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PREFACE:

When Fundamentals of Building Construction, Materials and Methods, was first published more than 25 years ago, it filled a void and quickly was adopted by hundreds of colleges and universities as a text for general courses in construction technology.

 It also precipitated immediately the first of a growing stream of requests from teachers for a companion volume that would concentrate on residential construction while retaining the qualities of the parent book. We were pleased to respond to those requests with Fundamentals of Residential Construction,which was first published in 2002. 

The book that you hold in your hands is the third edition of that volume, and it contains numerous improvements. This third edition inherits several important traits from its predecessors: It is straightforward and readable, and it contains extensive drawings and photographs.

 These elements are blended on attractive pages, and, for the reader’s convenience, each illustration appears on the same two-page spread as its referencing text. Retained, too, is the concern for both technical and aesthetic matters, because we believe that they are important for the quality of buildings and the lives of the people who inhabit them. New to this edition are a chapter on multifamily construction and an expanded discussion of green building practices. In addition, the entire text has been edited to include updated and emerging building practices and to improve readability.

 Over 80 new photographs and illustrations have been added, and the glossary of building terms has been expanded significantly. Although both of us teach in schools of architecture, we are not mere ivory-tower academicians. Between us, we are the architects of well over 200 constructed houses and innumerable remodeling projects.

 Both of us have spent countless hours on construction sites, working with residential builders, developers, contractors, and craftspeople on the day-to-day minutiae of getting houses built. We have both constructed houses with our own hands, from excavation to finishes. In addition, both of us have authored books on construction that have found enthusiastic acceptance in the building professions. 

To make this book inclusive of regional differences in construction practices, we have found that it has been extremely helpful that one of us works in wintry New England and the other in the damp but mild Pacifi c Northwest. To extend the boundaries of our own experiences, we also have consulted frequently with colleagues in other regions of the United States and Canada.