Home Maintenance For Dummies [Paperback]

James Carey (Author), Morris Carey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2009

A hands-on, step-by-step guide to properly maintaining your home

Your home requires regular maintenance to operate safely and efficiently. The expert advice in this second edition of Home Maintenance For Dummies can help you save literally thousands of dollars each year by showing you how to perform home maintenance yourself!

This new edition provides the latest tips on how to tune up your home and make repairs to every room of the house, from basement to attic. By combining step-by-step instructions and expert information, this practical guide gives you the skills to tackle everything from furnace tune-ups to leaky roofs. You'll also learn how to conduct routine inspections, keep major appliances running efficiently, and increase energy efficiency.

• Shows how to keep your home in tip-top shape, preserve its value, and avoid costly repairs
• Covers all rooms of the house, in addition to the roof, foundation, and exterior
• Explains how to keep all home systems and major appliances running smoothly
• Includes a seasonal maintenance schedule
• Provides the latest green maintenance options to help lower your utility bills

James Carey and Morris Carey have a radio show, a newspaper column, and a Web site, all called On the House, and appear regularly on CBS News Saturday Morning. They are also the authors of Home Remodeling For Dummies

If you've always wanted to tackle home repairs like a pro, Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition is your ideal resource!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In Home Maintenance For Dummies, readers will find out how to prevent costly repairs and safety hazards with handy calendars and checklists that will ensure nothing falls through the cracks -- including the cracks! Home Maintenance For Dummies covers everything from plumbing to painting with special tips on preparing for freezing winter conditions and sizzling summer days. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

The easy way to keep your home in tip-top shape!

Just like a car, a home requires regular maintenance to operate safely and efficiently. Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition, gives you the latest tips and advice on how to inspect, tune up, and make repairs to every part of your house! You'll get expert, step-by-step information that will empower you to roll up your sleeves and make your home safer, more comfortable, and more energy efficient.

• Home maintenance and you — practical information on the benefits of home maintenance and the major systems and components in your home

• The energy envelope — guidance on understanding your home's exterior surfaces and associated components, like windows and doors, the roof, the basement, and the foundation

• Plumbing and HVAC — instructions on how to tackle problems with mechanical equipment, common household appliances, and heating and cooling systems

Open the book and find:

• Ten home maintenance skills you'll be glad to have

• Tips on preserving your home's value and avoiding costly repairs

• Green maintenance and cleaning options

• Tips on day-to-day repairs from walls and appliances to decks and fences

• Straightforward advice on what you can tackle yourself and when you should call a pro

• Step-by-step instructions on everything from replacing a furnace filter to insulating your home

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2 edition (November 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047043063X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470430637
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Home Repair

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

164 of 168 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source for "the rest of us", March 31, 2000

By 

J. W. Elkhouri (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Home Maintenance for Dummies (Paperback)

This is a GREAT book for first-time buyers or for people who never learned what should be done to your home to keep it in good shape.

The book is well organized and has two main sections, indoor maintenance and outdoor maintenance. The book also includes nice graphical guides for those of us (me!) that need more than your basic instructions. Another great feature of the book are montly to-do's, to keep you on track throughout the year.

However, by far, the best thing about the book is it has saved me money! There are things outlined in the book that I thought I would have to pay someone to do, but realized how simple they really were and was able to do them myself!

118 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat helpful, yet still disappointing, October 20, 2003

By 

Matthew Clark (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home Maintenance for Dummies (Paperback)

Having purchased my first house last year, I thought this book would be great with dealing with the problems that arise when living in a house. I'm very disappointed with it though.

Some examples:
It has a whole section on plumbing fixtures, going in to detail about how to clean a faucet. But it doesn't mention a word about how to deal with a dripping faucet! I'd think this would be a pretty basic thing to add to a book... you can't expect that people buying this book would automatically know how to replace a washer.

It goes into detail about fireplaces and how to maintain a fireplace. Except it fails to mention gas fireplaces at all. As far as the book is concerned, they don't even exist. Am I supposed to clean it the same way as a normal fireplace? Do I have to worry about cleaning the chimney if its a vented fireplace? What yearly maintainance and safety precautions must I consider? Help me out a bit here people...

Yet the book seems to have plenty of time to go over landscape irrigation and swimming pool maintainance, which, although perhaps useful, seem to be more appropriate in one of their other books; e.g. "Landscaping for Dummies".

Overall, the book could be considered "a good start". But given what the book is lacking, I think most customers would be better off borrowing it from the library for free...

87 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Home Maintenance for Dummies, August 22, 2000

By 

M. Kelly (Manhattan Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Maintenance for Dummies (Paperback)

WOW! Who knew all the maintenance a house needs? The cleaning solution recipes are great, safe, and really do the best job. I have been slowly implementing a home maintenance program based solely on this book. It is easy to read and understand. Whether you are a novice or expert in taking care of your home and its appliances, you will learn alot from this book. It is not just about proper cleaning. It is about keeping your house and appliances looking their best and in working order for as long as possible. I give this book as a housewarming gift to all my friends who own a home.