Except for remodeling out first home, my wife and I had no experience in building yet dared to built two homes: a custom one for our growing family and, later, one for our retirement. Though the book is well illustrated, it is not a step-by-step instruction on how to build a home, but one well detailed in all phases of construction. . Our retirement home, built with concrete blocks, reinforced with steel, is a more permanent structure. Let me put it this way: it is not an overstatement if I say our retirement home will last thousands of years, one that will have people wondering, who the heck built a Greek temple on a California mountain? We did not go into the project blindly. The key words are research and taking the time to visit building sites. In my work clothes of white shirt and tie and with clipboard for taking note, I was seen by most laborers as a typical office worker doing his tedious job. Please try to be unobtrusive while questioning workers in different stages of construction. Carpenters were helpful in demonstrating the safe use of power tools. Stucco men loved to show off the different textures they created, Spanish lace their favorite. I strongly recommend that my readers visit construction, and please get permission from a job foreman. Good luck.