
engineer and his work shows that. This is the best outdoor book that I have
read all year!

my son got this as a gift and enjoyed the variety of snow shelter info.

How are blocks of ice cut and fitted to create an igloo, how can one assess snow possibilities to build one, and what are other shelter options for snowy areas? Norbert Yankielun's How to Build an Igloo and Other Snow Shelters covers all the basics, offering step-by-step insights on how to construct - and inhabit - an igloo or other snow shelter. Any collection located in an area that gets winter snow will relish this fun, appealing title!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

"There are lots of reasons to build a snow shelter. A snow shelter can be a serious survival refuge for people who work or play in the winter backcountry. It can be a fun social experience shared by friends, or a wonderful educational and inexpensive afternoon family project." ~ pg. 9

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to build a snow shelter then this book has many creative ideas including:

Preparation Before Building
Igloos
Quinzees
Slab Shelters
Drift Caves
Spruce Traps
Expedient Shelters
Camping Out

Norbert E. Yankielun explains why snow on a roof helps keep a house warmer and how snow acts as an insulator to protect plant roots and even stops hibernating animals from freezing. He then gives safety tips and explains the importance of nutrition and hydration. He also discusses windchill, frostbite, claustrophobia, hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning.

"...it has been reported that polar bears occasionally climb on top of an abandoned igloo to better survey the surrounding flat terrain for prey." ~ pg. 39

The instructions for building an igloo are very detailed and there are some interesting ideas for making part of the igloo with a block of ice for a window to let some light in. In areas where there is less snow an igloo can still be made after making a "sheet cake" of snow. Making a quinzee looks easier than the igloo or you could try to make a slab shelter that looks like a "pup tent." For most of the shelters it seems better to have at least two people working on the project. The simplest project includes a spruce tree and snow packed around it to form a type of cave for two people.

Throughout the book safety is emphasized. There are also creative ideas to keep tents from blowing over in damaging winds. A few structures are built with tarps. There is a short discussion about camping items you will need if you are sleeping out in your snow shelter. If you are building an igloo near your house all you need is warm clothing, a shovel and a saw. This book could save lives if you are out camping or can be a source of fun ideas if you just like to play around in the snow.

~The Rebecca Review

First of all my 5 and 6 year old started looking at this book and it was hard to get it back from them as they were so charmed by the pictures. They have been playing in the snow and hounding me to help ever since.

Second of All I lived in Nunavut for 9 years and took lessons in igloo building from Inuit elders. I also worked with elders and teachers to create a unit on igloo building for students and teachers. I learned to make a half presentable igloo in this process! I can say with a modicum of expertise that many books on the subject are complete flops but not this one.

This book is the real deal. The pictures are great and the text is as well. A fantastic and charming tutorial for playing in the snow. First rate.

Wow, I couldn't believe this book when I got it. It is the best book I've ever seen when it comes to explaining all the forces acting on barns and how to counteract them. This a book that really explains the concepts behind the fixes. Illustrations are great. There are some advanced methods of fixing barns that are good to know but I'm not sure I could handle them, it's great to know about them.

I never write reviews, but this book deserves one.

I read Donald's review and thought to myself "That describes every phase of the project I'll be taking on at my own barn". So I picked up the book, read/studied all 240 pages over a weekend, and took my original project plan and enhanced it in multiple ways. You can piece this information together with hours and hours of research (that's what I had been doing up until this point), or you can get this book. Clear explanations, excellent illustrations, and Nick Engler's writing style is just generally easy/fast to read.

We just purchased a property with an old barn and this book was recommended to us as an initial resource. It has provided a good overview of barn history and guidance for restoration.

Excellent book on how to tackle serious structural deficiencies of your barn from foundation up to the roof.I think you could use this usefull information on other types of buildings such as older homes and garages.In fact this book will show you how to replace rotted out logs in a log cabin.Many simple pictures and diagrams on how to get it done.Also good basics on how to run water and electric utilities once you square up your building.

if you are looking for good, solid, usable information on restoring old barns and the mechanics of their structure, this book is the bible on it. quite detailed and good instructions. the author doesn't just tell you it can be done, but how to do it as well. this book won't help trendy city folk, with no building skills, pick out carpet samples for turning a barn into a home, but it is the number one resource on the structure of barns and making them solid and usable again before changing their purpose. I highly recommend this book.

