Foundations & Concrete Work (For Pros by Pros) Paperback – Illustrated, February 1, 2003

I just got the book yesterday. Overall I was pleased just to get some understanding of footings and foundation walls. I believe this book would be fine for a layman like myself to start out with initially. I ordered several other books on this topic, so I believe I am well covered. I think it would be a mistake to assume that one can get all one's information from one source all the time. Not to mention the price for this purchase was terribly reasonable. So two thumbs up!

Excellent pictures / illustrations. Broader spectrum on construction methods. Presents formed, IFC and CMU work. Details CMU foundation pitfalls. Details drainage issues. Ground preparation deals with exterior slab; not interior (vapor barrier). Lacking specifics about Grout. Information and guidance on Rebar. Shows rebar placement pitfalls. Compliments Working with Concrete (for Pros by Pros)

Nice

Very good book for people who are doing their own work on a house or garage, etc. Even if you are not building, you can use the information to keep an eye on whoever is building for you.

When buying DIY books make sure they are in the realm of what you need, that's the key to not wasting time and money. I just needed to be able to supervise a foundation pour, I wasn't about to attempt one on my own. This book shows you why you wouldn't attempt it on your own.

This book is really only good if you're doing a basement foundation. If you're doing a slab foundation on grade it's really not very useful. I was hoping for it to tell me step by step how to do the slab foundation for our addition but in Texas very few people have or build basements and that's all that it really talked about.There is still some useful information in here and it's a good book, just not comprehensive.

Got the basics

As always books from Taunton's and fine homebuilding are great value for money. I purchased this for fine tuning on what it already know.