DOME, SWEET DOME

Image Gallery Above: The dome home can be easy on the owner-builder and is surprisingly energy efficient. KEN FORSGREN

A field guide to shelter alternatives and sensible shopping.

A NUMBER OF GOOD-AND VARIED books on housing have recently sprung up in our neighborhood.

As John Bower reported in "PollutionFree Housing" (MOTHER 116), a wide range of substances commonly used in building materials, furniture, and other household products can have toxic effects on chemically sensitive people. Bower has now written by far the most comprehensive book available on nontoxic building: The Healthy House: How to Buy One, How to Build One, How to Cure a "Sick" One (hardbound for $17.95 plus $2 shipping and handling from Lyle Stuart, Inc., 120 Enterprise Ave., Secaucus, NJ 07094). I could tell you that John covers everything from testing sensitivity to framing walls, or I could mention that there are more than 200 sources of nontoxic materials in one of the three appendixes. But it's simpler to put it this way: If you even suspect that you or your loved ones may have chemical sensitivities, don't buy, build, or remodel a house without first arming yourself with this book.-DRS

"Alternative housebuilding won't stump you with high-tech engineering trickery. Alternative materials make sense. They will be familiar and comfortable from the start, even though you may need some time to use them with great skill." With these words, Mike McClintock begins leading his readers through the concepts and skills of making their own log, timber-frame, pole, cordwood, stone, rammed-earth, or earthsheltered house. McClintock's seven-part, 367-page guide, Alternative Housebuilding ($16.95 plus $2 shipping and handling from Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 387 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10016), can help anyone who is interested in unconventional, hands-on construction choose which technique to use and gain the skills to do so.

On a much more modest scale comes Stephen Taylor's A Place of Your Own Making: How to Build a One-Room Cabin, Studio, Shack, or Shed ($14.95 postpaid from Henry Holt Distribution Center, 4375 W. 1980 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104). Taylor's construction counsel for those hoping to build a complete (sans plumbing), little freestanding building is friendly, useful, and elementary, yet still thorough. Actually, though, his entertaining text touts the self-knowledge and hands-on experience gained by building as much as it does the end result.

Christopher Evers's The Old-House Doctor (hardbound for $17.95 plus $2.65 shipping and handling from The Overlook Press, R.R. 1, Box 496, Lewis Hollow Rd., Woodstock, NY 12498; specify ISBN No. H.C. 087-951-090-0 when you order) tackles the more difficult job of repairing or restoring any type of old, period house. Evers's 21 years of experience as a professional old-house rehabilitator shows throughout his helpful guide. It's flecked with valuable tips on such topics as scabbing, sistering, or scarfing rotten framing supports and replacing single wood roof shingles without leaving an exposed nail. There are also helpful resource lists.