Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual: Completely Revised and Updated

Completely revised and redesigned with over 3,000 color photos and illustrations, facts on the latest tools and techniques, and user-friendly instructions for a wide range of projects, this definitive do-it-yourself guide to home repair,maintenance,and improvement, is designed to save you time and money.

Since 1973 over 10 million copies of READER’S DIGEST COMPLETE DO-IT-YOURSELF MANUAL have been sold. And now, the definitive “on-the-job” manual has just gotten bigger and better than ever. The editors of Reader’s Digest and The Family Handyman magazine have joined forces to completely revise, update, rewrite, and redesign this home improvement classic. The new edition combines the best elements of the original manuals with The Family Handyman’s rich informational and photographic archives, new illustrations and photographs, and the wisdom and experience of over 150 of the best experts in the field today.

COMPLETE DO-IT-YOURSELF MANUAL is written in a style of text that addresses readers in a very accessible, conversational tone for easy, user-friendly assistance with every do-it-yourself task. All instructions and materials have been updated to address current codes (electrical, plumbing and building), and revised to indicate the very latest in materials, tools, and technology. Suitable for beginners and experts alike, the new innovative ideas and features include:
• Over 3,000 photos and illustrations including more than 1,500 new full-color photos and 100 new technical drawings
• New sidebars, such as Shop Smart, Handy Hints, Go Figure, and Safety First, providing readers with helpful information
• Two new chapters, Landscaping and Storage Projects that include material and cutting lists
• Yellow-highlighter notes of caution or important points to remember
• Cross-references at the top of each page
• Metrics are given with most measurements throughout the text and a complete metric conversion chart is included at the rear of the book

The book’s tried-and-true instructions provide do-it-yourself solutions to a ton of problems that could cost a fortune if you had to hire a professional. This manual is a “must-have” reference guide for every home-owning man or woman.

This super-handy manual, first published in 1973, has received a major upgrade. Seventeen chapters' worth of fixer-upper opportunities are enhanced with more than 3,000 photos and illustrations that would look equally at home in an upscale home decorating catalogue. The first few chapters cover hand and power tools, fasteners and adhesives, and are enough to incite hardware envy among even dwellers of tiny apartments. There is strange beauty in the cutaway views of five different hollow-wall fasteners and the machinations of nine types of pliers. But homeowners are, of course, the real target audience, and an all-new section on Landscaping reflects this with entries on fences, water gardens and retaining walls. The plumbing section offers a mega-view of wastewater-treatment systems as well as a micro-exploration of unclogging a toilet. Another new section, Storage Projects, is full of cabinets and shelves that either "Swing-out" or "Fold-away." New technologies are generally overlooked in favor of meat-and-potatoes projects. For instance, a home satellite dish is pictured but not indexed or dwelled upon, while carpeting is charted, graphed and deconstructed in the extreme. Intriguing sidebars on wood refinishers (the fastest drying versus the safest), the financial benefits of renting specialty tools for a large drywall project and other subjects round out this must-have guide. (Apr. 1)
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