Great book for those of us who want to dump the wasted space of a water hogging lawn and be creative. From simple to complex, a very nice collection of ideas and photos.

This is a great book for the gardener with little space. All of the gardens featured are pretty small by suburban standards. But none the less, the gardens and designs Keith Davitt covers are spectacular.
You will discover how to get rid of that same old boring lawn that everyone else has on the block. Davitt takes you through creating your very own unique garden with stone, brick, gravel, water and lots more. He covers why it works for the owner and the space given. It gives valuable insights for the gardener planning a new space.

This book is full of pictures of unusual and beautiful gardens all very different from one another. I especially enjoyed seeing the variety of what is possible. The text focuses mainly on design with discussion on style and analysis of what works and why. Although I think Keith Davitt's first book "Small Spaces Beautiful Gardens" was a superior book with more information on how each garden was created and before & after pictures, I still highly recommend this book for its many examples and design tips.

Written by gardening expert Keith Davitt (winner of the Herald Award for Excellence in Garden Communication), Beyond The Lawn: Unique Outdoor Spaces For Modern Living is a simply beautiful and exceptionally "user friendly" sourcebook of ideas for creating harmony with stone, brick gravel, rock, water, herbs, conifers, planted pots, native and wild plants. Lavishly illustrated with full-color photography, Beyond The Lawn is a treat to page through and recommended for gardeners everywhere looking to add a bit of originality to the grounds outside their home. Offering a vast panoply of materials for crafting a unique, personal, and relaxing atmosphere, Beyond The Lawn is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to professional and personal gardening reference collections.

This is a beautiful book with many pictures and lots of design ideas for gardens.

Wow! I just cannot say enough good things about this book! When it arrived, before opening it I expected to just see another book with black and white sketches telling me things I already knew. But from cover to cover, I found tons of beautiful, inspiring photos of actual gardens and landscaping which has given me many good ideas to incorporate into my own plans. The text is also easy to follow and understand (even for a beginner), the detailed captions are very helpful, and the overall layout of this book, with its various sections broken down, is to be commended. I would give it 10 stars!

Most of this is beyond the average gardener, but it is well done and fun to look at. Don't pay full price, but discounted, it's a nice addition to your gardening library. Fun to browse.

"When painters seek artistic development and inspiration they visit great art collections, like those in the Louvre, Paris, the Tate Gallery, London, and the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. When gardeners seek inspiration there is no one place to find a wide selection of styles and designs, hence the reason for this book..." Derek Fell wrote in "Encyclopedia of Garden Design and Structure: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Garden."

He continued to discuss designing the landscape, and gardens of inspiration (the influences of great painters, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne on garden design), informal versus formal design, softscape versus hardscape components, etc. He also listed and explained the garden design terms in alphabetic order, each term is briefly discussed and demonstrated with color photos.

On Derek's discussion of formal and informal gardens, I have a different opinion and I think while Chinese and Japanese traditional buildings tend to be formal and symmetric with extensive and powerful uses of grids and axes, Chinese and Japanese gardens should be considered informal gardens with their overall naturalistic layout. See my book, "Planting Design Illustrated" for related in-depth discussion.

"Encyclopedia of Garden Design and Structure: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Garden" has 224 pages and over 1,000 color photos and over 100 garden features. Overall, it is a great visual encyclopedia and a source of inspiration and ideas for your garden design.

Gang Chen, Author of "LEED AP Exam Guide" & "Planting Design Illustrated." LEED AP, AIA

This is one I'll keep going back to -- in fact some of these projects are really do-able! My only caveat is that the type face, although pretty, is difficult for old eyes to make out even with reading glasses. Fortunately the pictures are lovely enough to be worth the price, all by themselves.

