Rating: 
Summary: CLEAR AND SIMPLE! HIGHLY RECOMMEND,,,
Review: 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...
Rating:
Summary: CLEAR AND SIMPLE! HIGHLY RECOMMEND,,,
Review: 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...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: Being a first-time homebuyer, I knew i would have many projects to accomplished. After purchasing my home, I quickly realized my lack of both skills and knowledge of basic home improvements and or repairs. I decided to shop around for a home improvement book. After a couple of hours, I came upon a pot of gold(The complete photo guide to home repair). This book is filled with useful information. If you are looking for the perfect home improvement book, do purchase this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good How To For The Home Owner
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: overall introduction~ with alot of pictures... kept simple.
Review: hi I just got this book after seeing the reviews making it look super important to my beginning home repair knowledge. Its ok, all pictures which are great to explore, very thick and theres so much covered in this, but I am a woman who knows nothing about home repair stuff and this only gives me a taste of what I need to know. Like I said the pictures are great, an example is I need a new roof and I cant pay anyone to put it on and have any money left to do the one thosand things left I need done on this house. I bought a 250 year old house this summer in need of pretty much everything! I mean everything! so manye if your house is in need of much less then mine this is the one for you to keep things going around home. My guess its its good for that kind of thing. Maybe even a woman on her own who only needs a basic understanding of how a house works. Theres your heating systems and pretty much all the inner workings of a house here and its all explained so that even I got it with those neat pictures. But in order to actually DO the roof ( I will have help but I must totally grasp the complete understanding myself to assist in the repair of it) I wil have to get a book with much more information on newer roof supplies and diff types of issues I will be facing.. Its just too basic to begin something like roof work.. without further reading.
The painting section is pretty good, I liked all the discriptions of brushes and paints and tecniques and things pretty detailed I thought except I already read in depth elsewhere and KNOW now theres far more to painting a wall then what this book told me. see now I know I can use all sorts of interesting paints like milk paints and glazes and male totally cool designer walls when if i only read this book about painting my walls Id end up with plain colored walls like everyone else. just basic..I thought this book made home repair seem interesting. easy to grasp. thats a good point. Information I am told, Is power so three stars is how I felt. I thibk a person would use this at some point or refer to it for sure. or loan it out maybe even alot. I could say this might be a good basic book to BUILD your home repair libary with. And maybe even if youre home is new this might be the only repair book you need. The sections are just all too short for me to totally understand all my options on my house. I am redoing the bathroom and I need as an example a total understanding of ALL my options. who really wants just a plain bathroom? theres all that tile I can lay in tons of patterns and designs and such I can add a homemade sauna and use a home built glass shower with glass cubes or whatever and this book only touches on how to fix my plumbing not what to do should I try to understand relocating the whole bath in the other side of the house and installing a antique bath tub and trying to figure out if the 250 floor needs rebuilding or not to hold it etc. It did help me understand how my house stands up and what beam to look out for but I will need tons more books in each subject before I even outline and start on anything. I would tho buy this as a gift for a housewarming for someone maybe getting thier first house. good choice for that.
Rating:
Summary: FIVE STARS...AND MORE STARS!
Review: How I wish this book had been around when I needed it most. As a single mother who was working, finishing my eduation and raising three daughters in the 70's and 80's, money was scarce and one learned how to do what had to be done. So, through a variety of good but not great books, a few friends, and trial and error(more error than trial,) I repaired the plumbing, replaced the light fixtures, painted, papered, patched and mended! Life would have been so much easier with a book like this one. There is not a thing about general home repair that cannot be found here and the photographs make the task a breeze. No more sketchy illustrations or trying to follow instructions with a diagram that best resembles Heiroglyphics! For anyone who is a novice at home repair, this book is a must, and even the more experienced person is sure to find some excellent tips and techniques to make the job easier. I now have a husband who looks after the household repairs, but even "Mr. Fix-it" could benefit from this terrific book. Black & Decker "really know their stuff" and have come up with a fantastic, indispensable book!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for folks buying their first house
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustratingly professional, not for the idiot :)
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I just bought a house and have never done much home repair. I needed to put in 2 new toilets and do some other work. This book is perfect for such things. The pictures and descriptions are outstanding. Don't hesitate to buy this. Great for Newbies like me.
Rating:
Summary: Shelves??
Review: I'm not kidding here, this book does not have a section on building shelves. I was in the bookstore doing comparisons between home repair manuals, and I chose something universal like shelves to compare them, and this book doesn't even have the word 'shelves' in the index. Shelves for pete's sake! What this book does have in it seems done really well, but omitting what just might be the #1 home repair/improvement made me highly suspect. I ended up going with the Home Depot 1-2-3.. even though the illustrations were not as good, the layout and language was really friendly for home repair newbies. The Stanley book was good as well, though not quite as geared towards the novice as the Home Depot book.
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