Review of 50+1 Tips When Remodeling Your Home (50 Plus One) (Perfect Paperback)

This is a great book to have at a low price. I've done 4 houses so far, and have a bunch of "how to do it" books. This is the first book that I seen that covers the "should you do it" and "how to get it done" parts of the process.

Product Description
If you are ready to take the plunge, Bill Resch, a contractor and builder with 25 years experience, helps you with everything from choosing a contractor, dealing with problems and how to manage kids and pets in the mess, from fraud, licenses, lawyers to bonding, budgeting and buying. Simple concise and very specific, this is the book for everyone thinking about or in the middle of a remodeling project.

From the Publisher
There is no greater sense of accomplishment than creating a home that is modern and efficient-one that lives up to your personal standards and the needs of your life style and family. Remodeling is one of the best legal highs there is! (In fact, some people never stop remodeling and redecorating.) As satisfying and rewarding as remodeling is, it can also be time-consuming, expensive, nerve-racking and messy. Homeowners have a difficult time starting their remodeling projects, keeping them on budget (without creeping elegance taking over) and working with contractors, tradespeople and even lenders. No matter how big or how small the remodeling project is, there are many factors to consider, issues to be faced, decisions to be made and checks to write!

50 plus one Tips When Remodeling Your Home was written with you in mind. You are a homeowner and you want the best you can afford, for family and friends to enjoy, and to live in comfort. You are a couple with two jobs and personal and professional commitments that seem to consume your days. You are a spouse taking care of a family and have seemingly endless demands on your time and energy. You are single, have just bought your first condo and want to make it a home that matches your lifestyle and interests. Whoever you are, 50 plus one Tips When Remodeling Your Home is the book for you. You have access to practical, helpful and sensible advice from a home improvement expert with 25 years experience. You will get advice on how to:
- Get your finances in shape in order to afford your home improvement.
- Budget and plan your remodeling project.
- Find a reliable, licensed contractor at the price you can afford.
- Reduce the stress of remodeling, including keeping the kids, pets, spouse, the contractor and the neighbors all happy and motivated.
- Ensure that you are getting quality work for the money spent.
- Know whether you can do some or all of! the work yourself.
- Negotiate and write a fair contract for your home improvement project.
- Know what is or is not a good investment for your home in yourarea.



Click Here to see more reviews about: 50+1 Tips When Remodeling Your Home (50 Plus One) (Perfect Paperback)

Review of The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement (Paperback)

I purchased this book because I recently bought a new house and would like to lay ceramic tile flooring and make a kitchen backsplash.The cover specifically refers to laying tile, so I thought this would be a good choice.Tile is mentioned exactly twice, neither time telling you how to lay it.This book isn't really about home improvement, it's home maintenance - how to clean your gutters, fix a hole in drywall, etc.Fine if that's what you want.

Product Description
A fun and helpful guide for aspiringhandywomen

For every woman who wants to take home repair matters into her own hands, The Tuff Chix Guide toEasy Home Improvement is here to help. Paige Hemmis shares the tricks of her trade in this how-to book written especially for aspiring handywomen. Avoiding the dull, dry tone of typical instruction manuals, Hemmis provides accessible and easy-to-follow instructions on every aspect of home repair, complete with illustrations and helpful "Tuff Tips."

Learn how to:
* Fix cracks of every kind
* Fix sticky doors
* Repair windows of all sizes
* Fix malfunctioning toilets
* Hang curtain rods

Whether you're fixing a deadbolt, replacing wall switches, or unplugging the kitchen sink, The TuffChix Guide to Easy Home Improvement is the one book you need to get the job done.

From the Introduction:
"Whenever I started a project, I wanted to know how hard it would be for a novice like me, what tools I would need, how much I had to buy from the hardware store, how long it would take and, finally, how much it would be to just hire someone else to do it. So... I'm passing this along to you...

This book is designed for anyone who wants to improve his or her surroundings in ways small and large. It's everything I wish I'd had when I started... You don't have to read this book from cover to cover. Use it as your road map. This book is designed to make your life easier, save you a little money, and give you the tools you need to take care of yourself."

