About

Patrick Soto is the alma mater of Building by the Book. A web site dedicated to sharing building construction best practices as recommended by product manufacturers and structural engineers. Patrick got into construction by accident in 2016, when he decided to build an extension and do a full renovation of his ground floor flat in London. He soon realised there was a complete disconnect between what engineers and manufacturers recommended and the way most builders perform the work. This gap stems from the fact that the vast majority of builders do not use written information as a source of knowledge. Instead they prefer to discuss and share information “verbally” while on the job. As I have heard many builders say “books cannot teach you how to build. The only way to learn is by working on a building site”. This approach is caused by the fact that there is no structured learning required to become a builder. This actually means that most builders have never learnt anything from a written source. Problem is, the only way that product manufacturers and engineers can effectively share knowledge is by writing documentation. As an example, manufacturers publish technical data sheets for pretty much any building product they manufacture. These data sheets contain critical information about the product such as technical information (composition, loading time, dry/curing time, strength, application temperature, storage, etc), preparatory work required, directions for use, precautions, etc. Unless builders read this documentation there is almost no chance that the product will be applied using the correct methodology. One of the big problems in the construction industry is the high standards that most products are manufactured to. These high standards allow products to effectively remain in place for many many years, sometimes as long as 100 years (e.g. brickwalls). Unfortunately this also means that even when products are applied without following any of the manufacturer’s recommendations they still perform effectively for a few months, sometimes even a few years. While seems like a positive thing it is in effect feeding the belief amongst builders that following the instructions is “a complete waste of time”. Of course very few builders go back to jobs they have completed in the past so they never realise that a lot of the installations they perform only give customers a fraction of the intended lifespan. It is important to note that any deviation from the manufacturer’s guidelines introduces a risk of a reduced lifespan. This is because products are designed and tested by manufacturers following their own guidelines. As they deviate from these guidelines builders are in effect getting into uncharted territory. To put it simple, the product has never been tested for that a risk So next time you hire a builder to do some work ask them if they have read the product data sheet. Chances are they do not know what this is and even if they do they have no clue how to get hold of it. From my experience this way of working is pretty unique to the construction industry. There is no other trade where instructions and product documentation are so blatantly ignored. And of course this makes it almost impossible for most installations to achieve anywhere near the level of performance intended by product manufacturers.

Anna Möller and these are some of my photo projects.