Building Codes, Construction Books, Design Software, New Home Builders, House Plans, Home Improvement & Home Repair

Sometimes it is difficult to actually find that for which you are looking on the Internet. Searching for information about custom builders, or residential construction, or design/build, or custom home building, can be particularly frustrating because almost every site on the Web is under construction and building their custom designed home page.

To make matters worse, some search engines exclude these common terms from the search or weight them less heavily in the results - unless you force them to be used. Then when you finally figure out what keywords to use, the page you actually need may be number 4,444,443 of 4,444,444 pages that match your request.

A few ideas that may help you find information on the Web

Find Words or Phrases on a Single Web Page
Sometimes, after you get to a page, you still need to find your keyword. If you are using Netscape^® or Internet Explorer^® in Windows^® and you want to search any page that appears in your browser for keywords, type Ctrl + Home to jump to the beginning of the page you are viewing and then type Ctrl + F to call up the Find dialogue box.

Click in the box and type one or more words, then click Find Next until you locate the information for which you are searching.

Note that this may not work when using other operating systems or browsers that are specific to a particular service like America Online^®.

Find Information Using Search Engines

• Try using just one keyword
• Try using many keywords separated by spaces
• Try using a plus sign (+) before a keyword to include it
• Try using a minus sign (-) before a keyword to exclude it
• Enclose a phrase with "quotation marks" to find an exact match
• Use a dictionary to be sure that you are spelling words corectly
• Use a thesaurus to find similar words for your search
• Try your keyword as part of a URL   www.yourkeyword.com
• Turn off your computer, go to your local library, and check out a good book
• Ask us! We may not always have the answer, but if we don't we probably know where to look or whom to ask and we welcome your questions!

Talk To People With Similar Interests - "been there, done that!"
Newsgroups and discussion groups are another great way to find information about almost any topic. There are more than 24,000 different Usenet newsgroups. While you need to be careful what you say, how you say it, and to whom you listen, these online chat rooms and discussion groups can be a very good source of information.

Search The Web

MetaSearch Engines

Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction
The American Institute of Architects

More architecture & design books

Understanding Construction Drawings

Means Illustrated Construction Dictionary & CD ROM

Mr. Blandings Builds
His Dream House
Some things never change.