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Product Description
Review
'This is the DIY bible that no home should be without. Thoroughly practical, utterly reliable, and packed with all the information anyone could possibly need, it will pay for itself time and time again.' - New Homes, Wales --New Homes<br /><br />No self-respecting DIYer should be without a good book to help them and The Reader's Digest DIY Manual is just the thing. --Halifax Evening Courier
"Bursting with inspiring ideas and practical advice on tools and techniques…" --Irish Examiner The
"Bursting with inspiring ideas and practical advice on tools and techniques…" --Irish Examiner The
Product Description
Packed with inspiring ideas and practical advice on tools and techniques, the "Reader's Digest DIY Manual" is an essential in every household. It contains invaluable advice for anyone fixing, extending, decorating, renovating or building their home. Whether you want to know how to repair a leak, wallpaper a stairwell or lay a patio, it's all here. Each project is laid out with step-by-step instructions and clear photographs, drawings and diagrams. The completely up-to-date text reflects new legislation, including the latest wiring and glazing regulations. This updated edition also includes new material on energy-saving DIY, providing information on assessing and improving your home's energy efficiency rating, government grants available for energy-saving improvements, advice on choosing eco-friendly paints and flooring, installing solar panels and the latest energy and water-saving home appliances.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
First let me say that I am an ageing and experienced DIYer. I have used earlier versions of this book for many years and found them useful and reliable. I have plumbed in a complete bathroom twice, rewired a flat and a house and tiled and decorated. I have fitted a kitchen as well as done all the other things like fitting up shelves and so on. The earlier versions of this publication have been of great use to me.
I bought this book in advance of release as I was moving to a new house and I felt that my experience of 1960s and earlier properties would be inadequate to encompass modern building methods. I have to say that I have been disappointed in what this book has to offer. Perhaps nowadays, with all the restrictions on what an unqualified homeowner can do for themselves only an overview is now relevant, but even this seems to be lacking in parts of this book.
I discovered that I had a sealed central heating system. The book says it is very similar to a vented system and gives it a paragraph, it isn't. It is in fact significantly more complicated as I have found by searching the web. There is no mention at all of dab and board construction (dab and dot) despite the considerable problems I had getting fixings in this type of wall, no help was available from the manual. It was as if this type of common modern construction hadn't even been introduced.
The electrical advice, although accurate, is far from comprehensive and misses out so many DIY jobs yet it goes into detail on outside lighting, kitchen and bathroom work, which must now be professionally certified and is therefore hardly worth the trouble of a DIYer who will have to pay as much for certification as they will for the job to be done by a professional in the first place.
All in all this book has not been very well planned and is far from comprehensive, I cannot therefore recommend it to any householder, be they a keen DIYer, a beginner or just someone who wants to know enough to talk intelligently to tradesmen.
I bought this book in advance of release as I was moving to a new house and I felt that my experience of 1960s and earlier properties would be inadequate to encompass modern building methods. I have to say that I have been disappointed in what this book has to offer. Perhaps nowadays, with all the restrictions on what an unqualified homeowner can do for themselves only an overview is now relevant, but even this seems to be lacking in parts of this book.
I discovered that I had a sealed central heating system. The book says it is very similar to a vented system and gives it a paragraph, it isn't. It is in fact significantly more complicated as I have found by searching the web. There is no mention at all of dab and board construction (dab and dot) despite the considerable problems I had getting fixings in this type of wall, no help was available from the manual. It was as if this type of common modern construction hadn't even been introduced.
The electrical advice, although accurate, is far from comprehensive and misses out so many DIY jobs yet it goes into detail on outside lighting, kitchen and bathroom work, which must now be professionally certified and is therefore hardly worth the trouble of a DIYer who will have to pay as much for certification as they will for the job to be done by a professional in the first place.
All in all this book has not been very well planned and is far from comprehensive, I cannot therefore recommend it to any householder, be they a keen DIYer, a beginner or just someone who wants to know enough to talk intelligently to tradesmen.
38 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've used previous editions of this manual extensively, and have recommended it to many friends as a vital DIY reference manual.
