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Building with Masonry: Brick, Block, and Concrete

 Rating 4
Building with Masonry: Brick, Block, and Concrete
80% Recommended by our customers.
Catalog:
Manufacturer: Taunton Press
Release Date: 1998-10-01
Availability:
List Price: $34.95
Our Price: $89.99
Used Price: $17.94
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Product Reviews:

 Rating 3   Too basic and not in a good way.
Bought this book hoping to use it to teach my son geometry through practical application, but the author has little if any understanding. Also, for a book that is promoted as "shows that one needn't be a master mathematician to assure accuracy in projects, nor use space-age, high-tech equipment to achieve near-perfect results", it spends a lot of time on the use of transits and even mentions lasers. This book would have benefited from a stand alone chapter listing basic layout tools and how to use them along with a chapter on the construction of jigs, fixtures, templates, and storyboards. If and when these basic tools and tricks are mentioned it is often buried and mentioned in passing. Examples of this are the use of the sliding T-Bevel for transferring angles or finding complementary angles and the simple marking gauge.

This statement in the Amazon review should have sent up a red flag, "This is the book to tell you everything you need to know before you get started." While there is some very good information in this book it does not leave the reader with the knowledge and tricks that carpenters and masons have been passing down for generations.

What we had hoped to buy was what was described in the Product Description, "Provides simple techniques for accurate measuring using a number of basic tools." This is only partially true; this promise is a halfhearted incomplete attempt, missing many simple techniques. Examples of which are the use storyboards for transferring multiple measurements, the use of jigs and fixtures, or even a mention of transfer punches. The information on page 29 for dividing a circle is especially wrong and a very good example of how the author has little understanding of simple techniques or geometry.

 Rating 4   Excellent coverage of the issues
This book has many valuable suggestions, and has a particularly good treatment of staircase design and framing...

 Rating 5   Best Book Ever
Without a doubt, this is the best book for ANYONE interested in any sort of building or tools. Mr. Carroll explains the history and practical use of tools in a very literate way. Reading this book is like being an apprentice to a very knowledgable carpenter and professional contractor. The many drawings and diagrams enhance his tutulage enormously. I wish I had this book 20 years ago when I started improvements on my home. Oh, the money and time I would have saved, with much better results. While I've been buying books from Amazon for years, this is my first review. I've never felt so strongly the need to recommend a book before. Buy it. Buy it now!

 Rating 4   Book, Measuring, Marking an Layout
The book informed me of many thing I was not aware of when survaying is being done. It covers from basic to advanced material. Great book and I would recomend it for anyone interested in learning about survaying.

 Rating 3   I bit outdated and basic
I was a bit dissapointed in this book. Being in the building trades I was hoping to get a couple of good tips or techniques i hadn't come across. Much of the information and processes in the book I would consider outdated or too inaccurate for commercial use. May be fine for the novice home improvement crowd.

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