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Creating a dream house shouldn't be a nightmare, but we've
all heard the horror stories. Hiring a contractor is an enormous
investment and a high-risk endeavor involving decisions that
will last forever. This book is a survival guide for anyone
trying to make it through the construction, expansion or renovation
of their home with their dreams, budget and sanity in tact.
What Your Contractor Can't Tell You equips
homeowners with information and strategies they cannot find
elsewhere. With wit and insight, Amy Johnston reveals all
the secret pitfalls that trip up even the brightest homeowners
and make contractors the most complained about group at the
Better Business Bureau.
For each stage of a project, Johnston includes pitfalls to be avoided, and insider tips to be employed in this step by step guide for the savvy homeowner. Readers will learn how the pros set up a project, select the perfect team and manage it all from smart to finish.
Please note that What Your Contractor Can't
Tell You was previously published by Warner Books under
the title: What the "Experts" May Not Tell You About Building
or Renovating Your Home. It is available in bookstores,
on-line, and by clicking on the PayPal button below.
 Without question, the most important investment in your build/renovation
I bought all the construction books....$1000 worth to
prepare for building our house. This book (What Your Contractor
Can't Tell You)is by far and away the most valuable resource
available. I have read it cover to cover three times now,
and have referred back to it at the appropriate stages multiple
times to be sure that we were following Amy Johnston's very
sage advice. It is so well written, and I think I would find
it quite entertaining even if I wasn't building a house. My
favorite part is her favorite contractor Jerry. The story
has all the makings of a Hollywood movie complete with suspense,
interesting characters, and a twist at the end. The book provides
neophytes like myself with excellent insight into the building
industry. Things are not necessarily as they seem on the surface!
Best book I could find on the subject
I was blown away by the amount of valuable information
I found in this book (What Your Contractor Can't Tell You).
I knew there were a lot of decisions to make when undertaking
a major remodel like the one we are doing but my original
estimations were off by about 1000%. This book I think helped
me get my expectations in line with reality. Especially when
dealing with contractors. I dog-eared about 50 or more pages...
A Terrific Book
First of all, I couldn't put the book down.
I'm planning to build a house in the near future and, frankly,
hadn't a clue as to how to begin. Not now. I have a blueprint
in the form of a book (What Your Contractor Can't Tell
You) which explains in a step-by-step manner how to go
about getting the right people, information and materials
to do the job. I continue to re-read the book as I progress
and even bought a second copy for my wife (mine is dog-eared
and full of notes). If you are planning to build or do a renovation
of an existing house, the first step is to get this book!
Good money-saving advice on your most expensive purchase
Designing and building a new home is intimidating
for three reasons (1) It is something with which you are not
familiar; (2) you are not likely to have many friends who
have done it; and (3) it is VERY expensive. Worse, you feel
responsible for every mistake made, and you know that each
mistakes cost you money and time. Buying this book (What
Your Contractor Can't Tell You) is NOT one of those mistakes.
Instead, it is the "ounce of prevention" that will pay for
itself many hundreds of times over.
Amy Johnston is a professional construction manager and owner's representative. Her wisdom focuses with framing the entire construction project in terms of a tradeoff between time, quality, and money - you can only have two of the three. We're only part way through our new house, and that rings very, very true. We clearly opted for taking a longer time - will we keep that focus as construction progresses? In any case, she gives the insights into each part of the triangle. Better yet, she is fair - she makes sure that neither you, nor anyone else, is getting cheated. Contractors, architects, bankers, inspectors, and everyone else are clearly defined in their roles - though the most important role is the home owner's, which she describes in great detail.
Every chapter is focused on another phase of the project,
and her clear writing opens up the mysteries along the way.
She describes who is doing what (or should be doing it), and
describes what choices need to made - and what the alternatives
are - before saying what her choice is. Her points are illustrated
with good references, pertinent anecdotes, and points that
she labels "Insider's tips" and "pitfalls". I was pleased
to find that I had miraculously avoided some pitfalls before
I bought the book, and I expect to avoid many others as a
result of her advice. I was trying to figure out if this book
could be described a "home construction for dummies" book.
My initial reaction was that dummies shouldn't be building
a house - there are too many choices and decisions, and way
too much complexity. But anyone can feel like a dummy when
they make a bad decision, based on not enough knowledge and
information. With this book (What Your Contractor Can't
Tell You), I have far more confidence that I will be well
informed, and the problems that will inevitably occur will
be minimized as much as possible. I refer to the book constantly,
and appreciate the wide margins that allows for notes to be
made.
A Must-Read
If you're thinking of renovating any part of your home
or building a house, you can save yourself aggravation, time
and money by following Amy Johnston's advice. I read her book
(What Your Contractor Can't Tell You), followed her
advice and my kitchen renovation came in on time, under budget
with not one major problem. Everything worked like clock-work,
even though I was my own general contractor and I had never
done anything like this before. As an added bonus, Amy Johnston's
book is witty, funny and easy to read.
A requirement for anyone even thinking of renovating
This is a great book (What Your Contractor
Can't Tell You) for anyone considering renovating or building
their home! The language is easy to understand, the organization
is easy to follow and I cannot even count how many pitfalls
we avoided by following her advice. Thanks so much!!!
Simply invaluable if you are building or remodeling
Many kudos to Amy Johnston! I now know the "language"
and what to expect in my quest to remodel a kitchen. Countless
magazines and $ spent could not even touch the amount of solid
and very readable information that this book has to offer.
This unassuming paperback (What Your Contractor Can't Tell
You) is where I should have started months ago. Better
yet, it has a sense of humor!
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