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Juegoal Set of 3 Butterfly Garden Stake Decor, 20 Inch Colorful Butterflies Stakes, Glass & Metal Yard Art Ornaments for Mom, Mothers Day Ideal Gifts, Outdoor Lawn Pathway Patio Plant Pot, Flower Bed
Original price was: $26.99.$18.99Current price is: $18.99.
Essential Home Skills Handbook: Everything You Need to Know as a New Homeowner (Black & Decker)
Original price was: $24.99.$7.24Current price is: $7.24.
Richard P. –
A Great Place to Start for New Homeowners
Let me just confess up front that I’m far from a handy individual. While I’m perfectly happy to blame it on being a wheelchair using paraplegic, the truth is it has much more to do with the fact that even the simplest household task seems to baffle me. I’ve been a homeowner for a few years, however, and I’m trying to tackle more tasks and to increase my knowledge of my home environment.I have no doubt that Chris Peterson’s “Essential Home Skills Handbook” will be a handy dandy resource for me as I decide what to tackle, what to hire out, and how to gain more knowledge about how things in my home work.This is a DIY series from the Black & Decker brand. Chapters include more than 100 projects with all of them labeled as either being easy, moderate, or challenging. I’ll also be the first to admit that sometimes even the “easy” ones seemed intimidating – not just because i use a wheelchair but because my basic knowledge is lacking despite having a father who was a lifelong carpenter.Areas include such things as home heating and cooling, structural openings, plumbing, electrical issues, interior surfaces, exterior concerns, and everything from simple maintenance to what I’d likely call something close to rehab.Each chapter tells you the items you will need to complete the task. Then, each chapter gives you a step-by-step instruction to actually completing the task. I will also admit that there are times that the step-by-step instructions aren’t quite as obvious as they seem to some. My gut feeling is that it helps to have at least an entry-level amount of knowledge to really get the most benefit from this book. For example, there are some terms used in simple instructions where I said “I don’t know what that means.” However, for the most part the writing is clear, accessible, and incredibly simple.I really loved the extra chapters in the book. In fact, I’d almost say they were more beneficial than anything to me. This includes “The Basic Toolkit” that actually explains all the different tools – these are the things you get embarrassed to ask someone but really need to know. This book explains it.There’s also a chapter on “Locating Essential Services and Fixtures.” Again, for some folks this is very basic. However, it’s refreshing to have someone explain where to find things.The book includes a yearly maintenance calendar, a conversion chart, and a page for resources. I found all of these things truly helpful.There is so much that I appreciated about this book. I appreciated simple yet deeper explanations about tasks such as how to determine ceiling fan size, the benefits of different types of furnace filters, explanations about wires, and a variety of “money wise” tips.I could probably go either a 4 or 5-star here, however, I can’t deny that I really learned a lot here and I’m already using the information around the house. While I may need to supplement the information a bit with additional research, Chris Peterson gives the new homeowner a fantastic place to start with “Essential Home Skills Handbook.”
hybroanglid –
Good breadth and range of projects, easy to follow and understand instructions…with PICTURES!
My husband and I bought our first home together a couple of years ago. In so doing, we also moved from the city to the boonies, miles and miles away from a hot burger or a place to buy a gallon of milk. Living so far out in the country requires regular maintenance on both the house and the outdoor property, and it’s been an education, to say the least. Some of the tasks we have had to learn might have been easier if we’d had this book back then when we were new homeowners. It’s a pretty good DIY handbook that covers a wide range of home maintenance–and some improvement–projects. This book is neatly organized into six major chapters and project types. They are:•Home Heating and Cooling•Structural Openings•Plumbings•Electrical Issues•Interior Surfacesand•Exterior Concerns.There are also lots of maintenance tips and money-saving ideas sprinkled throughout each section of the book. Every project has a difficulty rating ranging from 1 (Easy) to 3 (Difficult). Most projects and repair guides have one or more color photos to help you visualize the process better, as well as simple illustrations, and the language is clear and easy to understand. My husband has been flipping through it regularly, and consults it every so often for an actual project he is working on. While he also checks YouTube for videos on any number of simple repairs he is working on, he likes that he can bring this book with him around the house to wherever he’s working. The only little suggestion I might have for future improvements would be that a spiral binding might make it easier to use this book ON-SITE because you could turn to the page you need for reference while you’re working and let the book lie open flat. As it currently is, it won’t lie open to any particular page without damaging the spine.All in all, though, we have found this book very helpful for a wide range of projects and household repairs. It is printed on strong midweight glossy paper and written with good grammar, spelling, and punctuation, so the quality is what you might expect from Black+Decker. As other reviewers have mentioned, this book would be an ideal housewarming gift, especially for a new homeowner. Happily recommended!
Liz C –
What the title says
Even if you aren’t a new homeowner, this book is handy to have. Plenty of instruction, clear pictures, and information everyone could use. We moved to a different part of the country this year and part of buying a house has also led to the discovery of some systems we were unfamiliar with. Because of this, I knew when to give something a shot at fixing, and when to call in the pros. We bought an older house, while it was maintained, it was never updated, so we have our work cut out for us on this one. This book has given us enough description at time that even things that were long ago discarded, went out of style, no one has those anymore (except me) were easily identified and dealt with. Beyond that, it has also been handy to make sure things are maintained until I can get around to replacing it. If you’re a new home owner, this will become your bible to keeping your house in running order, even if you aren’t new, this is handy to have, there are some things you just don’t consider, or forget about. Why would I check my insulation? Nothing is wrong with it. Or is there something wrong, about to be wrong, worth looking into later, etc.