| Part 1: It's Handy to Be Handy |
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1 | (34) |
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Is Your Home Looking Homely? |
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3 | (6) |
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To fix your house, you need a realistic attitude. That means avoiding perfectionism and knowing when to say ``when.'' |
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9 | (6) |
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Foundations, roofs, and other home essentials---how are yours? |
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Get a Plan, Stan (Can You Do It?) |
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15 | (8) |
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Meshing your home repair projects with your other responsibilities. |
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Dial a Home Fixer: Building Rescue |
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23 | (6) |
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Can't fix it? How to find the help you need. |
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Talk Contract---and Live to Tell About It! |
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29 | (6) |
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Comparing home repairers' prices and skills; understanding their contracts. |
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| Part 2: Safety, Tools, and Materials: The Building Blocks of Success |
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35 | (70) |
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Health, Safety, and Common Sense |
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37 | (10) |
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How to protect yourself---even from yourself! A brief treatise on the stupidity factor. |
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The Bare Essentials: Hand Tools |
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47 | (8) |
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Old, reliable, and versatile, hand tools are the heart of any repair---and they're fun to use, especially if you keep them handy. |
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The Bare Essentials with Oomph! Power Tools |
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55 | (14) |
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Drills, saws, and sanders---sooner or later, these electric helpers will show up in your toolkit. |
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69 | (12) |
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Screws, nails, and hardware are better than ever---meet the cream of the crop. |
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81 | (8) |
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When you need to do your homework, here's where to do it right: scientific storage solutions. |
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Wood: Still Champ After All These Years |
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89 | (16) |
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Tips for nailing, screwing, sawing, and filling wood. Why wood splits---and how to prevent it. |
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| Part 3: Strictly for Outriders: The Exterior View |
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105 | (70) |
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Skin-Tight: Caulking, Weather-Stripping, Insulation, and Ventilation |
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107 | (14) |
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Control your indoor climate with these basic materials, and save a few bucks in the process. |
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In the Yard: No Rest for the Weary |
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121 | (8) |
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How to treat pressure-treated lumber, how to replace bad boards, and what to slather over your driveway. |
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Beauty's Only Skin Deep: Care and Healing for Your Siding |
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129 | (6) |
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Siding shouldn't cause trouble---unless you mistreat it. Fix it first, then treat it right. |
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Gimme Shelter---and Other Advice on Repairing Roofs |
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135 | (16) |
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Replacing shingles, repairing roll roofing, and other hints for rapid roof repair. |
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Bricks and Stones: Doing Masonry and Concrete Without Getting Stoned |
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151 | (10) |
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Play along as masonry and concrete march to a different drummer: mortar, stones, and the ground-truth of masonry. |
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Bricks and Stones: Masonry and Concrete (the Sequel) |
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161 | (14) |
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Fixing foundations, drying basements, repairing concrete, and tuckpointing brick---heavy work made (relatively) easy. |
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| Part 4: An Inside Job |
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175 | (126) |
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A Paneless Guide to Windows |
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177 | (12) |
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Sane pane replacement, and how to get jammed windows moving again. |
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An Entry-Level Treatise on Doors |
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189 | (18) |
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Hinges, latches, and deadbolts help your doors do their job. |
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Here's how to keep them happy. |
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Getting a Solid Footing on Floors |
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207 | (18) |
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Squeaks silenced, boards replaced, and carpets repaired. |
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225 | (12) |
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Miraculous mends for tortured tile, and great tips for installing new tiles. |
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Cosmetology 101: Drywall and Plaster Repair |
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237 | (18) |
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Invisible fixes for damaged drywall and plaster; seven ways to find a stud; installing drywall. |
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255 | (12) |
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Making perfect repairs in wallpaper---quickly, cheaply, and easily. |
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267 | (10) |
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It's the finishing touch, so you might as well finish it right! |
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Putting a Good Face on: Choosing Paint and Painting Tools |
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277 | (10) |
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Paint, primer, and stain for any surface. Understanding old problems is key to a good paint job. |
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Lay It on---but Not Too Thick |
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287 | (14) |
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Preparation for any material; tips for pain-free painting with brush, roller, or spray can. |
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| Part 5: Mechanicals for Non-Mechanics |
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301 | (100) |
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Breaker, Breaker on the Wall: Electric Fundamentals |
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303 | (20) |
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To work safety with electricity, you must know these principles and tests. |
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Getting Wired Without Getting Zapped |
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323 | (22) |
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Electrical gizmos and connections; understandings switch and receptacle wiring, and installing receptacles the easy way. |
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A Welcoming Blast of Hot Air: Heating System Tips |
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345 | (8) |
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Heating system maintenance and troubleshooting. |
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353 | (16) |
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Inspecting and cleaning chimneys, operating wood stoves and fireplaces, and capping and flashing masonry chimneys. |
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Either It Leaks ... (Plumbing, Part I) |
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369 | (18) |
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Emergency repairs, taking the drip out of faucets, soldering pipes, and preventing the big freeze-up. |
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... Or It Doesn't Drain (Plumbing, Part II) |
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387 | (14) |
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Cleaning clogs from drain lines, understanding and replacing toilet mechanisms, and living with a garbage disposal. |
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| Appendix A Nuts and Bolts Glossary |
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401 | (6) |
| Index |
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407 | |
