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by: Diane Plesset
Topics include: putt doors, preliminary labor estimates, countertop frontage, cabinet frontage, your remodeling project, two rollouts, minimum clear floor space, freestanding tubs, lavatory faucet, this faucet, personal shower, your designer, storage accessories, modular cabinets, warming drawers, towel ring, investment range, trim kits, trade contractors, your contractor, your local building department, freezer units, knee space, least one manufacturer, single lever
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Book Description:
"I wrote this book to help you understand the remodeling process, to help you get through your remodeling project successfully..." Book Description Creating a dream house shouldn't be a nightmare, but you've all heard the horror stories. Hiring a contractor is an enormous investment and a high-risk endeavor involving decisions that will last a lifetime. This book is a practical survival guide for anyone trying to make it through the construction, expansion or renovation of their home while keeping their dreams, budget and sanity intact. With wit and expertise Johnston reveals the secret pitfalls that can trip up even the most careful homeowners, while equipping them with information and strategies they cannot find elsewhere. Chapters include detailed coverage of critical topics: design, selecting and supervising an architect or contractor, cost estimates, budgets, plans and specifications, contracts, dealing with town officials, as well as methods to keep track of everything along the way. Johnston offers insider tips and discusses pitfalls to be avoided in this step by step guide to help every savvy homeowners learn how the pros set up a project, select the perfect team,and manage it all from start to finish. Kate Carbone, HBA newsletter Plesset has excelled at providing information needed by homeowners, designers, and contractors. Clearly explains the entire planning and construction process.
Kitchen Bath Design News The book presents the potential remodeler with nine "logical" steps, that will help the reader become a more informed consumer.
Dan Hays, Statesman Journal This is arguably the most practical and best book of its type on the market. Book Description "Plesset's Principles for an Almost-Perfect Project" Breaks a remodeling project down into logical, easy-to-understand steps. Includes chapters on product information including: Kitchen cabinets, appliances, countertops, plumbing, lighting, floors, bathroom cabinets, plumbing, tubs, showers, countertops, floors, roofing, windows, energy efficiency, much more. Extensive glossary of terms, how to read plans, how to hire and work with a designer/architect, how to hire and work with a contractor, should you be your own contractor, why get permits, what an inspector is for. There's even a chapter on construction etiquette, including tips like, "Don't use the contractor's tools", "Don't leave your tools where the contractor might pick them up by accident", "Show up on time for meetings", etc. About the Author Diane is a native Oregonian, although she lived in the San Francisco/Bay Area for 25 years. She has been in the remodeling business for 21 years -- 19 years as the principal of D. P. Design. She has written articles for The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, Interior Coordinator, Designers Illustrated, Gentry, Northwest Improvement, and Sunset Magazines. Kitchen Bath Business Magazine selected one of Diane s kitchens to feature for the first West Coast Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in December, 1986. She has designed hundreds of kitchens, bathrooms, and home additions for clients, in all investment ranges and all styles. I am an educator, coordinator, and facilitator for my clients, she says. Their home must reflect their unique lifestyle and taste, while maintaining the architectural integrity within a reasonable budget. Diane is certified by the National Kitchen and Bath Association, the National Council for Interior Design Qualification, and the State of California. She graduated magna cum laude from Canada College with multiple degrees: Residential Interior Design, Lighting Design, Kitchen Design and Bathroom Design. At graduation, the faculty and students bestowed the Henry Adams Award on Diane, proof of her education and hard work as a student and protential as a professional designer. Currently, she is working on the requirements to become a Certified Master Kitchen-Bath Designer, and to obtain her Master s Degree in Interior Architecture. She has been teaching seminars for homeowners since 1995. She has also taught interior design and bath-kitchen design at the Machida Design Academy in San Francisco. Diane has been a guest lecturer at Canada College, George Fox University, Oregon State Uiversity, and the Machida School of Interior Coordination in Tokyo. Diane has recently completed her first book, THE Survival Guide: Home Remodeling (Plesset s Principles for an Almost-Perfect Project), which is based on her homeowner seminars. She has recently been a guest on the Mr. Fixit, Handy Randy, and Carey Brothers radio programs. She continues to present seminars for homeowners who want reliable, honest information about building and remodeling projects.
Reviews:
It's all here! I am a realtor and so often my clients ask my advise about what it would take to remodel a home. I just send them home with this great book as homework and they come back to me knowing just the right questions to ask and of whom so that they can make educated decisions. This book is different than any other I've seen in that it takes the reader step by step through the process of a remodel. It can help you decide if a project is just too big for your budget or experience, or reassure you that you can do what you hope you can do. I highly recommend this book to people who are searching for their first home as well as those wanting to decide between selling or remodeling thier current home. Every realtor and contractor I've shown this book to has been impressed.
Excellent Hands-On Resource for Home Remodeling Projects: This book was recommended to me by a construction project manager when I asked about the possiblility of remodeling our home. This book helped my husband and me to figure out what we wanted to do with our home, what was really important to us, and how we should go about accomplishing our remodeling project. It took us from the "dreaming" stage to the "reality" stage. The book has a great questionnaire, with detailed descriptions of the items in question, that my husband and I took separately, then we compared our ideas and desires for our home. This evaluation really cemented our vision, which is helping the design and construction team immensely with our home remodeling project. The book also clearly outlined the remodeling process, with descriptions of projects ranging from DIY to fully contracted, with comparative price lists, possible difficulties with each scenario, and reasonable expectations from hired professionals. The book ends with a fun-to-read case study of an "almost perfect" project, which I found helpful and relatable to our situation. We are now in the midst of our home remodeling project, and I am so happy that I have had this great resource to refer back to and to help me through the details -- and I hope to have an "almost perfect" home remodeling story to tell, too!