Comments on: But HOW do I do it myself?

Question: But HOW do I do it myself?

dersins — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:22:38 -0800

What's the best home-repair / fixit manual for someone with little-to-no experience in such matters? Also, web sites and / or blogs in the same vein?

So I'm buying a house. It's an old house. I anticipate many things in it needing repair over the coming years-- some small, some large. I'm perfectly happy hiring a knowledgeable contractor to make major repairs, but if a doorknob falls off or a window pane cracks, I'd prefer to be able to make the repair myself.

The problem is, I've always been a renter. My version of do-it-yourself has involved calling the landlord or super and telling them something's come unstuck, or stuck, or fallen off, or busted, or whatever.

A brief perusal of the home repair section at Powell's has revealed to me that there are hundreds of books available for the novice home-fixit-person.

Some of these books probably suck. Others are probably OK. But some of them must be great, right? You might even say that some of them are indispensable? Which ones? How can I tell?

Also, any good / great / indispensable home-repair web sites or blogs you can suggest will be very useful to me as well.

Thanks in advance.

By: amyms

amyms — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:28:37 -0800

How To Fix Damn Near Everything

By: headnsouth

headnsouth — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:38:19 -0800

Zolton Cohen is a home-fix-it columnist for a paper in Michigan who contributes regularly to its online home repair forum. Lots of good archived stuff & timely responses to queries.

Also, for entertainment value & to learn what not to do, catch Mike Holmes's show on cable.

Have fun with your new-old house =)

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:39:32 -0800

I subscribed to the "This Old House" newsletter by accident and I'm glad I did. It's once a week and had a ton of great stuff in there.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:50:02 -0800

This book has stood the test of time, as well.

By: bricoleur

bricoleur — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:54:27 -0800

Big second for Thorzdad's recommendation.

By: eafarris

eafarris — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:56:07 -0800

Nth-ing the Reader's Digest book suggestion by Thorzdad. When I was growing up, we knew something was wrong in the house when Dad had his "Big Yellow Book" out. When I bought my first house, the updated version of that book was in my dad's hands as a gift to me. It's a good resource on the basics.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:58:43 -0800

Not a book but you must subscribe to Family Handyman. There is no better magazine for the DIY home repair person who needs lots of annotated step-by-step photos and patient, clear explanations. Home Depot sells single copies.

By: saradarlin

saradarlin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:31 -0800

We are moving into our first house and as silly is it may seem the "Home Depot" Home Improvement 1-2-3 is great because the instructions are very visual and clearly indicate what skill level is required for every task. This has been helpful to figure what to tackle ourselves and when to bring in help! Have fun.

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:05:26 -0800

I never learned about to do anything regarding home repair and I love the Black and Decker Complete Home Repair. Anyone can follow the directions, and there are photos for every step. It really is the only book you need. They have a Home Improvement book that is just as good.

By: selfmedicating

selfmedicating — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:26:13 -0800

The Readers Digest book recommended above is fantastic.

By: le morte de bea arthur

le morte de bea arthur — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:34:09 -0800

I also have the Readers Digest book, although mine is a UK edition and so is somewhat different. It is extremely good though.

By: sciurus

sciurus — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:37:28 -0800

I recommend looking for cheapy repair books at garage sales and the like. I've found quite a few that've been great with my own fixer-upper. I definitely advise maintaining a high level of confidence as you delve into home repair. I've done things in my first year of home ownership that I never expected I'd be able to do. A lot is actually much easier than you'd think.

By: nax

nax — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:46:12 -0800

Lowe's also has the most amazing how-tos on its website. It's a little hard to navigate and search, but if you can buy it at Lowe's they have a tutorial. We put in a fish pond and built a wall using their excellent site.

By: nax

nax — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:47:05 -0800

Link didn't work: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=home

FT

By: Overzealous

Overzealous — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:51:59 -0800

I am a fan of the big orange book from Home Depot:
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Improvement-1-2-3-Expert-Advice/dp/0696201682

By: zeugitai_guy

zeugitai_guy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:18:12 -0800

Seconding the Black and Decker book. I'm guessing it has saved me about 5000 bucks in home repair costs by letting me do them myself. The photos are excellent and the index is very helpful. It's one deficiency, though, is that it doesn't really cover most appliances, and those repairs get costly pretty fast as well.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:01:04 -0800

This is kind of old school, but I learned with the Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual. Also, I've found this to be a good forum for plumbing.

By: jeanmari

jeanmari — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:38:24 -0800

Is it a very, very old house? If so, it will have things specific to very old houses...like balloon framing. If so, Renovating Old Houses by George Nash is the bible of old houses.

If you want to know how to replace a faucet or work on drywall, the Home Depot and Reader's Digest Books are terrific. But if you want to know how to repair plaster, tune up a radiator, or work with knob and tube electrical wires, they won't be able to help you, unfortunately.

Anything by Taunton Press is going to have fantastic instructional design with clear and concise instructions and helpful illustrations/photos. As an instructional designer who works on old houses, they are my favorite publisher for How To. They have a great magazine and a fantastic DVD of their "greatest hits" articles over the years. If you look up Fine Homebuilding on eBay, you'll realize that people collect their issues, sell and trade them. Yes, they are that good.

Here are more of my favorite resources for the components of an old house:

Working Windows for wood windows
Heating Help for radiator heat
J Bridge Tile Forums for tile
Hearth.com for fireplaces and heating stoves
Van Dykes for old house parts
Rejuvenation and Schoolhouse Electric for lighting

You've got several excellent housebloggers near to you (if you are in Portland still). They will be able to commiserate with you and potentially give advice/lend tools/share beers. (Full disclosure, I help run Houseblogs.net.)

Finally, the DIY videos at Video Jug crack me up AND they're good.

By: dersins

dersins — Sat, 03 May 2008 01:08:07 -0800

These answers are all great. Thanks to all of you.