Customer Reviews

Home Improvement 1-2-3: Expert Advice from the Home Depot

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent home improvement book that any person should have if they are thinking of doing home improvements. The skill gauge tells you what level of skills you should have before starting a project so you don't get in over you head. There are safety alerts, trip savers (great for people like me who usually make about 3 or 4 trips to the store for one project) and it even tells you how long you can expect to work on a project depending on your skill set. This book is a must for anyone who does or wants to do home improvements.

"Home Improvement 1-2-3" covers the basic improvement and repair tasks you'd expect. Where it excels is by providing an estimate of how long and what kind of skills would be required for a particular task, any special tools, and whether or not you will need a second hand.

For example, if your toilet leaks at the base, there's a bit of disassembly you'll need to do. Most toilets are pretty heavy and you might want help in taking it off the floor and later holding it while you align the floor bolts.

Unless you're paying attention, you'll tend to underestimate the amount of time and effort for a task. For example, the guide lists "installing a standard light switch" as a 15-30 minute item. This doesn't include installing the box (1-2 hours), plus the various tools you'll need (fish tape, optional conduit, wire, etc.).

The book should be viewed as a rough guide for a particular task. You have to make an honest assessment on your skills for these things. In some cases, it will save you grief suppressing your ego and consulting a professioanl.

Generally when I used think about home improvements I thought about calling somebody (experienced or not) to help me with it. To be honest, until just after I bought this book (2+ years ago) I didn't think I had the inate skills needed to do something as alien to modern men as replacing a toilet seat, much less replacing the whole toilet and installing a dish washer the same day!! This book, aside from not being very good at helping you lift heavy things, is all the help you will need to complete hundreds of different improvement projects around your house.

The skill gauge is very acurate in it's time estimates and tells you what level of skills you should have before starting a project - This is helpful if only so you can put your plumber on call. With all the information on tools, their usage, and the type, amount and quality of materials you will need this book could make Homer Simpson look like Bob Villa. . . Well, maybe more like Tim Allen, but you get the point.

I highly recommend this book and the Home Depot "Outdoor Projects" book as well!! Truly money well spent!

Although well stocked with information, the quality of information ranges from too basic in some cases to too difficult in others. The book makes assumptions as to the reader's knowledge of home repairs to begin with, and then becomes too confusing if those assumptions are not true.

This book does not go into depth enough about each project. It does not list alternative methods of achieving the same results. For the price of the book, I expected a lot more to be covered. Skip this and go to the Time Life series.

I have used this book to help with tiling, door hanging and trim work. I find that there are many gaps in the information that it contains. Some of these gaps in knowledge lead to big mistakes in projects.

I've turned to this book over and over to fix various little problems around the house. The pictures are good and clear. My only complaint is that a few times there have been key little details that have been glossed over.

This book has been indispensable for many of my home projects. It helps alleviate those fears that you just wouldn't be able to do a certain project. An average person really can replace a sink, change out a light fixture, or even get adventurous - why not put a whole new sink or light fixture in!

You can see from amazon.com's "look inside the book" feature what the table of contents is like, but you can't see one of the chapters. Each chapter starts with a "Basics" section, which gives an overview of working with that type of project. For instance, the plumbing chapter starts with "Plumbing Basics," which has a big chart of a house's plumbing system, some general advice on starting a plumbing project, and two pages of tools and materials you will need, with pictures. The rest of each chapter is dedicated to instructions for individual projects. For instance, the first project in plumbing is "Working with rigid plastic pipe." It has a "skill scale," an estimate of time for the project, and several series of pictures and instructions, leading you in various tasks. All this is interspersed with various tips, tricks, warnings, etc. Overall, this format is very useful, and it is easy to lay the book open near you while you work, if you want the instructions.

I do have a few minor negative points about this book. Sometimes the time estimates can be misleading. For instance, it says framing in a wall should take a beginner 2.5 hours, while putting in the drywall should take 10 hours with help, not including finishing and sanding. In my experience (I don't think there is anything in this book that I haven't done), it can take even an experienced person 2.5 hours to get a wall framed in, but putting in drywall in for a whole room is a 5 hour job for two or three people. So the time estimates are helpful, but don't bank on them! My other complaint has nothing to do with the advice, and everything to do with the pictures. This book is extremely well-illustrated, but all the projects in the book are shown being done by men! I have found three places where there is a woman in the book - wallpapering, working on a vacuum system, and helping the man. Hmmm... Give me a break. In spite of these complaints, this book really is a worthwhile buy for anyone doing some home improvement - man or woman.

Recap: Good points - great instructions for almost any project, great inspiration. Bad points - unrealistic time estimates, and misleading sexism.

While this tome of home repair isn't an *awful* reference work, the cover design says it all: let's sell lots of copies of an otherwise forgettable book by plastering it with a well-known logo. Maybe we'll get the attention of novice home improvers desperately seeking a familar name.

To be fair, I was clearly one of those folks, or I wouldn't have bought it!

Bottom line: it's OK, but you'd do better thumbing through some others in a library or bookstore to find on you *really* like.

I bought this book a couple of years ago when I began my home renovations. Now, as I venture into construction as a career, I find the knowledge I learned within this book helps me all the time. Even now when I come across a new project, a replacement tub was the latest, I still return to this book to get the basics.

The text is in an easy to read format, and the many drawings of the work in progress are invaluable. Each project starts out with a guideline of skills needed and time required based on your level of experience. There are also many tips and suggestions along the way.

While this book is not cheap, I’m glad I spent the money. Good luck with your home improvement project!