Handy Man Fix Home Repair

The Carey brothers achieved great fame with their first Dummies title that focused on home renovation so hopes were pretty high with this latest book on how to maintain your home. This is an area that many people fail to understand how important it can be, which is why we decided to focus on this title first. No matter how much effort you put into renovating your home, if you don’t maintain it, there simply is no point.

The audience for the book is definitely beginners, or those that really don’t have a lot of time to familiarize themselves with a lot of DIY work. Weekend warriors might be a little disappointed in some of the tips, but overall, this is a great read. There are a few tips that everyone can use, regardless of their experience level and this is a book that deserves at least some space on your shelf.

We appreciated the fact that the book covered a lot of home maintenance ideas that are simply overlooked or never carried out. We all know that we need to keep our eaves clean, but how many of us know how to spot potential safety hazards in our home? This book covers pretty much everything you could ever need to do to keep your home running in tip top shape and chances are, if you follow this advice, you’ll find that you have a lot less repair and renovation work to do over the long term.

The section on how to prepare for freezing weather was particularly useful. It is all too easy to assume that everything is going to be alright, only to end knee deep in water. You’ll learn exactly how to winterize your home to make sure that this doesn’t happen. This one tip can save you hundreds in plumber fees and thousands in damages. They also cover some great winter tips for the rest of your house to make sure that the elements don’t over stress it.

The book takes you room by room, showing you what you need to look out for and how to take care of little problems before they become big problems. If you’re mystified by a lot of what goes on behind the scenes in your home, the systems section will make it completely easy to understand. This really is a perfect title for those that are getting into home ownership for the first time, especially if they are used to living in an apartment where all of this stuff is taken care of by the landlord.

The best part by far is the fact that the book includes calendars to help you schedule regular maintenance on your home. Everything from cleaning a fireplace to fixing cracks is covered and will end up saving you time and money on your home. We would have liked it if they had gone into gas fireplace tips as well, but overall, this is a terrific book that should be purchased by all homeowners.

• Book Review: No-Fear Home Improvement: 100 Projects Anyone Can Do by Creative Homeowners The Creative Homeowner is one of today’s hottest resources for home improvement and this latest book produced by their editors addresses one of the biggest concerns that homeowners have. They want to start making improvements around their home, but they are too worried that they may mess something up. Considering......
• How to Weatherproof Your Deck Adding a deck can be a great way to increase the overall value of your home, but taking care of it is a whole other matter. Unless you purchased pre-sealed wood, you are going to have to take the time to maintain your deck, or your investment will quickly go......
• Review of the Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair Black and Decker are known for the terrific DIY guides and this title is no exception. As the name suggests, you’re getting step by step photo instructions that make it easy for anyone to fix up their own home without having to be a professional handy person. You’ll get......
• Fun Holiday Home Renovations If you have a holiday home where you intend to stay during the winter season, you may be thinking about some of the renovations that you can do to keep the house in tip top shape, even if you only intend on staying there for a few days, a few......
• Joe the Plumber If your home, apartment or some other building is suddenly experiencing a water leak, then repairing the fixtures, the faucets and the pipes can become extremely urgent in no time at all. You may be able to do some of the repair work yourself, but in most cases it is......

• Gloves Pads Safety Protective Gear Tools Home Improvement
• Glasses, Goggles Shields Safety Protective Gear Tools Home Improvement
• Masks, Respirators Helmets Safety Protective Gear Tools Home Improvement
• Safety Protective Gear Tools Home Improvement

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.

