[.ca] Remodeling a Basement: Expert Advice from Start to Finish (ISBN 1561586595)

Incredibly helpful, Easy to follow, Comprehensive treatment:
I've been slowly remodeling and fixing up all aspects of our house for the last ten years, and when my wife recently wanted to remodel our basement I did a lot of research into various books on the subject. This is by far the best of the bunch, and arguably the best home-owners how-to book I've ever come across. It's a shame the author doesn't have an entire line covering all aspects of home remodeling. The treatment of the subject and necessary details is in-depth, but broken down and presented in such a way that anyone with a modicum of common sense can understand and apply it to their own basement. I've found that many of the tricks of the trade he gives are also applicable to projects spanning other parts of the house, making this a great book for anyone interested in remodeling any part of their home. I would have liked to see an entire chapter on sound proofing your basement (I have three hellions who keep us up until late hours of the night with their shenanigans downstairs), but this is a very minor, and personal, gripe. The plethora of pictures and diagrams are great, as are the "Pro Tips", which cover a lot of things missed by similar books on the subject. My basement turned out beautifully, it's too bad I can't post pictures here. Good luck with your own projects.

The Best:
I have been planning the finishing of my basement for 4 months. I have purchased and read several books on the subject. Without question this is the most comprehensive and easily understood of all of them. It is the best. Highly recommend.

Excellent All-around Book:
This book covers everything from assessing your current basement, planning and the actual work. I'm just a regular home-owner handyman (non-professional) and I feel like I'm ready to tackle the project. One thing that was especially helpful was the Pro Tips. On almost all the pages, there's a tip that you may or may not have thought about. For the work, it goes over the basic steps to accomplishing the project (i.e. electrical, plumbing, drywall). If you have a decent amount of handyman inside you, this book will definitely enable you to finish or remodel a basement.

Excellent for novices, but bad insulation advice:
First, let me say that I think Mr German is an excellent teacher, especially for idiot novices like myself. I've had difficulty with other DIY books assuming a certain vocabulary. German provides an excellent intro to DIY in framing, carpentry, plumbing, electrical etc. I now feel I can start reading more advanced DIY books on each of these topics. My criticism, and my reason for 4 stars, is that his story on insulation flies in the face of recent thinking about the dangers of mold in basement insulation. I suggest reading "Insulate and Weatherize" by Bruce Harley, or "Renovating Old Houses" by George Nash, or look at the buildingscience.com web site, for more information. I urge Mr German to update his book with a better discussion of insulation, mold and vapor barriers, the most mind-bending aspect of home improvement that I have been able to find. The book also talks about water-proofing on page 46-47. I haven't seen this approach elsewhere, and I'm disappointed not to see discussion of external drain mats and so on. Every book says you have to keep plants away from the house. Well I and I suspect others can't do that and stay married, so I'll probably end up building a watertight flower box above a drain mat. This might be a good project to add to a second edition of the book.