I was looking forward to upgrading my copy to the latest, given so many changes in electrical regulations.
The updated electrics section is indeed excellent - even if a large part is academic only with current building regulations requiring qualified electricians to do or check and sign off the work - points wisely clearly discussed by the editors.
All well and good, until I realised that much older material has been rationalised - the sash window maintenance section is heavily reduced - there is no longer anything (apart from a mention) on spiral balance windows. I'm not sure how the editors can justify cutting the real DIY stuff down, for more features on "green things" etc. Surely the core DIY maintenance stuff is the most important feature of the book, and should not be compromised?
A winning formula should probably have just been updated, as opposed to re-written - the old layouts were near perfect.
That said, it's still a good book. Just don't think you can throw away the old editions - they have more in them!
No idea what's on the CD-Rom - not really ideal for DIY - you can't have a computer kicking around a workshop for reference. I must have a look and see if subjects are covered with more depth on it though!
I was looking forward to upgrading my copy to the latest, given so many changes in electrical regulations.
The updated electrics section is indeed excellent - even if a large part is academic only with current building regulations requiring qualified electricians to do or check and sign off the work - points wisely clearly discussed by the editors.
All well and good, until I realised that much older material has been rationalised - the sash window maintenance section is heavily reduced - there is no longer anything (apart from a mention) on spiral balance windows. I'm not sure how the editors can justify cutting the real DIY stuff down, for more features on "green things" etc. Surely the core DIY maintenance stuff is the most important feature of the book, and should not be compromised?
A winning formula should probably have just been updated, as opposed to re-written - the old layouts were near perfect.
That said, it's still a good book. Just don't think you can throw away the old editions - they have more in them!
No idea what's on the CD-Rom - not really ideal for DIY - you can't have a computer kicking around a workshop for reference. I must have a look and see if subjects are covered with more depth on it though!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
this is a very comprehensive DIY manual. it covers everything the DIYer needs to know about home maintenance. the book is well illustrated, with easy to follow instructions to tackle jobs at home-interior&exterior, also jobs to do in the garden.i got it to keep at hand to tackle any DIY jobs at home. a really good investment for any DIYer.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good with reservations
the sellers delivery date was great, arrived before the due date.....however the accompanying disk was not compatible with Mac so was useless to me. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. R. Hoffman
Xmas Gift
Brilliant looking book + cd.Bought for son for Xmas as he is buying his first house. Hope he's pleased! Good,fast delivery, and cheaper than the stores.
Published 5 months ago by suey
AMAZING MUST HAVE BOOK!!
This book is a must-have for anyone living in their own home and interested in doing some DIY! It is amazing, providing step by step directions on just about every basic DIY... Read more
Published 6 months ago by busylizzy278
good for diy
i was a little shocked to find this book is the same as my old readers digest diy from 1996, in fact there is only 3 diy jobs that different from my 1996 book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. P. Stocken
Worth the money
Good clear information many illustrations well set out and covers most topics a householder would need. The instructions are also written in laymans terms so easier to understand
Published 6 months ago by Conways
readers digest DIY
Great value for the money and very heipfull, haveing decidid to replace my bathroom suite
and re tile, and getting a quote from a well known DIY store, i decidid to do it... Read more
and re tile, and getting a quote from a well known DIY store, i decidid to do it... Read more
Published 14 months ago by J .CEE
If your house is not brick then don't bother
I did find some of the content of this book useful but, it assumes that everyone in this country lives in a brick house and does not cover anything older than 20-30 years which... Read more
Published 14 months ago by R. Denton
Great, useful guide.
Excellent guide with plenty of illustrations and explanations of seemingly all aspects of each job. I'm a DIY novice but am far more confident following the step-by-step... Read more
Published 14 months ago by MattyB
Comprehensive, informative and great price!
I bought this book as a present for my husband. He seems to be very happy with it and the way it explains things. It helps having all the pictures to see how things are done. Read more
Published 16 months ago by DIY learner
Superb value
My daughter is buying her first house in a few weeks time and lives away from home so she needed a good clear comprehensive guide to home maintenance and improvement. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Vaughan
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