Customer Reviews

Electrical, Plumbing, Insulation, and the Interior

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found the book very useful because I already have some knowledge of home renos. I can read circuit diagrams and already understand the BC Electrial code, and have done quite a bit of remedial plumbing in my former houses. It may not be quite so useful for someone starting out renovating for the first time because it assumes some prior knowledge of house construction.
I found the electrical section concentrated too much on the electrical panel and not enough on the house wiring. Having said that, the few parts that did apply to the location of electrial wires and boxes was useful and very clear.
The plumbing section was much more useful. I found the numerous pictures to be extremely clear and very helpful, especially in relation to the location of vent pipes and traps when I was trying to relocate the sink and washing machine. I was having trouble understanding the drawings in the plumbing section of the BC building code, but after reading the Carson Dunlop book I was able to fathom out what the BC code was saying.
The insulation section was also clear and informative.

You're a Home Inspector or simply in search of picture after picture with little other detail other than technical information. If you are looking for advice on how to repair or fix items, DO NOT BUY this or other Carson Dunlop books in this series, or the $$$ - The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop is a firm out of Canada that does produce good materials for Home Inspectors, but these are not "how to" manuals, nor are these books good for the average home owner. The reviewer g_clarke is, in my view, clearly associated with Carson Dunlop and his or her review should be ignored - check out his/her other reviews, they are worded exactly the same for each book in this series. Kind of sad when people write misleading reviews to simply increase sales. On the positive - DO BUY this book if you are simply looking for very detailed technical information.

Each page has a bunch of pictures, with a caption. No detail, no text. Disappointing.

With almost 500 illustrations, "Electrical, Plumbing, Insulation and the Interior" shows you exactly what the finished job should look like.

Alan Carson and Robert Dunlop prove in this easy-to-use book that pictures really are worth a thousand words. Through clearly detailed illustrations Carson and Dunlop walk you through your home, showing you just what your repairs and renovations should look like, inside and out. This book is an excellent tool for the new home owner or home inspector, showing you which pitfalls to avoid and what to look for when searching for potential problems in the electrical work, plmbing and insulation in your or your client's home.