Billions of dollars and vast natural resources are wasted every year in over-built structures. Excessive wood, concrete, and steel are consumed because a faulty "more-is-better" mentality has evolved - a mentality born of ignorance and perpetuated by fear. This book, in plain language, illustrates powerful green framing techniques. Roofs, walls, and floors, with their subparts and pieces, are carefully examined. Wasteful practices are exposed, efficient ones suggested. Readers are shown how to actually design rafters, beams, studs, and footings using a popular, easy-to-use software brand. With this knowledge any builder can break the wasteful habits of old - use the right materials in the right places. Any designer can confidently produce efficient, code-compliant plans. The benefits of green framing include: * Save thousands of dollars in materials and manpower on every project. * Conserve significant natural resources: wood, concrete, and steel, and the energy consumed producing them. * Less wood used leaves more room for insulation. Significant energy savings result over the life of the structure. * Cut out unnecessary wood, concrete and steel, and earthquake forces on a building diminish proportionally.

Did you know that almost a third of all illegal entries in the United States are unforced? Is your home secure from those who would take advantage of even a momentary lapse in your personal diligence? 'Essential Home Security' is an illustrated, layman's guide to identify and correct the most common home security issues in single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments - the issues regularly exploited by criminals. The book includes an Essential Home Security Checklist designed to quickly point out oft-overlooked, home security weaknesses in a typical residence. The book describes how most security measures carry benefits, a cost, and drawbacks -- and how these three factors must be evaluated in creating a package of security measures that fit your specific needs and financial situation. As the title suggests, 'Essential Home Security' is not a technical manual for security professionals, nor is it a guide to high-end home security solutions. The book is intended for those who have home security concerns and seek a single, concise reference on primary, reasonably-easy-to-execute items that help deter illegal home entry. Whether you're a handyman, or helpless with a toolbox, 'Essential Home Security' is a guide that steps beyond a simple nuts-and-bolts, hardware-based approach. 'Essential Home Security' offers behavioral tips, and offers check-off lists such as "how to be a savvy alarm system shopper," and "key factors to consider before implementing or purchasing home security surveillance equipment," and much more. Security basics, door security, window security, garage security, security light planning, home safes, locks, sheds and exterior property, alarms, simple safe rooms, and many more topics are covered. Technical jargon and theory are avoided unless essential to correctly implementing specific, home security measures. The book focuses on efficient and affordable physical and behavioral steps to reduce the chances of an illegal entry into your home or apartment.

For homeowners with an interest in green issues and energy efficiency, this guide considers the impact of global warming and the international energy crisis before explaining how to evaluate the energy performance of a house and make better use of natural lighting. All aspects are covered of the installation of photovoltaic cells to a residential property using solar power to produce domestic electricity and to heat water. The costs are calculated and the benefits of installing a solar energy system are assessed. This is essential reading for homeowners who wish to take advantage of free environmentally-friendly solar energy, reduce their energy bills in the long run, and help the environment.

A comprehensive book that covers all aspects of timber framing and hewn log construction. The book covers information on design, tree selection, tool selection, hewing, and framing. The author sequentially guides the builder through the process, revealing various options for every aspect of framing. The book is profusely illustrated, relying on pictures to convey the process. Whether one wishes to learn how to hew a timber, cut mortise and tenon joinery, create a King post truss or raise a timber frame by hand or with a crane, it is covered in this book.

A delightful Christmas-inspired how-to book that covers all aspects of creating your own 'Merry Little Christmas', covering all the practicalities of bringing a real pine Christmas tree into your home, as well as a plethora of Christmas crafts and ideas. Illustrated throughout, 'How To Have Your Own Merry Christmas' offers idea after idea for Christmas decorations and crafts around the home, including the more traditional crafts such as decorating with wreaths, to the more modern use of tin cans to create superb and unique decorations. And don't forget the pages and pages of sumptuous Christmas recipes to excite your tastebuds with the wonderful flavors of Christmas.

