Customer Reviews

Ortho's Home Improvement Encyclopedia

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I, recently, purchased this boook (my brother said he had one, and it was great). I flipped through most of the book -- it isn't the kind of book you sit down and read straight through. I've done a fair amount of handyman stuff around the house (I just replaced the motor in my dryer - which wasn't too difficult once I had the right parts). Well, as I flipped through the book, I would stop and read sections which interested me. There are well-written sections on, basically, everything about a house and what is in it. After spending about an hour scanning the book, I said to my wife: "You could build a house with the information that is in here!" It is one of those "I'm glad I bought this book" books. A great book to have if you're looking for stuff to do around the house; it is a real "Home Improvement Encyclopedia."

I picked up this book in Home Depot back in 1997. At a glance I found out how to take out a load bearing wall, something I needed to do. I bought the book, and with it I had the confidence to take on a major remodel of my house. The book has everything, from framing an addition to fixing a leaky faucet. I consult it often. Right now (03/2002) I'm using it to build a shed. The language is clear and concise and the book doesn't waste words. I recommend it highly.

Being as how my husband is in his 60's he has done everythingbut build a new home. In 1990 he was given your encyclopedia as agift. He wishes he would have had this fabulous book 30 years sooner.It has become his Bible for any kind of situation that he has run into and he has found it invaluable for things he has not done. Due to this fact we have decided to purchase your latest book for our Daughter. She seems to take after her dear old Dad and has to call him on projects or repairs that she gets involved with. Such as installing ceramic tile, toilet innards, thermostats etc. I am sure that through the years she will find it as beneficial in her undertakings as her father has. To think our daughter purchased this book for her Dad so many years ago and now one is being given to Her.

I've read a number of these books. This one is very complete. The illustrations are excellent and the topics are covered in adequate depth to help any home handyman.

This is a fine starter book for the first time home owner. In the first few pages, I had the answers to the three major problems I had been dealing with! Nice and straightforward catch-all book on working over existing stuff or putting in new.

If you're a home improvement nerd, and particularly if you're just starting to learn about how to actually fix stuff around the house, this will be your bible. Yes, some stuff in this book I will probably never do myself (installing a new roof, for example) but there's a reason this book is heavy. It's because it has absolutely everything in it, even the stuff you're unlikely to do yourself. And hey, you never know when you may have to fix that thing that you never thought you would need to fix.

Even if there isn't anything that currently needs fixing in your house (hah, unlikely), it's great to browse through to get ideas for things to improve upon, or to just look at some pictures and learn how things are done. This book lives fairly regularly on my coffee table, almost primarily as a browsing-for-ideas book. It's difficult to browse through it without finding something new you didn't know before.

I had a copy of this publication when doing a promotion for a Agricultural company I worked for. Having extra copies, I scooped up several to share with friends family. I gave my original 1985 copy to my son-in-law. So I bought another 1985 version to replace it. This book is in my opinion the best for excellent easy to understand instruction in all phases of construction. The illustrations aren't cheesy copy machine quality but state of the art full color art. Simply put...don't start a project without it!

I am not a handyman but this book lays it out plain and simple.
I already used it to fix a problem with ease.

I bought this book on the recommendations of others. They were absolutely right. This is a great book for repairing/fixing/building a home.