Series in Construction
Books in Construction
Bird Cloud
Part autobiography, part natural history, Bird Cloud is the glorious story of Annie Proulx’s piece of the Wyoming landscape and her home there. “Bird Cloud” is the name Annie Proulx gave to 640 acres of Wyoming wetlands and prairie and four-hundred-foot cliffs plunging down to the North Platte River. On the day she first visited, a cloud in the shape of a bird hung in the evening sky. Proulx also saw pelicans, bald eagles, golden eagles, great blue herons, ravens, scores of bluebirds, harriers, kestrels, elk, deer and a dozen antelope. She fell in love with the land, then owned by the Nature Conservancy, and she knew what she wanted to build on it—a house in harmony with her work, her appetites and her character, a library surrounded by bedrooms and a kitchen. Bird Cloud is the story of designing and constructing that house—with its solar panels, Japanese soak tub, concrete floor, and elk horn handles on kitchen cabinets. It is also an enthralling natural history and archaeology of the region—inhabited for millennia by Ute, Arapaho, and Shoshone Indians—and a family history, going back to nineteenth-century Mississippi riverboat captains and Canadian settlers. Proulx, a writer with extraordinary powers of observation and compassion, here turns her lens on herself. We understand how she came to be living in a house surrounded by wilderness, with shelves for thousands of books and long worktables on which to heap manuscripts, research materials and maps, and how she came to be one of the great American writers of her time.
California Construction Law and Public Contracting in California
Michaelbrent Collings worked as a Los Angeles attorney for nearly a decade, focusing almost exclusively on construction contract disputes - from bid dispute to mediation to trial to appeal - and now goes over some of the basics of California construction law. He focuses extra attention on some of the gotchas that can trip up even an experienced contractor. A great read for anyone who is new to California construction, for seasoned contractors, and for lawyers in the field. Written humorously and with an eye toward being enjoyable as well as informative, this low-key look at contracting will help anyone in the California construction industry avoid mistakes, instigate good business practices, and (hopefully) make some money.
House Lessons
From New York Times bestselling author Erica Bauermeister comes a memoir about the power of home—and the transformative act of restoring one house in particular. “I think anyone who saves an old house has to be a caretaker at heart, a believer in underdogs, someone whose imagination is inspired by limitations, not endless options.” In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us. A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in, this book is designed for anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels for a house. It is also a story of a marriage, of family, and of the kind of roots that settle deep into your heart. Discover what happens when a house has its own lessons to teach in this moving and insightful memoir that ultimately shows us how to make our own homes (and lives) better.
The Stone Mouse
This is an acclaimed tale about magic and emotions, highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. When Elly and her family come to look after her aunt's house, she sees at once that Stone Mouse is special; but her brother Ted says he's just a dirty old pebble. But then Ted is angry with everyone and everything and, as Stone Mouse soon discovers, that means trouble...
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ABOVE-GROUND POOLS
Want a beautiful, hassle-free pool? Now you can save thousands of dollars by doing it yourself. Using easy-to-follow examples and illustrations, "Poolman to the Stars" Terry Tamminen shows how to purchase, install, repair, maintain, and upgrade above ground pools. The author includes parts and tools lists, tricks of the trade for each procedure, and a difficulty rating to help readers decide when it's time to call a professional. *How to select the best pool for your site, budget, and individual use * Realistic cost estimates * Installation and repair * Heating inexpensively and repairing heaters * Repairing and replacing liners * Winterizing * Decks made easy * Pool enhancements for added value
Young Henry Ford: A Picture History of the First Forty Years
Young Henry Ford is a visual and textual presentation of the first forty years of Henry Ford-an American farm boy who became one of the greatest manufacturers of modern times and profoundly impacted the habits of American life. In Young Henry Ford, Sidney Olson dispels some of the myths attached to this automobile legend, going beyond the Henry Ford of mass production and the five-dollar day, and offers a more intimate understanding of Henry Ford and the time he lived in. Through hundreds of restored photographs, including some of Ford's own taken with his first camera, Young Henry Ford revisits an America now gone-of long days on the farm, travel by horse and buggy, and one-room schoolhouses. Some of the rare illustrations include the first picture of Henry Ford, photos from Edsel's childhood, snapshots of the interior and exterior of the Ford homestead, Clara and Henry's wedding invitation, and photos of the early stages of the first automobile.