Housing rehabilitation is an important component of any strategy aimed at meeting the nation's affordable housing needs. Keeping a home in good working order or bringing one back from a state of disrepair promotes both sustainability and affordability with every stroke of the hammer and every plumb line snap. Pursuing a high quality rehab or renovation can also result in homes that are better able to withstand storms and other natural disasters.
With affordability, sustainability, and durability in mind, we'd like to call your attention to a set of popular guidebooks published by HUD that describe state-of-the-art techniques, materials, and technologies for housing rehabilitation. The nine-volume series, known collectively as The Rehab Guide, was developed under the auspices of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH). Each volume is devoted to distinct elements of a house and covers a range of issues common to that element. For example, the first volume is titled Foundations, and covers topics from the design and engineering aspects of rehabilitating foundation systems to shoring and repair, waterproofing, crack repair, drainage, and insulation. The other titles reflect the building systems and components they address: