How Hard Can It Be?: Toolgirl's Favorite Repairs And Projects [Paperback]

Mag Ruffman (Author), Steve Smith (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2005

"You can pay big money for a self-esteem seminar, or you can buy yourself a cordless drill. I recommend the drill." With sass and savvy, Mag Ruffman enables readers to confront their fear of DIY projects and accomplish those nagging home repairs and improvements. Accompanied by lots of tips and photos, Ruffman covers a wide range of maintenance, repair, renovation, and upgrading projects. Full of quirky humor – who doesn’t enjoy using tools like a butt gauge or stud finder? — and unconventional solutions (five-gallon buckets become makeshift stilts for a ceiling project), the book offers a common sense approach to common household woes. With refreshing candor, Ruffman shares her own mistakes, showing what can go wrong and that it’s okay when it does. Her encouraging tone empowers readers to "unleash the do-it-yourself giant within" and tackle seemingly intimidating projects that would otherwise result in expensive repair bills.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mag Ruffman is an author, television producer, writer, actress, and building contractor. She spent seven years as Olivia Dale on Disney’s beloved Avonlea and five seasons in a tool belt as host, creator, and producer of the fix-it classic A Repair to Remember and the workshop series Anything I Can Do, which now airs worldwide. She also created and hosted the groundbreaking relationship show Men On Women for W Network in Canada. In addition to How Hard Can It Be?, Mag also wrote the Canadian bestseller We're All in This Together, a conversation about life with Steve Smith, creator of the character Red Green.

Mag’s weblog and quirky home repair videos can be found online at www.toolgirl.com, and a searchable database of her syndicated newspaper articles is available at www.homeenvy.com. Her weekly newspaper column appears across Canada in Sun Media newspapers.

Mag is also national spokesperson for Habitat for Humanity Canada and in her spare time she welds, snowshoes, attempts to write music, and geeks out on her macs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 201 pages
• Publisher: Beyond Words Publishing; Original edition (September 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582701350
• ISBN-13: 978-1582701356
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,512,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What your mother didn't teach you, (but should have)!, July 4, 2006

By 

Stephen Levin (Mclean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Hard Can It Be?: Toolgirl's Favorite Repairs And Projects (Paperback)

I read 'How Hard Can It Be', and then bought 7 copies as gifts for my grown daughters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the blooming DIYer, February 12, 2008

By 

Keith Mealy (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Hard Can It Be?: Toolgirl's Favorite Repairs And Projects (Paperback)

An indispensable guide to home maintenance, repair and project for the easily intimidated.

Mag tackles each project with a "you can do it" attitude and a somewhat warped sense of humor. Sort of like what Home Depot would be like if you could find anyone to help you, they were knowledgeable, and not brain dead. A really warped sense of humor, I might say. I found myself "guffawing" out loud. My wife kept asking me what's so funny about a home repair manual. I get Mag's humor a lot because it's like mine. But my wife would not; she doesn't even let me watch Red Green unless she's already asleep (did that make sense? she's asleep, how's she going to stop me?)

But enough about the humor. A lot of projects written up in a few pages will give you the information you need to fix that squeaky door, or whatever.

5.0 out of 5 stars Girls can use power tools too!, October 13, 2010

By 

Morefun4all - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How Hard Can It Be?: Toolgirl's Favorite Repairs And Projects (Paperback)

Mag Ruffman approaches use of tools and the art of home repair with fun and finesse. (I laughed out loud when reading it on the bus.) When I was in high school, I wanted to take woodshop and I was told that I could not because of sexual discrimination. But 40 years ago, I was just a kid and had only an inkling of women's liberation and the biases that were part of that era. My first experience using a sawsall involved a concussion...what a thrill! Although allergic to pain, I found that the time with the ice pack was worth the satisfaction of making a hole in the wall so that I could install a doggie door. Although I probably will not switch careers at this juncture of my life, I am learning to better appreciate artists in the construction trades, and am enjoying the process of my home projects. I first found this book in my local library, but decided that it was worth having on hand, for the suggestions AND the "can-do" attitude it provides for any person who is less experienced in this realm...including secure men!