How Your House Works: A Visual Guide to Understanding & Maintaining Your Home |  | Author: Charlie Wing
Publisher: R.S. Means Company
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $14.18
as of 11/25/2009 04:07 CST details
You Save: $7.77 (35%)
New (18) Used (11) from $8.93
Seller: sbd-
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 4252
Media: Paperback
Pages: 152
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0876290152
Dewey Decimal Number: 643.7
EAN: 9780876290156
ASIN: 0876290152
Publication Date: June 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Why is my faucet leaking, my toilet running, or my dishwasher refusing to start? Can I fix it myself? What's causing the heating system to smell bad or the foundation to crack? Do I need an air filtration system? Is the new "engineered lumber" as good as conventional wood? These are just a few examples of questions homeowners face when repairs are needed, or when a new house or addition is being planned.
There's no question that it pays to be an informed consumer. Knowledge of your home's systems helps you control repair and construction costs and make sure the correct elements are being installed or replaced.
This book uncovers the mysteries behind just about every major appliance and building element in your house. Clear, "exploded" drawings show you exactly how these things should be put together and how they function - what to check if they don't work, and what you can do that might save you having to call in a professional.
The easy-to-understand pictures and explanations on every page get right to the point, helping you understand how things work, what can go wrong, and how to trouble-shoot a problem.
Virtually everything in your house is included:
- Electrical - circuit breakers and grounding, service, outlets, lamps and fixtures.
- Heating and Air conditioning - gas, electrical and oil - ductwork and piping, thermostats, central and window AC units, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and air filtering systems.
- Plumbing - kitchen and bath fixtures, piping, water heaters, traps and vents, septic tanks, pumps and water softener systems - even sprinkler systems and swimming pool filters/heaters.
- Major household appliances - from kitchen to laundry.
- Foundation, framing, doors and windows - including issues like drainage and radon, types of framing and how it supports the house, and all types of doors and windows.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
 Only useful for absolute rookies! November 11, 2009
Kostis Kostis (Greece)
Only useful for absolute rookies!
I bought this book based on other people's reviews that seemed fantastic. I am totally disappointed. Too generic and introductory material. I already knew 80% of the information in this book by browsing the internet. I was expecting to get some real practical information.
What I am saying is that you should get this book if you are just absolutely beginners. Otherwise save your bucks for something more specialized.
 Perfect for a new homeowner October 21, 2009
C. Stout (Eugene, OR USA)
I bought this for my son in law who at the age of 30 just moved into his own house for the first time after renting all of his life. This book with its illustrations and easy to follow explanations for most common household problems and solutions to try before calling in expensive help should help him to understand how to keep up his house for a beginning do it yourselfer!
 My husband loves it and used it the first day he got it. October 15, 2009
S. Lipniskis (Indiana, PA USA)
This was part of a whole do-it-yourself gift I put together for my husband's birthday. We have had several minor household issues that didn't seem bad enough to call a repairman but were also out of my husband's area of expertise. He was able to resolve 2 of them immediately with the help of this book and diagnose a 3rd so that we knew we did indeed have to call in help. Besides the practical application of this book, he just loves to know how things work - even if he, himself is not going to tackle fixing them. This one was a winner!
X-ray vision in color! October 5, 2009
Smart cookie (USA)
Great illustrations! I am a first home owners and very much into DIY. Having this book was like getting x-ray vision to see inside walls, appliances etc. And whats more its all in color! This is my first point of reference before I start any home project.
Wonderful large diagrams. For newbies OR as supplement to DIY books June 16, 2009
cynthia_colorado (Rocky Mountains)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Buy this book for the diagrams, OR as an introductory book for newbies. This book consists mainly of diagrams -- very large, clear, detailed diagrams that show how a house works.
We own several books on home maintenance, repair, and home improvement. Those other books offer much more advice on repairs and improvement, but the diagrams and photos are often inadequate -- not enough diagrams/photos, or not clear enough, or not labeled and explained enough. This book is the opposite of that; it has wonderful diagrams, with arrows and labels for the parts, plus brief text explanations and hints. This book has the best diagrams, so we use it as a supplement to the other books.
The book includes some "how to" information for basic maintenance and common, easy repairs. However, it is not a comprehensive manual for DIY home repair and improvement. For DIY, you will want to buy additional books for more depth.
I was pleasantly surprised at what diagrams were included in the book. For example, there are 6 pages of water heater diagrams, for 6 types of water heaters -- electric (tank), gas (tank), electric tankless, gas tankless, BoilerMate(Trademark) water heater, and solar water heater.
Diagrams showing major appliances are also included -- refrigerators, dishwashers, laundry washers, dryers, air conditioners, ranges, ovens, garbage disposal, vacuums. The clothes washer diagrams just show a belt-driven top-loader machine. No diagrams of direct-drive washing machines, nor top-loaders, were included.
The index is not bad; it could be improved by adding more terms. For example it has an entry for "evaporative coolers", but not for "swamp coolers".
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
|
|
|
|
