Review of The Virgin Homeowner: The Essential Guide to Owning, Maintaining, and Surviving Your Home (Paperback)

This book is not a how-to fixit book, and thank goodness. I'd read a dozen of those and I still didn't understand how my furnace (or anything else) works. Then I read Papalos' book and finally I understand. My house is no longer a scary mystery to me. I came across this book after I had already been in my first house for a number of years. I don't know if I would have bought a different house had I been armed with the knowledge from this book, but I surely would have handled my new ownership differently.

One of the best aspects of this book is its conversational, humorous style. As a virgin homeowner I repeatedly felt embarrassed or frustrated because I couldn't speak knowledgably to repairmen or home improvement store people. Papalos has been there, too, I think, and her humor encouraged me that I "wasn't alone." Finding myself chuckling as I read about plumbing traps and sacrificial anodes was certainly refreshing.

The descriptions are straightforward in ordinary language, and the terms and jargons are demystified. Since some house systems vary with geography and house age, Papalos did her research and addressed all the systems (forced air, gas, electric, oil, heat pump, *and* baseboard heat, for example). I disagree with another reviewer that this book applies only to a northeastern homeowner; I thought it was quite thorough in addressing the variations.

I also like her "systems" approach to explaining the house (plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, etc.) and how she addresses issues beyond physical construction of the house, such as pest control (termite picnics). She alerts the reader about some important maintenance tasks, though there is more of this kind of information for some topics than others. This isn't a home maintenance how-to book, though, so this is a very minor criticism.

I bought copies of this book for each of my three new homeowning siblings. I hope it helps them come to appreciate their houses the way I have mine.



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