About the Author
PAIGE HEMMIS, formerly an emergency medical technician, a race car driver, and a wedding planner, is an accomplished carpenter and skilled home builder who appears regularly on ABC's top-rated Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Paige volunteers her time to Keep America Beautiful's "Great American Cleanup" and Habitat for Humanity.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement (Paperback)

Review of Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home (Paperback)

Green Clean provides an excellent resource to greening your home environment. The book briefly begins with the history of cleaning, the toxic chemicals that are contained in our modern cleaning agents, and an introduction to green cleaning including the tools needed and steps to the process. Next, the book dives into a room-by-room green guide to cleaning. Included are how to clean different types of surfaces such as walls, floors, countertops, sinks, appliances, furniture, carpeting and clothing. The latter part of the book talks about storage, disposal, and recycling of hazardous household products including a handy chart with the type of product listed with the best way to dispose of it.

Many recipes for creating your own cleaning products such as an all-purpose cleaner, carpet cleaners and deodorizers, dishwashing, disinfectants, drain cleaners, floor cleaners, air fresheners, furniture polish, laundry detergent, metal cleaners, window cleaners, oven cleaners, sink, toilet and tile cleaners. There is a stain guide for how to get out tough laundry stains naturally as well. Additionally, a product guide along with resources and readings are included.

This book includes an index and is made out of durable synthetic paper. You could leave the book in the bathroom and not have to worry about it getting wet and ruined. Using the tips and recipes contained in the book can save your family money, but more importantly you'll learn how to green your environment. I had already been using cleaning products similar to those recommended (baking soda and vinegar can do wonders) and find they work excellently, and I do not have to worry about having toxic cleaning products in my house near my child and dogs. Overall, I learned from this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking to green their cleaning routine.

C.J. Wong, M.S.(Biology), M.S. (Lib. Info. Sci.)
Editor, Organic Family Magazine

Product Description
There is a revolution going on in America-a green revolution. The latest front is the home, as households across the country adopt new ways to keep their homes clean and healthy-and ways to do it that are good for the environment. Green Clean is the definitive, step-by-step guide to cleaning better while using nontoxic, ecofriendly products. Room by room and stain by stain, Green Clean breaks environmentally conscious cleaning into simple principles and easily mastered techniques that let readers set their own goals and develop their own cleaning plan. Also included are recipes for safe, simple, and economic cleaning solutions and the lowdown on the best eco-friendly cleaning products on the market today. Green Clean is an indispensable reference for today's home.

About the Author
Linda Mason Hunter, formerly an editor with The Des Moines Register and Rodale Press, has authored several books, including The Healthy Home, which the New York Times dubbed "a sort of Whole Earth Catalog for the home." She is the founder of Healthy Home Designs, co-founder of GreenHome.com, and is currently working on a new edition of The Healthy Home, to be published in Fall 2005. Mikki Halpin is a freelance writer and editor who writes frequently about environmental concerns. Her most recent book is ItÂ's Your World: If You DonÂ't Like It, Change It: Activism for Teenagers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home (Paperback)

Review of No-Fear Home Improvement: 100 Projects Anyone Can Do (Creative Homeowner) (Paperback)

I bought this book as a gift for my son who is purchasing his first house.The illustrations are clear and colorful.The projects all seem do-able and even fun!

Product Description
Ever wonder how easy it is to fix common household problems by yourself? Well here is the perfect solution to fixing basic household loose ends, regardless of experience. No-Fear Home Improvement: 100 Projects Anyone Can Do is designed to provide instruction and give confidence to the first-time homebuyer and novice do-it-yourselfer. Readers will learn projects that cover simple repairs, such as squeaky doors all the way to electrical problems without having to spend a fortune on labor costs. Each chapter contains a guide to selecting the right tools and materials for the job, problem solving Smart Tips¨, information packed sidebars, and step-by-step photo sequences to thoroughly make it clear how to remedy each problem. Empowerment is the theme of this book, and No Fear Home Improvements: 100 Projects Anyone Can Do seeks to provide homeowners with just that.

.

Book Description
No-Fear Home Improvement: 100 Projects Anyone Can Dois designed to provide instruction and give confidence to the first-time home buyer and novice do-it-yourselfer. Empowerment is the theme of this book. Its clear concise step-by-step instructions shows the novice how to handle home emergencies and complete some of the more common home improvement and repair tasks. Readers will learn the basics on selecting and using tools and materials, making simple repairs, and learning how the various systems in their homes work. Projects include repairing walls and floors, fixing simple plumbing leaks, making simple electrical repairs, and more.

