The Home Depot Outdoor Projects 1-2-3 (Home Depot ... 1-2-3) (Hardcover)

by Home Depot (Author), Ben Allen (Editor)
Key Phrases: basic masonry skills, fence puller, flameproof pad, Maintaining Walls, National Fire Protection Association, Disabilities Act (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
This is a joint project between the editors of Better Homes & Gardens and the Home Depot, and much like their earlier collaboration, Home Improvement 1-2-3, they cover a lot of ground in this big, detailed book. Clear, step-by-step instructions and diagrams for just about any outdoor project one can imagine--from deck building and maintenance to building a retaining wall to making outdoor furniture to installing an outdoor faucet or constructing a customized fountain--it's in here.

A very useful series of features throughout the book helps guide the homeowner: "Skill Scale" assesses the skill level needed for individual projects; "Trip Saver" helps save time and money, eliminating numerous trips to the store; "Safety Alert" warns of potential dangers on given projects; "Oops!" describes common errors and boo-boos and helps find solutions; "Designer's Corner" helps the reader with design and style choices.

Overall, as a comprehensive and nitty-gritty guide to all of the most common outdoor projects, this is a perfect book for the novice, but will have information and shortcuts for the experienced homeowner and do-it-yourselfer, too. --Mark A. Hetts

Product Description
Get more enjoyment from your yard! Let Home Depot’s "wisdom of the aisles" teach you all you’ll need to know for fabulous outdoor projects. From patios, decks, walls, fences, sheds, to furniture, the Home Depot experts will lead you through step-by-step, regional specific projects that are built to last.

Features:

- Over 2000 illustrations
- Skill scales
- Project durations
- And more!

Improving outdoor living is as easy as 1-2-3!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Meredith Books (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0696206730
• ISBN-13: 978-0696206733
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #325,938 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent step-by-step guide on how to do anything outdoors., May 9, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Collierville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

It's springtime and time to fix-up the house. One of my projects is to repair some brick and mortar that joins my flower beds with my driveway. I'm clueless on how to work with this stuff but I'm at the Home Depot looking for supplies and information which is where I find this book. It's set up in twelve sections: Fences and Gates, Landscaping Walls, Decks, Patios, Sheds, Walks and Steps, Trellises and Arbors, Garden Beds and Edging, Furniture, Electrical, Plumbing and Drainage, and Concrete. It's complete with a skill scale (so you can figure out if you even want to try to tackle this project), safety alerts, estimated time (based on experience), tells you all the tools required and all the stuff you'll need. It's absolutely complete and extremely well laid out with pictures galore. A "must have" book for the weekend warrior.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A boon for us non-carpenter, born-in-the-big-city types., December 31, 2000

By	R. Sparks "middle_path" (Norman, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Generally when I used think about home improvements (indoor or out) I thought about calling somebody (experienced or not) to help me with it. It was usually at this point that the neighbors would bring their kids inside. . . Just to be safe. . . To be honest, until just after I bought this book (a year ago) I didn't think I had the inate skills needed to do something as alien to modern men as replacing a fawcet washer, much less replacing the whole fawcet and installing a greenhouse!! This book, aside from not being very good at helping you lift heavy things, is all the help you will need to complete hundreds of different improvement projects in and around your house.

The skill gauge is very acurate in it's time estimates and tells you what level of skills you should have before starting a project - This is helpful if only so you can put your local fire department on call. With all the information on tools, their usage, and the type, amount and quality of materials you will need this book could make Homer Simpson look like Martha Stewart. . . Well, maybe more like Tim Allen, but you get the point.

I highly recommend this book and the Home Depot "HOME IMPROVEMENTS 1-2-3" book as well!! Truly money well spent!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice book!!, August 14, 2005

By	Howling Wolf "big sky lover" (Montana) - See all my reviews

This book truly gives you the most "bang for your buck". If you are interested in learning how to do a wide variety of things and are somewhat mechanically inclined.....THIS is the book for you! I have my own contracting business and refer to this book many times for that "extra" insight I need on a project. The diagrams and pictures are very helpful and I truly would recommend this book to anyone!