Old House Handbook

This fully revised and updated book is the authoritative guide on how to look after your old house – whether it is a timber-framed medieval cottage, an eighteenth-century town house or a Victorian or Edwardian terrace. Written in association with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the authors’ approach is one of respect, restraint and repair rather than ‘restoration’, which can so easily and permanently destroy the special qualities of an old building. From the foundations to the roof, from the need for modern services to traditional paintwork and finishes, from windows and doors to breathability and damp in walls and floors, this handbook provides informed practical guidance. It is essential reading on maintenance and repair for all those with an old house.

How should we go about making old houses energy efficient without devaluing future sustainability or the appeal and character of old homes by the use of inappropriate solutions? This practical and essential guide to retrofitting for energy efficiency seeks to provide answers to this and other the questions homeowners of old houses are asking. Whether your house is medieval and timber-framed or a Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian terrace, it can be made more energy efficient and sustainable, and this practical and comprehensive handbook will show you how. Revised and updated throughout, and with a foreword by Kevin McLoud, Old House Eco Handbook includes chapters on the building envelope; roofs and ceilings; windows and doors; walls; floors; paints; energy, airandwater; plus a brand newchapter on retrofit materials. In association with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, this is a must have for owners of old houses looking to make their homes more energy efficient and sustainable. Chapters Include: 1. Old houses can be green 2. Old house to eco house 3. The building envelope 4. Retrofit materials 5. Roofs and ceilings 6. Windows and doors 7. Walls 8. Floors 9. Paints 10. Energy, air and water 11. Old house for the future

Old House Eco Handbook is a companion volume to the authors' highly successful Old House Handbook, published in association with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). It seeks to answer the questions homeowners and others are asking about how to make old houses - medieval and timberframed, Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian terraces - energy-efficient and sustainable. The refurbishment or 'retrofitting' of old houses to meet new requirements into the future is now high on the Government's agenda. Old houses are, by their nature, a sustainable asset: their refurbishment is becoming a priority as attempts are made to address millions of energy-sapping, poorly insulated and far from airtight homes.

This book is a celebration of good new design for old buildings and the SPAB philosophy that good new architecture can sit happily alongside old and is preferable to pastiche. Endorsing the value of architects who are engaged to work in the historic environment, this book explores design, materials and technical considerations in creating the best low energy, ecological and sustainable retrofits. It has never been more important to understand how old buildings can be adapted to make them useful and sustainable in the future. Showcasing the best examples of imaginative design and best practice, this book illustrates how old buildings can be made sustainable through the best new design and puts these design exemplars into a historical and philosophical context. With illustrative case studies and interviews throughout, including formal buildings, churches, domestic buildings, commercial, industrial and agricultural from all periods in the UK, New Design for Old Buildings provides essential guidance on good, imaginative new design for old buildings.

Here, for the first time, is a completely authoritative guide on how to look after your old house - whether it's a timber framed medieval cottage, an eighteenth century urban terrace or an example of Victorian or Edwardian speculative development.ÿ Taking their lead from the conservation approach of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (who have approved and authorised this volume), the approach is one of respect, restraint and repair rather than 'restoration' which can so easily and permanently destroy the rich historical legacy of any old building. This book provides richly and deeply informed practical guidance, with sections including: Breathability and Damp Structural Movement Roofs Timber and Carpentry Windows Doors and joinery. It will be essential reading for anyone with an old house in need of any kind of repair or maintenance. `For any of us working on or living in old buildings, this brilliant and properly illustrated volume is the manual we've been waiting for. Thank you SPAB.' Kevin McCloud, Presenter of Grand Designs, Channel 4

Owners of old houses are often baffled by the confusing advice they receive from their builders, architects or surveyors who may be more familiar with repairing modern buildings than dealing with the issues associated with traditional houses. Old houses generally require a different approach, one, for instance, which takes account of their need to 'breathe'. Modern solutions do not always recognise that need. This book will help owners, builders and all construction professionals make the decisions that are right for old buildings. It illustrates the long term benefits of using more traditional solutions on older houses rather than modern materials like cement based mortars, sealants or impervious paints. It offers practical guidance on: How to get the right professional advice; Legal requirements for listed buildings; Problems with damp and rot; Use of lime mortars, plasters and renders; Why old buildings need to breathe; Planning applications; and, Trees, outbuildings and gardens.

The elegantly written RANDOM HOUSE HANDBOOK, 6/e, offers a comprehensive guide to writing and style, as well as special applications. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

The creator of Instagram’s House Plant Journal mixes love with scientific logic in this beautifully photographed guide for indoor gardeners. For indoor gardeners everywhere, Darryl Cheng offers a new way to grow healthy house plants. He teaches the art of understanding a plant’s needs and giving it a home with the right balance of light, water, and nutrients. With this book, indoor gardeners can be less a passive follower of rules for the care of each species and much more the confident, active grower, relying on observation and insight. And in the process, the plant owner becomes a plant lover, bonded to these beautiful living things by a simple love and appreciation of nature. The New Plant Parent covers all of the basics of growing house plants, from finding the right light, to everyday care like watering and fertilizing, to containers, to recommended species. Cheng’s friendly tone, personal stories, and accessible photographs fill his book with the same generous spirit that has made @houseplantjournal, his Instagram account, a popular source of advice and inspiration for over half a million indoor gardeners.