Customer Reviews

If I Had a Hammer: More Than 100 Easy Fixes and Weekend Projects

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

 

 

This is a must have for any homeowner that is all thumbs when it comes to home repair and home improvement. Designed for the novice, the book tells you exactly what tools and materials plus step by step instructions for the projects that anyone can understand. There are great tips, tricks and home maintenance information any homeowner can use. This book would make a great housewarming gift, especially to the first time homeowner.

When I peeked into this book, I opened to the page about replacing screens (which is something I'm doing!) I expected similar projects throughout the rest of the book. I bought it. I read the whole thing on a trip this past weekend.

The first section (about tools!) was pretty good! It had great (basic) information about which tools are important to have. The author suggests painting all of the house tools a certain color so they always end up where they belong. That's fantastic! As I kept reading, I don't know why the author even bothered describing tools--most of the book is not about "fixes" or "projects" at all! Of 55 "projects" and "one-hour wonders", I counted 16 projects that needed real tools, 22 projects that were useful 'fix-it' things and the rest were all 'organize this, plan that' projects. But get this--of all 55 tasks, only THREE actually called for a hammer among the necessary tools! (They were "Install a Dead-Bold Lock", "Replace a Prewoven Cane Chair Seat or Back", and "Mud Pies and Brick Joints"--which is actually a section about touching up mortar joints in bricks, and it actually calls for a "bricklayer's hammer".)

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Here is MY SHORT REVIEW:
This book is probably EXACTLY what you want if you are 50-60+ years old (like, old enough to be really attached to wallpaper), you are new to do-it-yourself stuff, and you have always wanted to try your hand at decorating, but you think home improvement projects may be a good place for you to start. If you have an older home that you would like to restore, you will like even more of this.

If you want to use tools like the ones on the front cover, or you want to fix things, this is probably not the book for you. The organization (and content) of this book make it best-suited for people who just kind of have some extra time they want to spend doing something nice. If you want to find projects that you hadn't thought of, this book offers some new ideas.

If you actually want to do home improvement or give a useful housewarming book, look for a well-organized book that has pictures, diagrams, and instructions! The books that I would probably recommend are "How Your House Works"(to understand how the systems work) and the Black and Decker "Home Repair" books (for projects).
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Here is the LONGER REVIEW:
[I think it's okay to write a very long review for this because there isn't much information about it in the product description or the other reviews, and maybe someone actually wants to know.]

ABOUT THE BOOK:
You can kind of see from the pictures Amazon provides, but basically there is a "contents" page, a foreword and introduction, and then ten chapters.

Throughout the book, there are margins on the sides; the margins have related blips of information in sections called "Andrea's Choice" (things the author recommends); "Quick Tip" (tips related to the section); "Caution" (related safety advice); and "Andrea's Expert Says" (things experts have taught the author--these are usually pretty helpful, I thought.) The margins also sometimes have pictures of items, or pictures of the steps for projects--but the pictures are really tiny.

Chapters typically start with a cute title, a cute subtitle, a quote, a little introduction with a story, and a list of the things included in the chapter. The first section and project of each section are usually about planning and organization for the chapter topic. Each chapter has sections about maintaining things, info about different options for the chapter subject, and it has things to do; some are called PROJECT[s] and others are called ONE-HOUR WONDER[s].

Each project has a title, a level of difficulty (projects with 1 hammer are the easiest, and they range up to 5 hammers. I think most are 1-3 hammers of difficulty.), and an introduction. After the project intro, the author lists the supplies needed (in very vague terms), and then the author lists steps for completing the project. The steps go into varying amounts of detail. Sometimes there are tips to go along with different steps.