Vegetables from your own farm to your own table We all love good food, and the fresher it is, the better! And what could be fresher than farm-to-table terms than vegetables you've grown at home? The new edition of Vegetable Gardening For Dummies puts you in touch with your roots in a thousands of years old farming tradition by demonstrating how easy it is to grow your own. And there's no need to buy a farm: all you need to become a successful cultivator of the land is this book and a small plot of soil in the yard, or a container set aside for some tasty natural edibles. Add water and some care, love, and attention--et voila! In a friendly, come-relax-in-my-garden style Charlie Nardozzi--leading horticultural writer and guest expert on shows such as Martha Stewart Living Radio--shares the nutritious results of a lifetime of vegetable-growing experience to delve into the nitty-gritty of micro-farming. It's not rocket science--quite the opposite--but you do need a bit of patience before you can reap your first glorious harvest. This book shows you how to master that, as you get down and dirty with the enjoyable work of building soil, starting seeds, controlling pests, and maintaining your garden. And as your early efforts turn to green shoots, you can dig deeper into information on special tips and tricks, as well as hundreds of vegetable varieties--many of which are beautiful to behold as well as tasty to eat! Plan out your garden Know your veggies, from tomatoes to chard Keep your plants happy and healthy Harvest, store, and preserve your crops Whether your thumb is a fertile green or you've never put plant-to-pot before, this book will bring out your inner farmer: you'll find everything required to transform your garden into a self-renewing larder--and complement every meal with a crisp, healthy, home-grown treat.

The cleaning industry is worth billions each year. There isplenty of money to be made, and you don't require anyspecific qualifications to get started. What you do need is arange of key skills, and a personal determination to succeed.This book will give you insider knowledge of the world of office and domestic cleaning. It will provide you with all the practical tools you need to succeed in a competitive but rewarding industry.- The basics required to set up your business and the services you can offer.- How to develop sales, and how to find - and keep - satisfied clients.- How to find good staff, train them, and deal with problems.- How to maintain the quality of your service provision as you grow.- Managing the legal, health & safety, and insurance requirements.- How to develop your brand and grow your company.- Book keeping, debt control and finance- How to develop further lucrative services to offer your client base. Contents: List of Illustrations; Preface; Chapter 1. Working in the cleaning industry 2. Deciding between the various cleaning services; 3. Start up; 4. Keeping your clients happy; 5. Managing your staff; 6. Organizing your first cleaning account; 7. Ensuring quality of service; 8. Health and safety, laws and regulations; 9. Sales, marketing and advertising; 10. Managing finances; 11. Tax and national insurance; 12. Controlling debt; 13. Managing your expansion; 14. Property services; 15. Engaging subcontractors; Appendix 1 Useful Contacts; Appendix 2 The Cleaning Operators' Proficiency Certificate; Appendix 3 Equal opportunties policy; Index

As much as we would all like to believe that our government and law enforcement agencies can protect us from crime and terrorism, our safety is not completely assured. Certainly we cannot take the law into our own hands, but we can use legal preventative measures to protect ourselves, our families, our businesses, and our assets. Surveillance detection (SD) is a technique that has been around for a long time and is now being revitalized and implemented worldwide for the war against terror. Our book explores the ways in which people from all walks of life can use SD as a viable preventative measure for the threats against them. Regardless if you are a housewife who is a victim of domestic violence or a contractor riding in a convoy in Iraq, this book will help you learn to protect yourself. If you are a corporation that has become a symbolic target for terrorists or an industrial facility with hazardous materials, this book will show you how to use surveillance detection to protect your property and personnel. The majority of criminals and terrorists intent on carrying out any type of crime or attack have an Achilles heel that we can exploit; they (or someone associated with them) must go out and conduct surveillance on their target in order to develop a successful plan of attack. Using surveillance detection allows us to intercept them at this early stage in order to prevent the crime or attack. We believe that the more widespread the use of surveillance detection becomes, the safer our world will be.

This book is an essential companion for all those considering a house extension. Featuring checklists and guidance on how to ensure your project is a success, this essential guide distils all the practical information needed to run a project from dream to reality, highlighting the pitfalls along the way and suggesting ways to avoid them. Richly illustrated with inspirational examples and case studies, this book demystifies both the building process and all the surrounding issues to do with design, sustainability, budgeting, planning, regulations and the use of building contracts.

An effective space is one that works for you, liberating you to live the life you want.

Natasha takes you around the home and shares her hacks from the kitchen to the bedroom via the bathroom and entranceway. Never again will you need to step over your "floordrobe", rifle through the shoe rack, or spend ten minutes searching for keys.

Applying Natasha's "house rules" to every room, drawer and cupboard, you'll learn to ditch the complex systems, keep things where you use them and set all-important boundaries throughout your home.

