annieb123
Written on Dec 7, 2019
Black & Decker Book of Home How-To Complete Photo Guide to Outdoor Building is an upcoming addition to the B&D series specifically focused on decks, sheds, garden structures and other permaculture structures. Due out 31st Dec 2019 from Quarto on their Cool Springs imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in flexibound format.
This book is packed full of step by step picture tutorials for a number of appealingly useful and attractive projects which are do-able for the average homeowner. A very short introduction is followed immediately by chapters covering: walkways patios & decks, walls & fences, play areas, sheds & structures. The book does include a metric conversion chart and abbreviated index, but nearly all of the page content is used for the projects themselves.
Each project contains a finished design picture, an exploded isometric drawing with labeled parts and cutting lists (US standard measurements only), an introduction and supplies list, and a step by step picture tutorial with succinct descriptions.
The projects run the gamut from short afternoon projects easily completed by a beginner to full-on advanced projects which could easily challenge an experienced DIYer. There are some specialty items which I really had never considered within the realm of DIY (like a brick masonry wood fired pizza oven).
One codicil: I'm not sure if the book underwent some editing deletions without being reflected in the promotional materials (I received an early eARC which wasn't final for release), but the promotional title is: "Complete Photo Guide to Outdoor Building: Decks - Sheds - Greenhouses & Garden Structures. There are no greenhouse plans or tutorials in the eARC I received. That doesn't detract from the book in my opinion. The 22 included projects are quite nice and will enhance the outdoor areas of any home.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.