This is a do-it yourself guide written mainly for women, but anyone that is interested in home repair can get a lot out of it. If you have ever wanted to tackle any kind of DIY project in your house this book is the definitive guide that can help you get the job done. The writing style is very engaging and this is an incredibly quick read for a DIY book. We really appreciated the humor that was used throughout to make it fun. This is a great book for single moms or just about anyone that needs to be able to tackle projects of all sizes around their homes.

The book is divided into five main sections, Plumbing, Electrical, Major Appliances, Windows, Walls and Doors as well as Home Safety. Each section includes plenty of drawings and illustrations to make the projects easy to understand. The detail on the drawings is quite good, a problem that many DIY publishers cannot fix. We were happy to see that even the smallest details were easy to see in print. Definitely a job well done!

The last section details how to find a contractor if the job is too big or if you don’t feel comfortable taking it on yourself. This took away a little bit from the empowerment theme of the book, but in some cases, there are times when even the best DIY’er can’t do it on their own. The tips contained here will help you avoid getting taken for a ride by a contractor and we appreciated the useful hints on how to locate the right contractor for the job.

The resource section is worth the cost of the book alone and provided some great ways to find the products and tools mentioned in the book. You can use this as a virtual shopping list to help build up your home tool kit. We liked the way that the book described the different tools needed and their uses, especially for readers that may not be used to home repair jobs on their own.

Overall, this was a fantastic book that really breaks down common tasks and makes them easy to understand. The money that can be saved by tackling these projects is significant, and the section on major appliances was an interesting addition. Most DIY projects focus only on what you can build or fixing fixtures, so this was something that we found to be very unique to this book. If you’ve ever faced a loud refrigerator in the middle of the night and didn’t have the money to get it fixed professionally, this book will definitely come in handy.

The authors have gone on to write more DIY books for women and it is easy to see why they have built up such a dedicated audience. No matter what gender you are, the books are fun to read, informative and contain some really great tips to help you get the job done right.

Originally posted 2008-12-08 09:18:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Book Review, Handy Man

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common tasks, definitive guide, Doors, drawings, five main sections, home safety, home tool, humor, illustrations, little bit, major appliances, moms, plumbing, publishers, resource section, section details, shopping list, tool kit, virtual shopping, writing style