THE PROJECTS:
Since the Table of Contents is so lacking, here is a list of the included projects for the first few chapters:
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Chapter 1 (tool chapter)
- Household Tools 101
- Project: Assembling an Everyday Home Repair Kit
- One-Hour Wonder: Create an Instructional-Booklet Binder
- Safety First
- Ladder Safety
- Learning to Use Glues and Adhesives
- Stain-Removing Solutions
- The Cost vs. the Value of Home Improvements
- Do's and Don'ts for Restoring Older Homes
- Tips for Do-It-Yourselfers
- If You Decide to Hire a Contractor

Chapter 2 (kitchen chapter)
- Planning a Kitchen Remodel
- Options for Older Homes
- Choosing New Appliances
- One-Hour Wonder: Faux Stainless Steel
- Appliance Tune-up Tips
- Garbage Disposals
- Project: Garbage Disposal Repair
- Quick Kitchen Pick-me-ups
- Project: Weekend Farmhouse Kitchen
- Don't Take Clean Water for Granted
- Project: Organizing the Pantry
- Kitchen Cleaning Made Easy

Chapter 3 (bathroom chapter)
- Add Some Zing to a Boring Bath
- Planning a Major Bathroom Remodel
- One-Hour Wonder: Add Some Fun with Wallpaper Cutouts
- Project: Organizing Bathroom Clutter
- Project: Choosing and Replacing Towel Bars and Accessories
- Choosing a New Faucet
- Project: Repairing a Leaky Toilet--Water Out of Balance
- Project: Replacing or Cleaning a Leaky Toilet Flapper Valve
- Project: Repairing the Lazy Toilet
- Grout-Cleaning Solutions
- Project: Regrouting a Tile Shower, Countertop, or Floor
- Project: Refinishing a Bathtub, Sink, or Tile with Epoxy

Chapter 4 (paint/decorating chapter)
- Get Started with "MTM": Money, Time, and Methods
- Project: Create a Design Inspiration File
- One-Hour Wonder: Quick Transformations
- Choosing a New Paint Color
- Project: Drywall Repair: The Bullet Patch
- Project: Let's Get Painting
- Decorative Paint Ideas: Color Blocking and Sheen Striping
- Project: Create a Faux Leather Wall
- Project: Painting Concrete Floors
- Project: Removing Wallpaper
- Tips for Measuring for New Wallpaper
- Project: Hanging Wallpaper
- Project: A Wallpapered Room Divider
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Here are some of my notes that I took as I was reading:

- POOR TABLE OF CONTENTS: It doesn't even list the projects. If you want to see the actual projects included, they are listed at the beginning of each chapter, but not in a way that they grab your attention. The index looks pretty decent, but why not just list the projects all in one place?

- PROJECT TITLES ARE CUTE/VAGUE INSTEAD OF USEFUL: "Weekend Farmhouse Kitchen." What is that, exactly? (Sanding cabinets and stuff.) "Luxurious Lawns." Is that planting them? Watering them? (It's patching them.) "Tip-top Tips." Try to even guess! It's upgrading your attic insulation.

- CHEESY INTROS for every section and sub-section. ("Does a ghost seem to inhabit your toilet?" is the start of a section on leaky toilet valves. (p. 70)) There are also little stories at the beginning of each chapter; these introductions seem totally irrelevant, and they are kind of a waste of space. Who cares that the bathroom is "an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life" (p. 57).

- FOCUS ON VINTAGE: The author is especially interested in 'vintage' homes (sometimes pre-1950, sometimes pre-1970). To me, this stuff was completely irrelevant, and it seemed like it belonged in a book specific to that niche. [If you are interested in sections on older homes, check out pages: 20-22, 31-32, 117, 119, 147, 181, and 194-195. There are probably other sections, too, but those were the ones that I noted.]

- SOME GOOD GENERAL TIPS: Many of the sections had good general suggestions that had nothing (or little) to do with do-it-yourself. Some of it was still helpful. For example, the first chapter (about tools) was pretty useful, I thought. There were also sections on foundations, pruning trees, caulking and weather stripping, glues and epoxies, and a section on the 'work triangle' in the kitchen. Although these sections were not part of official projects, they included information that would still be relevant if you wanted to do projects. I thought the author did a great job of including a combination of 'real' projects and 'maintenance' work.

