The Complete Do-it-Yourself Manual Newly Updated

Impressive new version of a do it yourself manual. This was given to a couple buying their first house so I did not open it myself. Somehow playing with someone's gift before you give it to them seems tacky. I believe it offers a free version online too with this purchase. So if you don't want to lug around the book, I guess you can see the page form a smartphone?
I'd say it is worth it. For myself, when I buy a couple a book like this, I get older versions also of the reader's digest do it yourself for them thru the store since older versions cover older applications for older homes.
I hope this helps you with your project.

Awesome book for first-time homeowners and seasoned homeowners. Lots of great information, diagrams, and easy-to-follow directions. I can't tell you how many small adjustments, quick-fixes, home improvement, maintenance, and major issues we've solved with this book! It doesn't just cover one type of wood trim or one type of electrical problem, it covers them all. It even covers what tools are used for what (electrical, mechanical, wood-working, walls and framing) which is great for a newbie!

Great book in easy plain to read English. There's a few projects in there that are surprisingly missing. For example, How to properly install a Water Pressure Regulator/Reducer for a house. Or how to pick Gravel and put it in correctly. Or how to fix a water heater/boiler. Other than that, it's a great book which will be indispensable for me as a Landlord.

This manual made a fantastic Christmas present for my husband. It is a large, heavy book - very high quality. We spent a while Christmas morning flipping though all the different topics covered in the book and let me tell you, there are a lot!
This book will definitely be very useful. If you are considering purchasing this book, do it!
This would make a great housewarming gift too!

I purchased two of these books and the material inside is extremely helpful and informative. The men I bought them for both were ecstatic, however the bindings in each book was either coming apart or already completely separated. I bought them for Christmas and my packages were lost in transit so they got to my house only a few days before Christmas and I didn't have time to re-order them. I had to superglue them before wrapping. Basically, the book itself has amazing information and is exceptional, but the bonding agent they used to keep it from falling apart was not great.

Had an older version of this so my husband bought this one for my son who is buying a home that will need lots of work.
Hope he gets as much out of this and loves the book like my husband liked the older version.

My granddaughter and her finance recently bought a house that needs quite a few repairs. This book fits the bill exactly....they both were excited and happy to have some guidelines and instructions for their many redo projects plus the inspiration for a few they really hadn't thought of.

Way back in the day when we first became homeowners we had a subscription to The Family Handyman magazine. It was awesome. We would tear over it every month wondering what project we could work on next. What we loved most were the colorful photos that broke it all down for you.

This book is just like that! It is a large hardcover book but you can also get a Kindle version for less but there is nothing like being able to just grab this book off the shelf and referencing whatever it is you are looking for.

Looking to change a faucet? It's in there.
Want to change your toilet, repair a gasket? It's in there!
Not sure how to use a saw the correct, safe way? It's in there!
Need to fix broken tiles? Run a cable, Repair a water heater? It's all there.
Never put up drywall? You can learn with this book!

There are colorful, step-by-step photos for everything you will ever need to do on your home.

Great book for newlyweds, new home owners, or anyone you know who likes to do it them self!

EXCELLENT resource book!

When I first saw this book, I wondered, "Why would someone utilize this big heavy book when they could just use Google and/or YouTube?" Well, I had both my 21-year-old son and my 48-year-old husband read through this book, and here are their answers to my question:

My son said, "I'd use this book instead of Google, because it's not going to disappear on me ... where the power or the Internet connection could."

My husband said, "I'd use this book instead of YouTube, because I can easily carry this book into another room with me. And the layout is great for easy reference, versus YouTube where I'd have to keep replaying the video."

My son also had other comments regarding this book. He thought it was very complete with simple to follow instructions. He was also impressed with the progressive project instructions.

My husband loved the large pages and the well-designed layouts for each project page. He appreciated how the book covered so many basics - like why there are so many different types of nails. He did wish that more of the projects offered "home remedies" for issues (like a stuck screw) versus needing to go out and buy more equipment to solve the problem. He also wished some of the projects went further into detail. But overall he said he'd love to own a copy of this book and it would be an excellent resource for anyone to have on hand.

So what about my opinion of this book? Well, to be honest, I do not like to fix things myself. However, when I looked at the table of contents in this book - - - I was surprised to find organizational and storage tips to maximize the space in your house. Here's a simple tip that never ever even occurred to me:

"It seems like you never have enough wall space to put hooks or towel bars in your bathroom, so why not make your shower walls do double duty? Hang two shower curtain rods instead of one. Hang your shower curtain on the inside rod and use the second rod to hang towels." (page 505)

Sure ... that might not look pretty if you're entertaining guests, but if you're living in limited space with multiple people (or teenagers) that's an awesome solution to the problem of wet towels on the floor!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, and I can assure you that my review was in no way influenced.

Bottom line: If you haven't finished your Christmas shopping, newlywed shopping, birthday shopping, or housewarming shopping ... buy this book as a present!

This book advertised help with appliances and we ordered it since our washing machine is not working when time to spin. But the book has no help on washers! Very disappointed. We will not return it since it is very heavy and would cost a lot to ship.

As many others have said, this book is fantastic. It's organized well, with concepts explained in non-technical terms. There's a ton of photos and illustrations and while I've yet to go through the entire contents what I have read through so far is excellent. This is a big, thick book of awesome. Highly recommended.

This book is simplily detailed! I got this book for my husband for Christmas and he loved it! He instantly flipped through the book and made a list of tools he would like. Even I got excited to take a trip to Home Depot. Great book for a novice.