Taking the questionnaire at the start of the book will reveal the priorities for your living space. Then, by implementing daily routines, simple systems and practical processes tailored to your needs, you will create an ideal stress-free environment that looks good, too.

With beautiful photography throughout, and step-by-step diagrams of folds for everything from towels and T-shirts to gift-wrap, Natasha's system for creating a serene home can be applied to any space, large or small.

New York Times best seller Ever since Gabrielle Stanley Blair became a parent, she's believed that a thoughtfully designed home is one of the greatest gifts we can give our families, and that the objects and decor we choose to surround ourselves with tell our family's story. In this, her first book, Blair offers a room-by-room guide to keeping things sane, organized, creative, and stylish. She provides advice on getting the most out of even the smallest spaces; simple fixes that make it easy for little ones to help out around the house; ingenious storage solutions for the never-ending stream of kid stuff; rainy-day DIY projects; and much, much more.

A must-read for anyone with an adventurous spirit, a yen to whittle and chop, and a desire to get out into nature and play with sticks! These 50 achievable ideas for making and playing with sticks - all with beautiful step-by-step illustrations - make a great gift. The next title in Pavilion's best-selling outdoor adventure series, 50 Things to Do with a Stick will introduce you to the joy of making something out of almost nothing. With a few gathered twigs and sticks, start with simple ideas such as making plant markers or tent pegs and work up to constructing a lantern or woven basket. Working with wood is common to nearly every culture - it's nature's most adaptable raw material, malleable yet strong, and biodegradable. Until the 1960s woodworking was taught widely in schools, but since then has been in decline, robbing generations of the satisfaction of making useful things by hand. Richard Skrein begins by guiding you in choosing sticks and tools. Four chapters with evocative illustrations take you step by step through projects to use at home; to make music and decorative objects with; to play with; and to use out and about - the perfect accompaniments to a camping trip (2020 and 2021 saw unprecedented campsite bookings in the UK, and this trend is set to continue). This is the perfect book for anyone wishing to be more self-sufficient. Find your inner explorer with these battery-free, no-emission ideas! Chapters include: Home Sticks: cutlery, coat hooks, brooms, candlesticks Stick Craft: jewellery, weaving, mobiles, picture frames Stick Play: catapults, musical sticks, magic wands, story sticks Camp Sticks: lanterns, ladders, stools, stick bread! Word count: 15,000 words

Build a natural pond for wildlife, beauty, and quiet contemplation Typical backyard ponds are a complicated mess of pipes, pumps, filters, and nasty chemicals designed to adjust pH and keep algae at bay. Hardly the bucolic, natural ecosystem beloved by dragonflies, frogs, and songbirds. The antidote is a natural pond, free of hassle, cost, and complexity and designed as a fully functional ecosystem, ideal for biodiversity, swimming, irrigation, and quiet contemplation. Building Natural Ponds is the first step-by-step guide to designing and building natural ponds that use no pumps, filters, chemicals, or electricity and mimic native ponds in both aesthetics and functionality. Highly illustrated with how-to drawings and photographs, coverage includes: Understanding pond ecosystems and natural algae control Planning, design, siting, and pond aesthetics Step-by-step guidance for construction, plants and fish, and maintenance and trouble shooting Scaling up to large ponds, pools, bogs, and rain gardens. Whether you're a backyard gardener looking to add a small serene natural water feature or a homesteader with visions of a large pond for fish, swimming, and irrigation, Building Natural Ponds is the complete guide to building ponds in tune with nature, where plants, insects, and amphibians thrive in blissful serenity. Robert Pavlis , a Master Gardener with over 40 years of gardening experience, is owner and developer of Aspen Grove Gardens, a six-acre botanical garden featuring over 2,500 varieties of plants. A well-respected speaker and teacher, Robert has published articles in Mother Earth News , Ontario Gardening magazine, the widely read blog GardenMyths.com, which explodes common gardening myths and gardening information site GardenFundamentals.com.

