Author(s): Karl Schwenke, Sue Schwenke
Publisher: Storey Books
Paperback: 176 pages
ISBN: 0882666398
ISBN-13: 978-0882666396
Order From: Amazon.com
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The simple and functional beauty of a well-built stone house never seems to go out of style. Nearly twenty years after Karl and Sue Schwenke first constructed their Vermont home, their classic book has been revised, updated, and reissued for a new generation of readers.
Using the same easy “slipform” method of construction, the Schwenkes have over the years added to their original stone house and built barns and other structures. And their book is still the best hands-on source available for people interested in building a stone house “from the ground up.”
Build Your Own Stone House features straightforward and complete instructions on a variety of topics, including:
— The materials – stone, sand, cement, and others
— How and where to site your stone house
— Excavating the site, estimating the materials needed, and figuring the ground load
— Setting up, using, and removing the forms
— Pouring piers, footings, and basement walls
— Building the stone walls, corners, and door and window openings
— Constructing the floors, ceilings, and roof
— Building your own fireplace
Clear illustrations and useful tables round out the book, which also includes all-new information on the best options and materials for insulating your home.
About the Author
Karl Schwenke is a professional writer who lives with wife Sue on a farm in Newbury, Vermont, where they have raised strawberries, pigs and hay among other crops. Together, this couple has written the book Build Your Own Stone House, and Karl wrote the Storey title Successful Small-Scale Farming. His other work includes Sierra North and Sierra South from Wilderness Press, an organization in Berkeley, California, that he co-founded after graduating from college. Karl has also written In a Pig’s Eye (Chelsea Green Publishing).
Sue Schwenke is a teacher who lives with husband Karl on a farm in Newbury, Vermont, where they have raised strawberries, pigs and hay among other crops. Together, this couple has written the book Build Your Own Stone House.