Examines the wide variety of houses that people from around the world use to take shelter, looking especially at subterranean, mobile, modular, earthen, and innovative dwellings.

Bruce Barker, one of the country's leading authorities on building codes, has turned his eye toward one of his favorite subjects: building decks. Although it's one of the most popular DIY building projects, just about every deck built in the past decade (by pros as well as homeowners) falls short of current codes. In [this book,] Barker zeroes in on the main areas of concern and shows accurately and precisely how to design and build it right. Given...