Customer Reviews

This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books))

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I purchased this book based on the previous reviews. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. Most of the pages are filled with glossy photos of hired contractors making repairs on the topic to be discussed. There is VERY LITTLE content here. The general gist of each "chapter" is "if it's broke, it needs to be fixed" with no real hands on advice, no tricks of the trade, no help to the home owner other than an overview of what a contractor might do should you hire them.

It is very clear to the reader that the writer of this book was trying to fill up as many pages as possible no mater what little content they had to work with. Pages 39 & 40 are a classic example of this:

Page 39:
A close up picture of a brick and a trowel. No other visual information can be gleaned from this page.

page 40:
"That modern mix was unyeilding. Once it cured, the give-and-take of brick and mortar was replaced by a battle which the old brick was loosing." This text takes up the entire page using various font sizes and 8 lines of text.

I only paid a few pennies for the book plus shipping, but it was a complete waste. I guess someone has got to keep the USPS afloat. I gave my donation with this book.