- SOME RANDOM TOPICS that seem out of place. There is a section all about sorting your bathroom things and getting rid of old makeup, etc. Okay, in a book called "If I had a Hammer" which is supposed to be about projects and fixes, I just really didn't expect tips about how to pack my makeup bag (p.64). Other things that seemed out of place were: a big section on how precious water is (p.173-177), and another section on why we should all buy home water-filtration systems (p.51-52). Pages and pages about different plants and garden things.

- MORE FOR DECORATORS: Each chapter had big sections on planning, and many of the comments and suggestions were design-based. In the bathroom section it mentions adding paint, and the author suggests, "For instance, if you have 1950s green tiles, try pale yellow as a wall paint. Or if you have a black or white motif, highlight it by painting the walls sage green or pink. If you don't want to go too bold, update your color with tone-on-tone neutrals such as ecro, oyster, almond, or biscuit. Then you can add colorful touches with towels, soaps, and candles," (p.59). [Good thing I have a hammer so I can match my 50s tile with some candles. Ooookay.] Many of the "projects" and "fixes" are also decorating things--replace towel bars and accessories (so that you can match them with your bathroom faucets, because that's popular now, she says.) Put fake metal on your appliances to make them match. Re-cover a chair. These things are not really the "fixes" I was expecting. But for people interested in DIY home decorating, this book may be more fun-- there is a whole chapter on decorating, actually (Ch.4).

- OUTDATED: The author talks over and over again about trash compactors and wall paper. I'm not even kidding. I checked the copyright, because I assumed it must be from 1995. Nope. It's from 2008. I thought trash compactors were kind of something that was a pretty big deal in the 1980s and now nobody really is interested in them. People don't buy wallpaper anymore, they paint accent walls.

- KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS. On the back cover, this book talks all about making home improvement simple, and it says that with a little help from Andrea, you can "tackle repairs, painting and decorating, bathroom and kitchen remodeling, wood care for furniture and floors, and much more..." Actually, though, the author does not want people to "tackle" too much. Over and over again, Ridout suggests handing your projects off to professionals. Often she explains this in detail. Here are some things you should let professionals do: basic plumbing (after you carefully shop for materials) (p.61); any plumbing in the walls (p.68); do things you don't know how to, deliver things you buy, or do your decorating for you (p.82-83); install your doors and locks, but you should supervise them (p.120); polish your hardware (p.123); check your insulation (p.178); maybe replace the pressure release valve on your water heater (p.208); check out your roof if it is aging at all (p.226-227); design your landscaping (p.258). There was also a big disclaimer at the beginning.

- OFTEN FLOOFY. One of the suggestions is to have a second set of drip pans for the stove, so that you can swap them out when you have guests (p.41). (... why not just keep them clean? Or replace them if they're that dirty?) In a lot of places, she recommends specialty stores for things, but in a really vague way. Here's an example: "Head to your local hardware store or home center. If you are looking for something a little different--for instance, lion's head doorknobs--you may want to visit decorative hardware showrooms. These stores specialize in unusual products that are not normally available, but be aware that they may have stricter return and exchange policies than you are used to. Wherever you buy your hardware, be sure to understand the store's policies before yous special-order products..."(p.119). There was a part about many switch plates being made to order (p.131), and that just kind of made me laugh. Really?! How many people have to special-order those?

Anyway, it's not a terrible book. It's just not what I expected. There are several sections that were interesting or helpful, and I may do a couple of the projects. It seems kind of like a book for people who think they are "cooking" meals when they reheat TV dinners in the microwave.

This little book has come in handy on a couple of small projects and one not-so-small. I wouldn't have tackled to bigger project if I hadn't had the confidence after great success with the smaller projects first. It's probably too basic is you're a real do-it-yourselfer, but for me, not Handy Dan, it gave me just enough informatio without overloading, and a really good idea of how complicated the project would be before I ever got started.

This book is easy to read, even for beginners and has a lot of fun projects for around the house.

I purchase a lot of books off of a wish list for schools on a Native American reservation. As to their quality, I can only assume that, if the books were not good, they would not be on a wish list.