If you'd like to get the whole family involved in your next DIY project, this book by Eric Stromer is the best place to start. Repairing and renovating your home can be a great bonding exercise with your spouse or children and this book actually makes most of the projects a lot of fun to complete. The overall tone of the book is aimed towards family, and although it can be a bit "cutesy" in spots, don't let the language throw you off. It's well worth the read and contains some terrific projects the entire family can enjoy.

The whole book is around 200 pages and it is not an intimidating read at all. If you like a book that makes it very easy to understand the task at hand and doesn't try to impress you with overblown terminology and difficult wording, this is the perfect solution. Each one of the projects contained is easy enough that a family with little DIY experience can take them on and not end up with a total disaster.

There are about six different sections in the book and each one contains around four projects. You'll be able to pick the ones that you want to try first, and they are all quite functional, so while you're having fun you'll actually be adding to the value of your home, which is a nice bonus. You'll get a complete list of necessary tools for each project and this is great if you don't have everything you need on hand. You can pretty much take the book with you to the hardware store and use it as a shopping list.

While the main downside of the book is the lack of color photography, the plans are well illustrated and easy to read. If a lack of color is the only thing lacking in this book, that's a pretty small complaint. It would have been nice to see some before and after shots, especially so that the family could get an idea of the scope of a project, but overall, this doesn't really hurt the book's value all that much.

Each step you'll need to take in a project is numbered, which is great if you're trying to assign specific tasks to your kids or loved ones. The instructions are very easy to follow and broken down so well that everything seems easier than it really is. Keep this in mind before you get in over your head. We recommend starting with the smallest projects first until you're positive that the whole family can tackle the other projects and still have fun.

This book has all of the main ingredients necessary for success - an engaging writing style, materials lists, step by step instructions that are incredibly easy to follow and well thought out diagrams. While color photos would have been nice, this book is still well worth the money. If you've got a family and you'd like to involve them in the process of fixing up the home, this is definitely the perfect book.

Originally posted 2008-11-12 15:08:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Book Review, Handy Man, Project

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bonus, color photography, complete list, cutesy, disaster, diy project, downside, eric stromer, exercise, Hardware Store, having fun, necessary tools, perfect solution, renovating your home, scope, shopping list