Click Here to see more reviews about: No-Fear Home Improvement: 100 Projects Anyone Can Do (Creative Homeowner) (Paperback)

Review of The Stanley Complete Step-by-Step Revised Book of Home Repair and Improvement (Hardcover)

This book is a must-have reference for the novice to the expert do-it-yourselfer.It contains well presented, step by step directions to everything from simple, routine fixes to more advanced around the house projects.The clear photography really helped to clarify the sequence of the work.Would make a great gift.



Click Here to see more reviews about: The Stanley Complete Step-by-Step Revised Book of Home Repair and Improvement (Hardcover)

Review of New Fix-It-Yourself Manual: How to Repair, Clean, and Maintain Anything and Everything In and Around Your Home (Hardcover)

This book is the best housewarming gift I ever received!

Your furnace blowing nothing but cold air? This book will show you how to safely relight your pilot light. KitchenAid mixer gone on the fritz? Inkjet printer no longer drawing paper from the paper cassette? Dishwasher broker?

A troubleshooting chart and gorgeous, clear diagrams will explain not only how to fix almost any household problem, but also gives the level of technical skill required to finish the job, as well any special tools required to do so.

Kudos to the folks at Reader's Digest for producing such an excellent book. This volume is now my standard housewarming gift to all my friends.

Product Description
The indispensable bible for keeping a home in tip-top shape, it is the time- and money-saver every homeowner needs. It functions as a repair manual, an evaluation guide, a compendium of household hints, an emergency reference, and a homeowner's encyclopedia. Over 3,000 illustrations.

Click Here to see more reviews about: New Fix-It-Yourself Manual: How to Repair, Clean, and Maintain Anything and Everything In and Around Your Home (Hardcover)

Review of Affordable Remodel: How to Get Custom Results on Any Budget (Paperback)

Love the book. Very detailed, great photo's. Great ideas! This book is very easy to read and understand because they are shown with photo's which really help. it is so well written that I will look at doing projects that I hadn't thought about doing. There are so many things that I do love and the book is so accurate. Page 194 shows a sink refinished with a coating and shows a before and after picture. My friend actually did this to her bathroom tub and tile and it looked NEW afterwards. The mirror trim is awesome too (mirredge) page 198.


Product Description
Call him cheap, but Fernando Pagés Ruiz enjoys luxury remodeling that doesn't pull at the purse strings. Now he shares his hard-won secrets, revealing the full range of money-saving options available to homeowners today. Many of these techniques and materials the author developed remodeling his own properties over the past 30 years. Others he got by interviewing top remodeling contractors around the country. With the power of insider knowledge, readers too can achieve the home of their dreams without busting their budget. Ruiz simplifies the frustrating complexities of remodeling and points out the sometimes obvious, often hidden, but always effective ways to cut costs.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Affordable Remodel: How to Get Custom Results on Any Budget (Paperback)

Review of Organizing Magic: 40 Days to a Well-Ordered Home and Life (Paperback)

I find it hard to believe I read the same book these other folks did. Perhaps when they saw "Organizing Magic," they thought it meant "Instant, Easy Organizing." It doesn't.

But if, like me, you have read stacks and stacks of household hints books, and organizing books, and you are still fearful about letting others into your home, this book WILL make a difference, IF you actually follow the directions.

This book isn't meant to be read in an afternoon or two, even if the generous use of checklists, white space and text boxes makes it look like a quick read. It requires a daily commitment to reading, notetaking, and analyzing YOUR situation and YOUR attitudes. It doesn't assume that the same answers will work for everyone; maybe that's what frustrates some readers. Instead, working through the book a chapter at a time helps instill new attitudes and new habits in dealing with a cluttered home, with solutions tailored to YOU. New attitudes and habits are what people with a serious cleaning and organizing problem need -- not tips and tricks, although those have their place, and there are some in this book.

After you can open the door all the way when a friend comes by, THEN you can read all the Heloise, Martha Stewart, and Cheryl Mendelson you want to. Because THEN it will really stick.

This isn't a fast-food approach to making a better life; it's from scratch -- takes patience and time, but ultimately more nourishing, healing, and helpful.

Product Description
Every busy, harried woman wants to be more organized. But actually satisfying that desire is another story. Why does organization have to be so difficult?It doesn't! Not according to The Organizer Lady™. She's back with an all new, forty day plan that will help women achieve a well-ordered home and life. Practical and easy to apply, Organizing Magic shows women how to get control of the clutter, chaos, and disorganization of their homes. Each day they'll learn tried and tested organizing tips such as how to- recognize the time realities of modern life - simplify your solutions - wrestle that e-mail to the ground - handle paperwork - zap hidden hindrances - and moreReaders no longer have to settle for mess! With a fun, two-color interior, reader-friendly design, and Sandra's own signature warmth and compassion, Organizing Magic will show women how to create an organizational system to manage their space and time. Organizing doesn't have to be difficult, says Felton. Because an orderly home is never more than forty days away!

