Review of This Old House Essential Hand Tools: 26 Tools to Renovate and Repair Your Home (Essential (This Old House Books)) (Paperback)

This book is a good read and a practical reference.

Although I am not a professional craftsperson, or even "seasoned" by most standards, I am a tool nut and have been using them for nearly fifty years in a variety ofsituations and know my way around a toolbox.However, the book showed mesome common tools in a new perspective and has even given me an excuse topick up a few more unusual tools for my collection.An example would bethe cat's-paw. I was not familiar with this device before, but have nowlearned how superior one is to the claw of a hammer or a flat pry bar forpulling nails.

The book is more a discussion of the philosophy and theoryof tools than it is an instruction manual.Nevertheless, I highlyrecommend it to anyone trying to get a handle on how to start putting a kittogether and those who are curious about what two famous carpenters have tosay about a tool you may have been using seemingly all your life.

Product Description
Whether you're a home repair novice or a veteran renovator searching for new tricks of the trade - you'll find invaluable advice and expert knowledge about hand tools straight from master carpenter Norm Abram and contractor Tom Silva in this full-color tool book from the editors of This Old House Magazine.



Click Here to see more reviews about: This Old House Essential Hand Tools: 26 Tools to Renovate and Repair Your Home (Essential (This Old House Books)) (Paperback)

Review of This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books)) [ILLUSTRATED] (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.

Product Description
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.

Click Here to see more reviews about: This Old House Essential Home Repair (Essential (This Old House Books)) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)