I have almost finished building the summerhouse in Garden Retreats. It overlooks a bay where swan , ducks and other birds come over every day to watch my progress. This has been one of the most gratifying projects I have ever attempted. It has been time consuming, but worth it. I have even put in electric as suggested in the book. I highly recommend this book and this project. Once I got the summerhouse enclosed, I could trim out the interior and it was plenty warm inside the space. I can't wait until summer when I can sit inside the summerhouse and watch the sun go down.

When you make a garden, it doesn't matter what type of garden it is. You will still need structure to help tie it to the earth and sky. Whether you opt for a small arbor or a charming playhouse, this book has ideas and plans to help you fill your garden with structures. From practical plans for garden sheds to fun plans for gazebos, Garden Retreats by David and Jeanie Stiles has ideas for any gardener who enjoys working with wood.

Section one of this book covers the basics of building garden structures and fencing. This section covers topics such as planning, types of wood to use, and how to set corner markers. Section two covers garden seating. This section has clear, simple to follow directions for each piece, from a simple garden bench to a lovely pergola. Section three is called special places in the garden, and covers everything from arbors to arched gates. Finally, section four discusses garden shelters. I especially liked the garden shower, but there are also structures such as summerhouses and gazebos, as well.

This book includes directions and plans for over twenty garden structures. The plans are clear and the directions are easy to follow. I have several of these projects on my list of things to do next year.

Both my husband and I really enjoyed this book. The projects are interesting and the pencil drawings are great.In one case, we used their project as a starting point and went from there.

Most of the projects are NOT simple DIY stuff, so make sure you want do do a project that is covered in the book. It is not a generalized building manual that is applicable to building in general.

To complete the projects, you will need a good table saw, radial saw, circular saw or compound mitre saw, a good jig saw or band saw, portable drill or drill press, and power sander such as a 5 or 6 inch orbital sander or belt sander, plus the usual standard hand tools.

A lovely book, plenty of inspirational photography and sufficient detail to inspire the intended pool builder or professional. Coffee table interest

The photography is fabulous. Many of the pools were designed by the author, but this does not detract from the book. It is well balanced. The chapters include: the natural pool, lap pools, infinity edges, indoor pools, historical pools, among others.

Detailed analysis of a few each of several different types of pools: lap pools, "natural" pools, indoor pools, famous pools, etc., all in California. Not a construction manual, but full of details worth considering when designing a pool. A must for anyone considering getting a pool on a difficult or very special piece of land.

This excelent book is focused exclusively on design. Very inspiring and unique. Do not expect to find anything about maintenance, it is a book meant for designers. A must for landscape designers and architects.

Deck Designs packs in a wealth of deck design ideas and patterns, featuring designer's unique approaches and their tips on how the deck feature was achieved. Color photos of patterns and decks supplement information on design considerations and details on construction techniques for the homeowner who wants to create his own custom deck.

If it hadn't been for this little gem of a book, I'd have ended up with exactly what I thought a deck was: a 10x30' rectangle on stilts outside my back door.

Thanks to the inspiring designs outlined here, I was able to upgrade my $4K do-it-yourself deck with some snazzy details and useful layouts with little additional work and expense. Please do yourself the favor of flipping thru the pages of a book like this - if for nothing else than to see how it can be done by the best designers and builders.

No, just like me you will never be able to afford the hand-sanded grade A redwood beauties that are featured on a couple of these spreads - materials alone would run into six figures. But you will be able to steal the design of the railing, or perhaps the notion of a split level or a nifty little nook for a bench or some other detail from the top end decks. There's enough closeups and sketches of the design to run with a concept that you find appealing, and the narrative will help you think thru the elements of your design that might open up new possibilities.

After reading it from cover to cover a couple of times I shared the book and my comments on post-its with the contractor I had hired to help me complete my project, and it inspired him to come up with some ideas of his own, as well as better understand where I wanted to go with the project.

I almost made the mistake of letting the contractors design my deck. They came up with a big boring rectangle. Thank goodness I bought this book first! It is packed with many wonderful ideas, including photos and tips to making a deck interesting and functional. It covers layout, railing design, and yard and use considerations. It is a very small investment for a big project, I suggest that anyone building a deck take a look at this book before proceeding.