What Your Contractor Can't Tell You, 2nd Edition: The Essential Guide to Building and Renovating

by Amy Johnston

This second edition of What Your Contractor Can’t Tell You further equips owners with the information and strategies needed to create their vision on time and within budget. Chapters detail critical topics, like planning your project, design options, selecting and working well with an architect and/or contractor, cost estimating, budgets, plan specifications, contracts, dealing with town officials, managing your project on site and keeping track of everything along the way. For each stage of the project, you’ll see your options, common pitfalls and how to avoid them, as well as insiders' tips which reveal what contractors can't tell you. Most importantly, you will come away with keen insight into this complicated field and understand your role in it and everyone else’s.

Genres: Construction, Nonfiction, Home Improvement

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Ian Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book that does better in some areas than others. Has a very thorough guide to writing and negotiating contracts, which is obviously an important part of the process. I wasn't as wowed by the sections on shopping for a contractor and scoping out a project. The advice is also much more slanted towards major projects (large additions, new builds, etc), and I didn't feel like most of it transferred well to smaller projects. At the end of the day, I'm glad I read it but didn't walk away feeling all that much more confident about starting my project than before.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chock full of useful information for anyone thinking about building their own home, this book is a must. However, if I had read it prior to starting the process by buying the land, I would have rethought my plans immediately and settled for a house already built that is less than what I want. The information in this book is downright scarey. It leaves you wondering how anyone gets a house built and stays sane!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good overview for learning the steps necessary to have a construction job on your home. It covers what to expect from all the players like architects, contractors, subcontractors, etc. It also goes over the important vocabulary that you will run into and the pitfalls that many homeowners end up suffering from. It was very helpful to get my mind wrapped around the process and it was unexpectedly enjoyable reading.

[Deane Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm only on page 24 and I've decided I'm going to buy this book because it will be a valuable resource. Easy to read and nice touch of humor. Not dry like a text book, but flows naturally, and is very interesting.

1-13-2016 This book is an excellent to getting a remodel job done. It covers the nuts and bolts of processes, hiring contractors, what to expect from whom, and what your role is. I definitely recommend this book to anyone consider renovations of any kind.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book before building my home. We have never even owned a home prior to this, let alone building so I wanted to get educated. This book was extremely helpful in acquainting me with all the ins and outs of the building process. Highly recommend this if you are new to building and not already acquainted with the industry.

[Steve Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some useful information in this book but it gets a little bogged down and off track for what I needed. It has good guidelines for finding and dealing with contracts, what to include in a contract, and the pitfalls and potential problems that can arise if not managed properly.

I mostly skimmed this book and looked at the pictures.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of useful information in here but it also produced a lot of anxiety for me and my husband, so it was basically a wash. We felt so overwhelmed that we were almost paralyzed after reading it.

[Gina Rheault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide to what you can expect in even a simple project. Locale sounded very New England, small towns, but applicable anywhere. Very useful explanations of the many people, their roles, constraints, capabilities, and potential conflicts. There are words of wisdom about how you yourself are an integral part of this team, and how you should conduct yourself if you want good results, when to step up, when to step back, a great checklist of all you will be taking on if you decide to go ahead. The details of how work gets done, the tricks of the trade, its rather overwhelming.

This is your guide to doing your homework, making checklists obsessively, comprehensively, checking them twice, so you and your partners are ready with a game plan on day one, so you can play the game, get past the hiccups, and come out with a championship project.

[Erika RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does not cover the design process at all. Instead it's all about the nuts and bolts of getting your home built and being a new comer in an industry not known for always dealing well with customers. You should read this book or an equivalent if you are thinking about building a house or even if you are just renovating.

If you took only two things away from this book they should be (1) always have a contract which covers the scope of the project, how quality will be assessed, and what the owner's recourse will be in the case of incomplete or badly completed work and (2) plan, define, and keep track of everything. You and your builder may go into this process with the best of intentions, but if things go wrong, good intentions will not fix your home. Clear plans that you can track progress against and a well defined process for changing things might.

Beyond those two high level points, the book is jam packed with useful particulars such as different contract structures, basics on the language used in the world of construction, the methods of budget estimating your builder is likely to use, contracts and what they should include, and how to deal with change orders.

I expect that by the time our house is built, my copy of this book will look well loved.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone thinking of taking on a renovation or new home construction.

While it doesn't cover the how-to's of design, this book covers information that is equally important: the various contract structures, how to write a contract to protect yourself in the event something goes wrong, and how to manage your project's budget so that you don't go over budget.

I would recommend this to anyone who is getting ready to tackle a big construction project.

My one complaint is that the author didn't really cover projects that are builder financed. We're getting ready to build a home (a first for us) and we are contracting to purchase with the builder. He is building off plans we had of our previous house (with some changes), we pick the finishes, and he carries the construction loan. Once the house is completed, we'll get a mortgage and close, paying off the builder's construction loan.

I guess not many builders do this sort of thing any more or perhaps it's more a regional phenomenon (we live in the South) that she is unfamiliar with.

Even so, there's still a lot of valuable knowledge to be gained from this book, so if you're building/renovating, buy and read this first.

[K. Smith]

I don't want to give this book stars until I have actually built my house. It is dry and slow, but there was quite a bit of information in this book that I hope will be incredibly useful once I get well entrenched in the work I have to do.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful, but moreso if you are starting from scratch rather than renovating.

[February Four · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book full of helpful tips. When I renovate/build, I'll definitely be buying a copy for reference.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative and helpful.

[Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read if you will be working with a contractor

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good advice on working with a contractor.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good info on how to go about starting a remodeling project.