This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books)) [Paperback]

Editors of This Old House (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential (This Old House Books) | Publication Date: January 15, 2000

A house is the single largest investment most adults will ever make. However, a house neglected will rot, leak and frustrate the owner. Let Norm Abram, Tom Silva and the experts at This Old House show you how to correctly maintain your home (and investment) throughout the year in this functional season-by-season guide to home repair.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: This Old House Books (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966675339
• ISBN-13: 978-0966675337
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential: Yes, but..., April 26, 2004

By 

Scott Burright (Washington, DC area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books)) (Paperback)

This book is essential, yes. But is it a guide to home repair? Not entirely, and the table of contents is a little misleading in this regard. You might expect the chapter "Cleaning Your Ducts" to tell you how to clean your ducts. Instead it tells you how highly trained contractors clean your ducts, sucking out globs of moldy organic scunge with incredibly sophisticated equipment. The article will engross you while it grosses you out, but it will not tell you how to clean your own ducts. I expected pictures of Steve or Norm standing on a stepladder and jamming a Shop-Vac nozzle into a heat register. Instead, they tell you to hire a contractor.

Which is good advice. You can't clean your ducts with a Shop-Vac. You probably can't even contemplate the stuff in there without getting queasy. Other non-DIY chapters include "Cleaning Chimneys," "Repointing Brick," and "Fixing a Wet Basement." Still, they teach you to spot trouble, and more importantly, they don't kid you about the need to hire professionals. They also teach you what to expect of contractors.

On the other hand, the chapter "Replacing a Threshold" tells you how to replace a threshold. And the chapter on glues may seem esoteric, but it's really basic, must-know information. So the book is a mixed bag, covering some inspection, some how-to, and some "how the professionals do it good." While it is no substitute for books like the Reader's Digest "Do It Yourself" and "Fix It Yourself" manuals, it is essential in its own way, and a lot more fun to read.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, informative book, April 12, 2002

By 

"countrychef1" (Oswego, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books)) (Paperback)

This book is an "absolute must-have" for anyone who owns a home.
The "This Old House Team" of experts guide you through every possible repair any homeowner may encounter. The wording is easy-to-read and understand. There is none of the technical jargon in the book that other home repair books have I have purchased . I love this book from the very begining. The entire book, with its detailed explanations and illustrations, are very user friendly.

If you own a home - you need this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for Old-House owners, September 22, 2010

By 

Wendy Freels "BOOKSBOOKSBOOKS!" (Worcester, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books)) (Paperback)

This is a great book for new home owners. We just purchased an older home (built in the 1800s) and were pleased with the drawings, pictures, and explanations that were included in this guide. We have a long list of repairs to do and feel confident that the writers at "This Old House Magazine" are experienced enough to help us thru all that.