The Very Efficient Carpenter
Every Great House Starts as a Skeleton of Wood.
The complete step-by-step course in basic framing — floors, walls, roofs, stairs. 224 pages of full-color photos and drawings that take you from bare ground to a roof overhead, one clear step at a time.
The Most Expensive Line in Any Build Is Labor.
Ask a contractor to frame your garage, addition, or cabin and watch the quote land: labor alone now runs $4 to $10 for every square foot — thousands of dollars before a single board is cut. And the good crews are booked out for months. It wasn't always this way: framing used to pass from builder to builder, on the job, board by board. Most of us just never got the lesson.
The Apprenticeship You Can Carry
A Complete Course, Sills to Rafters
Floors, walls, roofs, stairs — plus the opening chapter nobody else gives you: tools, plans, codes, permits, and how to pick lumber. Nothing assumed, nothing skipped.
Step by Step, Photo by Photo
Full-color photos and drawings walk you through every cut and every raise — clear enough for the greenest beginner, respected by working framers.
Efficiency Is Money Kept
These production methods were built to waste nothing: less time, less lumber, fewer mistakes. Learn to measure once, cut once, and watch the budget survive the build.
A Skill That Never Expires
Tools change, prices change, trends change — a well-framed wall hasn't. Learn it once and it pays you back on every project, every repair, and every "we can't find anyone to do it" for the rest of your life.
Watch the Book Work
Real clips of the methods and the builds in action.
Real Numbers. No Hype.
No hype, no invented percentages — just what's actually inside.
224
Pages of Step-by-Step
Photos and drawings walk you through every cut, every wall, every roof.
1992
In Print Ever Since
Over three decades of builders handing it to the next apprentice.
0
Batteries, Logins, or Subscriptions
Works on a job site, in a blackout, and fifty years from now.
Honest Answers
“I'm Not a Carpenter.”
Most readers aren't. This book was written to be understood by the greenest beginner — the shed you've been putting off, the garage, the cabin, the ADU, or simply understanding the bones of the house you already live in. Start with the chapter on tools and codes, and take it one wall at a time. (One honest note from us: building codes vary — the book teaches the principles, your local office has the final word.)
How long does shipping take?
We pack your order within 1–2 business days, then tracked delivery typically takes 12–21 days depending on your location. You'll get a tracking link the moment it ships, so you can follow it to your door.
What if it's not right for me?
Every copy comes with our 30-day money-back promise. If it's not for you, email us at clockpercentage@gmail.com and we'll take care of the rest — no forms, no interrogation.
What's the free bonus gift?
Every copy ships with The Job Site Companion — our free digital quick-reference: lumber cheat sheets, the roof-pitch guide, stair math made simple, tool and safety checklists, and the ten beginner mistakes to skip. It lands in your inbox the moment your order ships.
I'm a complete beginner. Is this for me?
Yes — Fine Homebuilding credited this book with making even hip roofs "readily comprehensible to the greenest layperson." It opens with tools, codes, and lumber before a single wall goes up.
Is this a real book? Who wrote it?
A real, physical paperback published by Taunton Press — not a PDF or a printout. The author is Larry Haun, a production framer for five decades and a teacher of apprentices for twenty years. We at The Curious Society curate remarkable books like this one — we didn't write it, but we stand behind every copy we ship.