Marie Kondo will help you declutter your life with her new major Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo Spark Joy is an in-depth, line illustrated, room-by-room guide to decluttering and organising your home. It covers every room in the house from bedrooms and kitchens to bathrooms and living rooms as well as a wide range of items in different categories, including clothes, photographs, paperwork, books, cutlery, cosmetics, shoes, bags, wallets and valuables. Charming line drawings explain how to properly organise drawers, wardrobes, cupboards and cabinets. The illustrations also show Ms Kondo's unique folding method, clearly showing how to fold anything from shirts, trousers and jackets to skirts, socks and bras. The secret to Marie Kondo's unique and simple KonMari tidying method is to focus on what you want to keep, not what you want to get rid of. Ask yourself if something 'sparks joy' and suddenly it becomes so much easier to understand if you really need it in your home and your life. When you surround yourself with things you love you will find that your whole life begins to change. Marie Kondo's first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, presents her unique tidying philosophy and introduces readers to the basics of her KonMari method. It has already transformed the homes and lives of millions of people around the world. Spark Joy is Marie Kondo's in-depth tidying masterclass, focusing on the detail of how to declutter and organise your home.

Getting--and staying--organized is a challenge in and of itself. Add motherhood to the mix, and you've got a whole new dimension of difficulty. So how does a busy mom stay on top of the daily chaos that children inevitably bring along with them? No matter what your situation is, Kristi Clover's home organization systems will work for you. Her foundational rules are highly adaptable and will help you make your home more efficient no matter where you live or how many kids you have (and how messy they are). She helps you prioritize, break down big jobs, declutter, develop age-appropriate chores for your kids, tackle the endless piles of laundry, and so much more. If you long to have a functional and fabulous home for your family and you're tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the work, this life-changing book is for you!

Turn the outdoor space you may not own into one that makes you feel at home. A gardening book unlike any other, RHS How to Garden When You Rent brings together projects, inspiration, and handy know-how specifically tailored to people who rent. With chapters designed around lease lengths, readers will find something for their outdoor space, whether they plan to rent for just a few months or expect to stay in their home for a several years or more. Written by Matthew Pottage, this must-have book combines creative ideas with serious gardening expertise - all without breaking the bank or needing countless hours of hands-on work. Keep your landlord happy and your garden in good shape with plenty of tips, tricks, and techniques for good garden maintenance, and discover ways of turning even the most unloved balcony, yard, or urban garden into a lush, welcoming space that you, your flatmates, and your friends can enjoy for as long as you choose to live there.

DIY enthusiasts, tiny house-lovers, and van-lifers will find inspiration and step-by-step instructions in Tin Can Homestead, the ultimate resource for living small in your own Airstream paradise. The Airstream trailer is the ultimate symbol of vintage wanderlust-and the classic touring vehicle's resurgent popularity has dovetailed with the tiny house movement, resonating with design-minded individuals looking to live small. Tin Can Homestead, based on the popular Instagram of the same name, is the ultimate resource for these would-be DIY-ers, and the perfect coffee-table addition for anyone looking for streamlined, modern lifestyle inspiration. Part practical how-to, part lushly illustrated design inspiration, Tin Can Homestead follows the story of one couple as they build themselves a new life in an old Airstream. Through personal stories and down-and-dirty checklists, this book guides readers through all stages of creating their own Airstream homes-from buying a trailer to plumbing and electrical work. With a hip, bohemian aesthetic and a fresh authorial voice, the authors pair their DIY knowledge with lifestyle advice-including decor, design, and entertaining-and abundant illustrations, from in-process photographs to hand-drawn illustrations.

In recent years, heat pumps have emerged as a promising new form of technology with a relatively low environmental impact. Moreover, they have presented householders with an opportunity to reduce their heating bills. Heat pumps can heat a building by 'pumping' heat from either the ground or the air outside: an intriguing process which utilizes principles that are somewhat analogous to those employed in the domestic refrigerator. Armed with the practical information contained in these pages, homeowners will have the necessary knowledge to take advantage of this potentially low-carbon technology to heat their properties. Now in an updated new edition, Heat Pumps for the Home describes what a heat pump is, how it works, the different methods of pumping heat and the importance of an appropriate and well-planned installation. It also provides you with the information that you need in order to make up your own mind about whether a heat pump might be appropriate to your own circumstances, and also demonstrates what you need to do to in order to make the system work efficiently.

Woodburning stoves have become incredibly popular and it's easy to see why. Not only do woodburners save money on fuel, they're a carbon-neutral way to heat your home and make a great looking feature in a room. If you're thinking of getting a woodburner, this comprehensive collection of basic information will guide you through everything you need to know, from choosing the most suitable stove for your needs to installing and operating one efficiently and safely.