HOUSE BUILDER

IN THE BEGINNING

     Building — the creative process of shaping and assembling materials into useful objects and structures — is surely one of the fundamental human instincts, deeply embedded into our DNA.  People are passionate about making things, large and small, deriving pleasure and satisfaction from the process.  As evidence, just contemplate for a moment the stupendous development of our civilization and the surrounding infrastructure.  It’s truly mind-boggling what has been created!  The urge to use one’s hands to shape and embellish our environment stirs in every heart and mind, almost without exception   …   and it makes perfect sense that this should be so.  Our survival as a species was greatly aided by developing the ability to make the clothing, weapons, shelters, tools, and utensils we use for daily living.  We are not endowed with the fangs and claws of the lion, the hide and horn of the rhinoceros, or the wings and eyes of an owl, but we can intelligently manipulate our surroundings.  It turns out that this ability is perhaps the most powerful evolutionary adaptation of all and it has made man supremely successful.  Building things is at the heart of our well-being.

     For me, the realization I could manipulate my environment came when I was very young.  Inventiveness arose from some deep and unknown well-spring, filling my imagination with ideas for reshaping the world.  Left-over kite string became an elaborate web in my room linking bed-frames, door knobs, window latches, light fixtures and closet hooks.  Tables, couches, chairs, and other furniture throughout the house seemed to constantly be in need of rearrangement (much to my parent’s exasperation).  Our backyard became the site of dark underground tunnels and chambers, complete with hidden entrances, and including a volcano which actually belched smoke and fire.  As time went on my planning became more elaborate and drawing emerged as a vital part of the creative process.   I began to collaborate with friends.  We made plans for amusement parks, forts, carnivals, burger-stands and hideouts … some of which we actually managed to build.  We used an assortment of tools and realized the potential they held while simultaneously searching out new materials to work with.   Obviously building was in my blood, so it is easy to understand why I chose residential design and construction as a career and as my primary means of expression.

     Home building encompasses only a small fraction of human industry, yet it embodies the whole of the building process as well or better than any other undertaking I can think of.  Beginning with the germination of an idea, proceeding through the planning and labor of the actual construction, and including the assumption of social and environmental responsibility within a community, building a house requires artistic and utilitarian invention, collaboration, resource allocation, craftsmanship, and good-old physical effort.  People’s dreams for their home never stop growing and changing.  Even a simple structure may include thousands of parts formed from hundreds of materials which require an understanding for how these behave with each other and with the environment.  Each of these separate parts requires unique tools designed specifically for their installation and assembly, as well as the skill to apply them.  The sites which people have chosen to inhabit span the breadth of the globe, ranging from the coldest and wettest to the hottest and driest, from the highest rocky precipices to the lowest tidal mudflats, and from steaming jungles to barren tundra.  In addition, the rich history of home building, spanning across thousands of years, is thoroughly documented in enough volumes of practical knowledge to fill a library.  Topics like architecture, structural engineering, trade skills, material science, and construction codes are covered in detail along with vivid personal accounts of success and failure.  For anyone interested, there is enough in this field to fill a life-time with challenging and satisfying work, endlessly varied and vital.

   This thesis, ‘House Builder’, is the culmination of a life-long passion for home building and an expression of the knowledge and insight forged by more than 50 years of hands-on experience in the field.  It has been brewing inside of me as far back as I can remember and it seems the time has come to record my experiences and understanding in some sort of organized fashion.  More than anything else, the idea of mentoring is providing my inspiration and perpetuating the craft of designing and building houses will be my primary focus  —   creating a ‘How-to’ E-book with the widest possible perspective, intended for anyone interested in learning the trade ‘from the ground up’.  The Internet has made it possible to write and assemble amazing publications which include beautiful pictorial images and links to informative associated websites, so this medium seems like to best place to work.   As I begin writing, I really don’t know where it will lead but the desire to contribute and add my story to the others that have come before and the many that will follow is strong.  To be a part of the ever-expanding saga that will surely out-live me seems important.  Hopefully the effort will be enlightening and the outcome useful.

     As we progress through this discussion, it will be useful to imagine designing and building a mid-sized one-story house with 1500 sq. ft. of floor area, 15 feet overall height with a sloping roof, and made of conventional medium-weight materials.  This will provide a point-of-reference and means for comparison when considering actual real-world numbers.  With every design variable there is a wide range of possible values, so in most cases an average will be used to give a feel for the quantities normally encountered.

DEDICATION

     I want to dedicate this work to Frank Ray Angelillo, my mentor in the art and science of home building and carpentry, who loved building and loved teaching and inspired me to work hard and use my skills to make things better.