Build It Right! What to Look for in Your New Home - Softcover

You're a reasonably intelligent person who is up on today's way of doing things. (Otherwise you wouldnt be here on Amazon.com reading this.) Now, here's a poser for you.

When is the last time you had an architect, designer, builder or sales agent say to you something like this about a house you're considering, "that's a bad kitchen design, itll cause you a lot of extra work" or "that door's in the way, it should be a pocket door" or "that's wrong, the light switch should be here, not there" or even used the term "user-friendly"--its never happened, has it?" The reason: their objective is to sell you, good or bad, whatever they have that they think you may want.

Houses are designed, built and sold to make profits for everyone involved and making them user-friendly is a factor only if it adds to the bottom line. It is very much "buyer beware" and this is true in houses of all sizes and prices. It's a sad commentary that the people who could be helping you don't know, don't care, or don't want to jeopardize a sale by clueing you in.

I firmly believe that if something is supposed to serve a purpose, then it should do that well, whether its a home--or a website. While it is possible to make homes (and websites) attractive without sacrificing their basic functions, it requires paying attention to detail--something most designers do not do.

Architects and designers are concerned about the functional aspects of home design--such as areas for food preparation, eating and sleeping. To me, as an engineer and home user, function means quite a bit more. I think it should to you, too.

All homes should be easy to use--but they're not. When you visit a website that's poorly designed so that it's slow and awkard, you can click on Back and forget it. When you get a house and then discover it's poorly laid out and user-unfriendly, you're stuck.

The home-building industry uses looks and the latest wrinkles--size, style and today's "in" things--to sell their products. But, when it comes to user-friendliness, very few people in the industry pay any attention. Unfortunately, most of us dont realize this until after we move in--and there's no Back button to click on!

"Build It Right!" comes after looking at more than 1300 new homes over a seven-year period. I believe the way a house is built should make it an enjoyable place to live. I found this isnt true so many times that I wrote the book to help home buyers, builders and remodellers recognize good and bad features of a house before they make a commitment.

You CAN come closer to realizing your dreams in your new home. That's the place where the only Back button you want is on your browser!

You should have "Build It Right!" if... You want to feel good that youve gone into a level of detail about your home that most people don't and that you'll have a better place because of it.

You want a practical guide to what makes homes user-friendly and more comfortable places to live. You want help in avoiding those things that can come back to haunt you later.

You are planning to have a house built but want to know about the practical details that architects, designers and builders ignore. You shouldn't have to put up with things that could have been avoided in the first place.

For you, the aesthetics and the latest ideas in size and style are important but you also want a house that includes the good old-fashioned well-thought-through details that make a house a home.

You want to be sure that the local way of doing things is to your advantage. Countertops, sinks, basins, shelves in kitchen cabinets, dryer venting, exhaust fans, and floor coverings are some examples where local custom may be a poor choice.

You have an interest in having things like an open kitchen while keeping the dishwasher close to cupboards or in having light switches right at hand when you go into a room. (This list goes on and on..."Build It Right!" is a whole book of them.)

You are an architect, a home designer, a builder, or a real estate agent. (Putting the home user in the picture will give you a better, more saleable product and make happier customers that lead to downstream sales.)

You want a book where the emphasis is on helping, not just entertaining, you. A book where the examples are right to the point, not tied to an interesting history of architecture. "Build It Right!" has 68 photos and 107 drawings to make it easier to visualize the good and the bad.

P.S. If you run across a book of floor plans that stresses or even acknowledges the kind of function that "Build It Right!" discusses, let me know--I haven't found one. And, please, if you find something in the book that needs clarification, get in touch. My email, telephone, FAX and snail-mail addresses are in the book. That way I can make it even easier for people to make their dreams come true.