From the Inside Flap
Catalog excerpt:The purpose of this book is to help you work less and still accomplish your aims--maybe even better than before and certainly more efficiently. As you read, you'll see tips that will work for you, helping you simplify what you do and how you do it. These tips are proven strategies for getting and staying organized. Some tips take more time and energy--for you, they may require more effort than they're worth. Some, you may already have tried and rejected. But keep an open mind: You may decide that a few you once knew and have forgotten, or had earlier rejected, may be more useful to you now.Does this book cover all of the tips and strategies you will ever need? Unlikely. But I can promise you this: if you follow appropriate tips in this book, your organizational life will improve significantly. You will be amazed.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Organizing Magic: 40 Days to a Well-Ordered Home and Life (Paperback)

Review of If I Had a Hammer: More Than 100 Easy Fixes and Weekend Projects (Paperback)

This is a must have for any homeowner that is all thumbs when it comes to home repair and home improvement. Designed for the novice, the book tells you exactly what tools and materials plus step by step instructions for the projects that anyone can understand. There are great tips, tricks and home maintenance information any homeowner can use. This book would make a great housewarming gift, especially to the first time homeowner.

Product Description

Have fun, save money, and improve your home with these easy step-by-step projects

Are you looking for a way to make your bathroom a little more beautiful? Or maybe you'd like to give your tired furniture a face-lift, improve your home's air quality, or fix a toilet. No matter your DIY needs and no matter whether you're a DIY novice or expert, home improvement guru Andrea Ridout, host of the nationally syndicated radio show Ask Andrea, has ideas, expertise, and advice to share with you.

If I Had a Hammer offers easy-to-follow instructions and illustrations designed to make home improvement simpler than ever. With a little help from Andrea, you'll be able to tackle repairs, painting and decorating, bathroom and kitchen remodeling, wood care for furniture and floors, and much more with projects that often take as little as an hour. Also, you can try a few of Andrea's energy-conserving projects that can dramatically improve your utility bill-Andrea's projects are friendly on the environment and on your wallet! With If I Had a Hammer, you'll have the tools to keep your home functioning and looking as good as-or even better than-new.

About the Author

Andrea Ridout is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show Ask Andrea and is a frequent renovation expert on national and regional television programs. Her articles and advice have appeared in Reader's Digest, Woman's Day Home Remodeling, and Country Home, among many other publications. She lives near Dallas, Texas.

Click Here to see more reviews about: If I Had a Hammer: More Than 100 Easy Fixes and Weekend Projects (Paperback)

Review of Lynda Lyday's Do-It-Yourself!: The Illustrated, Step-by-Step Guide to the Most Popular Home Renovation andRepair Projects (Paperback)

this is the only manual you need to get started around the house. no need to wait for "your man" to get something fixed!! can't wait to get her tool line for women. what a great idea.

Product Description
"Can I paint my kitchen countertop?" "How do I stop that annoying drip in the faucet?" "Is there an easier way to fix a cracked tile?"

As the host of DIY Network's popular viewer call-in show "TALK2DIY Home Improvement," professional carpenter Lynda Lyday guides viewers through hundreds of fix-it projects. Now, Lynda has created an easy, accessible, room-by-room guide to the most common home repair and improvement projects that she gets asked about on her show. She shares her expert techniques, along with fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions, so just about anyone can learn to get a job done right--in less time and for less money!

Lynda teaches homeowners to use every tool--from paintbrushes to power tools--to complete essential projects such as:

- installing cabinets and countertops
- fixing cracks and scratches
- repairing or installing flooring
- replacing light fixtures
- hanging drywall
- defrosting frozen pipes

About the Author
Lynda Lyday, a licensed contractor and award-winning carpenter, hosts a home-improvement/repair show on the DIY Network and has also hosted shows on HGTV and the Discovery Channel. She grew up in the South and now lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Lynda Lyday's Do-It-Yourself!: The Illustrated, Step-by-Step Guide to the Most Popular Home Renovation andRepair Projects (Paperback)