• 10 Most Common Mistakes of DIY'ers Every year, thousand of homeowners pick up their tools and go to work on their homes. Unfortunately, many are not prepared for the projects they are facing and they may end up causing more damage. Here are the top ten mistakes that DIY'ers make when fixing or renovating their home.......
• It Might Be Time to Consider DIY for Home Improvement When insurance deductibles become so high that it becomes impossible to make claims to repair blown down fences and make routine home improvements, or when the waiting list for contractor help becomes impossibly long, it might be time to consider getting things done yourself. In the age of big box......
• Review of The Complete Guide to Ceramic and Stone Tile Black and Decker's The Complete Guide to Ceramic and Stone Tile is a must read for anyone that is considering renovating their home. This is a great guide that makes it very simple to understand how to do even complex tasks and the project section alone makes it worth......
• Dare to Repair By Julie Sussman 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......
• How to Keep Home Repair Costs Down There is nothing that hits the wallet as hard as when you have a home improvement project. The most important thing on the home owner's mind is how to minimize the costs of the project. The balance that needs to be maintained is how to reduce the cost of a......

If you are interested in do-it-yourself home repair, it’s easy to think that you can tackle any project. However, thousands of dollars and a few trips to the emergency room later can make you rethink that position. If you are considering renovating your home, remodeling a room or changing anything major, it is vital to make sure that you have the skills, techniques and knowledge to tackle the chore before you begin. It is much cheaper to have a professional do the job from start to finish than it is to have them fix whatever you may have messed up.

Here’s an easy guide to help you determine whether or not calling a pro is the best answer.

1. The project will entail electrical rewiring.

Unless you have experience dealing with rewiring, this a job that is absolutely best left to professionals. Home electrical systems are very dangerous if you do not know what you are doing and serious if not fatal injury can occur. This also applies if you are tackling a project that may entail removing wiring, knocking down a wall where wiring may be present or installing a pool or hot tub. Do what you can up to a point, but when it comes to handling the wiring, call a professional.

2. You need to fix your roof and your house is two or more stories.

While fixing a roof on a single story can be dangerous, the danger is multiplied the higher you go. If you have never been on a roof before, now is not the time to see if you are good at it. Roofing is another task that is best left to pros, especially if you have no experience with walking on a slanted roof, dealing with heights and carrying supplies up and down a ladder. While most amateurs can easily clean out their eaves or fix a small leak on a one-story house, any higher than that is not recommended.

3. The project requires concrete.

Too many homeowners end up with unusable driveways, dangerous pathways and repair bills that are through the roof. If you are planning a project that requires more than just Quikrete, it is best to have a professional handle it for you. While you can pour your own foundation or redo your driveway, if you have never done anything like that before, it is not recommended to try it on your own.

4. The project requires a special skill that you do not have.

It is important to be honest with yourself when it comes to skills. Yes, you can follow instructions out of a book, but there is a chance that something can go wrong. Don’t let pride or ego ruin your home. If you don’t think you can do it – don’t. If you only think you can because of an inflated ego – don’t. Take the time to learn the skill from a professional before you end up in way over your head.

Photo Credits: 1

• Review of the Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair Black and Decker are known for the terrific DIY guides and this title is no exception. As the name suggests, you’re getting step by step photo instructions that make it easy for anyone to fix up their own home without having to be a professional handy person. You’ll get......
• How to Fix or Replace Crown Molding While crown molding doesn’t serve any real purpose, it still looks nice and can add value to your home. However, over time, crown molding can become cracked, pieces may fall away or it may just start to look a little old. Luckily, this is a pretty easy fix and it......
• How to Find Wall Studs Whether you’re hanging a picture or thinking about adding a door, finding hidden wall studs is no easy task. There is of course the method of thumping on the wall, but this is not very accurate and there is a lot of room for error. If you’re dealing with a......
• Ortho’s Home Repair Problem Solver By Robert J. Beckstrom, Jeff Beneke, Matt Phair, Naomi Wise Ever sat up half the night worried about what the heck was making that noise? Need quick help in figuring out what is wrong with your home? This book from Ortho isn’t the newest one on the market, but that doesn’t make it any less important. In fact, if you......
• Benefits of Home Warranty Policies Homeowners typically want to protect all that they own and this usually means purchasing an insurance policy for their home and valuables. However, this will not provide any assistance if something just stops working or if something in the home is damaged as a result of typical use. In this......

• Electrical Solar Home Improvement
• Spa Hot Tub Pool Spa Covers Pools Spas Yard, Garden Outdoor Living