[.ca] The Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair: ... (ISBN 1589231813)

From Amazon.com:
Got a problem with grout? Open The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair (to page 98) and watch your tiling worries dissolve before the simple beauty of photography. Black & Decker has anticipated your every question and problem with interior, exterior, and home systems repairs, and detailed the solutions in just over 500 pages. In no other human endeavor is a visual guide so important as home repair (well, maybe brain surgery), so this is a crucial aid to the handyperson. Easy-to-find sections on floors, insulation, roofing, chimneys, water heaters, wall switches, air conditioning, and much more are well-designed, brilliantly illustrated, and carefully outlined with step-by-step instructions from masters. The photos in particular are extremely valuable, offering many different views (sometimes even exploded) of the operation in question, and always showing just enough to communicate without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. These alone would be worth the price of the book, but the written explanations and instructions are also very helpful, offering tools, materials lists, and hints that wouldn't occur to the amateur. The book finishes with a maintenance schedule to help you keep repairs from becoming serious, and the end papers have conversion charts and tables that you'll use time and again. If you can't have Norm the master carpenter over to help you fix your old house, The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair is the next best thing. --Rob Lightner

Excellent book for folks buying their first house:
I bought this book right after I bought my first house (which was 12 years old at the time I moved in). I have owned the house for 2 years now and have owned a copy of this book for the same time. 1. I had no idea how the systems (ac, plumbing, various kithcen appliences, etc.) of the house worked when I moved in. This book gives a clear overview of the various systems and how they work. I could easily figure out the items that needed a maintenance schedule. I was also able to talk to various service providers (plumbers, electrical contractors, etc.) meanigfully as I was armed with the appropriate information. 2. I was struggling finding the right tools that I needed to have for various "do it yourself" repairs. This book clearly lists the tools that need to be used for every repair with pictures. You will never be lost in "Home Depot" again. 3. I have had a few unplanned repairs that needed to be made. I was easily able to look up the index to go to the relevant section and carry out the repair (after a couple of visits to Home Depot to get appropriate tools). This book was worth every penny. Anyone moving into a new house should have a copy of this book with him or her.

Good How To For The Home Owner:
Good book that covers basic how-to in every area of your house. Slightly basic, but has everything in color pictures and illustrations. Lots of basic repairs and some more advanced repairs. I would say every home owner could use this book

CLEAR AND SIMPLE! HIGHLY RECOMMEND,,,:
An excellent "do it yourself" "PICTURE" book which is quite fitting for the home improvment newbie. Everything from "A" to "Z" is practically covered. Also receommended are the Black and Decker specific projects books, i.e. wiring, plumbing, baths, carpentry, etc...

Good Book:
The book tells you what you need to know to fix just about anything in your house. It has color photos to show you step by step how to do it. If you can't fix it with this book you need to hire a contractor anyways.

Frustratingly professional, not for the idiot :):
I have this book for the last 3 years. I could never make use of the book because it assumes that I'm already a plumber, a technician, a carpentar, a mason etc... This book is not for the ordinary people like me; rather it is for a professional who is already in this type of craft and trying to improve himself. However, I turn the pages from time to time like a National Geographic Atlas, or my high school photo album. I never ever recommend this for people like me. If you are not in this "home repair" business, please refrain from the idea of having this heavy gizmo.