Reddit Reddit reviews New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual

We found 13 Reddit comments about New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual
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13 Reddit comments about New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual:

u/savedby0 · 6 pointsr/HomeImprovement

The Reader's Digest "Complete Do It Yourself" book is pretty handy to have. link to amazon.

Good illustrations and covers a huge amount of material for your home.

EDIT: This is the one I have and not only is it really helpful but also very informative when making new purchases. I buy this as a gift for whenever my friends get a house.

u/phtcmp · 5 pointsr/TinyHouses

Dont know the background/skill level/target audience you are looking for, but I found this pretty invaluable over the years:
Complete Do It Yourself Manual
It’s a pretty good walk through on all home systems in general. May be more basic than what you are looking for. I’ve got some pretty ancient books on carpentry and framing as well, the general concepts have changed little.

u/rlaw68 · 3 pointsr/Assistance

If you're trying to figure out how to do a bunch of DIY repairs, you could do a lot worse than dropping 7 bucks on this book -- I got this after we bought our first house and it was a huge help in figuring out how to do stuff that I had no experience with. Good luck to you!

u/mellokind · 2 pointsr/DIY

Others have made some great suggestions. I would add to those lists--

a big can of some high quality lubricant, I like Ballistol for all kinds of cleaning/protecting/lubricating things, but there plenty of other kinds on the market.

Duct tape

Electrical tape

A caulk gun, and a few tubes--plain old "painter's caulk" and a waterproof caulk for windows, doors, and bathroom water infiltration areas. --- and a lesson on how and where to use them.

AND, maybe a nice book, with lots of pictures, for how to do lots of varied home repairs and upgrades, perhaps something like this: Reader's Digest New Complete DIY Manual

u/dakboy · 2 pointsr/AskDad

This link is for an older edition, but it's an excellent book to get started with. Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual

u/Soggy_Stargazer · 2 pointsr/HomeImprovement
u/brainthought · 1 pointr/DIY
u/dzyan · 1 pointr/AskReddit

The Reader's Digest "New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual" Seriously, get this book, it basically tells you how to fix, build or work on most things in your house.

Seriously get this book.

... and a plunger...

u/elnet1 · 1 pointr/HomeImprovement

https://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Do-Yourself-Manual/dp/0895773783

The good thing, is that most used book stores have copies of these for pretty reasonable prices.

5.0 out of 5 starsNew Complete DYI Manual by Reader’s Digest: An Excellent Resource
February 22, 2018
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This 1991 hard-cover, heavy book has 528 pages, almost all of which have hand-drawn color graphics and a few black and white photos on them. This book has 17 chapters.




This is a review from Amazon:

I also have the original 1973 edition (without the word ‘New’ at the title beginning), which has 600 pages and many more photographs – color – than this book, so we use both of them as a reference. One of the other differences besides page numbers is in chapter 17. In the 1973 edition, for example, the chapter has 50 projects that the buyer might want to build, so for this chapter alone, the 1973 edition is worth keeping and consulting.

Another difference between the 2 editions is that the 1991 edition has more current tools and accessories that are demonstrated to fix things.

I am not a contractor and have never fixed things in a house before we bought our first home. I am an educator, so I have lots of different books on different topics to consult in my library when something needs fixing in the house. I also do online searches, print them out, and use them in conjunction with these 2 Reader’s Digest DIY Manuals.

u/wintremute · 1 pointr/DIY

Someone gave me this book when I bought my first house. It was very helpful.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/DIY

This book; (Reader's Digest DIY Manual)

Is a great start IMO. My dad used an older copy of this book to teach himself how to build the majority of the second floor of our house when I was a kid.

I've used it to do some minor woodwork, and a few things since.

(By no means an expert over here)

u/Cindernubblebutt · 1 pointr/AdviceAnimals

I grew up in a house where my dad was extremely "handy" and able to fix just about anything.

I tried to be as "handy" as he was but found that growing up in a different time and economic conditions didn't prepare me very well for that. Up until a few years ago, when something broke, I would just call up my dad and he would come over and "help me" fix it (which mostly meant he did it all himself), but after he passed on, I was determined to acquire at least a semblance of the skills my father possessed.

The straw broke for me a couple of years ago when I had to have our kitchen remodeled after one of the sink fittings failed and leaked water, destroying a bunch of the flooring and necessitating replacing all the cabinets.

After enduring contractors taking 2 months to fix it despite being the highest rated contractor on Angieslist and the BBB and watching their progress and ignoring objections to my concerns, I swore I would never hire a "professional" to do anything I even remotely might be capable of myself.

Recently, I was able to do repairs to my heating ducting, light fixtures, bathroom fan/light and kitchen faucet and I figured I saved about $500 from having a professional do it. I had less luck with replacing my brake pads on my car as one tire would not come off and putting the car up on jacks and trying to kick the tire loose seemed like a really bad idea, so I paid for that one.

Keep on plugging away. Your repairman skills will only improve with time and use. Don't be ashamed if you have to re-re-repair something....usually by the second time around you know what everything does and where it goes so the repair goes easier. I've "fixed" one particular faucet three times now as the materials used in it's construction were shyte (Faucet "lifts up" because the bolt head inside securing it down was broken). I've been trying everything short of welding, but that's my next step. So now I get to teach myself how to weld a faucet together.

Here's some hints I have for the starting handyman....

Take pictures/video before you start. Take video as you remove/disassemble.

Keep all your old parts/bits in a bucket designed just for that.

Read up online on how to fix stuff. Try to find how-to videos. If you can find specific videos for your make/model of applicance/car/etc so much the better. Take online instructions with a grain of salt and don't use specific instructions if they weren't for your specific product.

Do a good job as you possibly can given your skills and tools. But if a repair fails, don't beat yourself up....just apply the lessons learned. When you do a home/car repair, you've got the opportunity to make it better than original. Take pride if you are able to repair something better than it's original condition.

If you learn things or "little tricks", remember to write them down. I have a little "repair book" with hints, tips and urls that I've picked up.

Also buy the Readers Digest Home Repair Manual It's full of good practices and advice as well as general step by step instructions. And a book is a lot better than a phone or tablet when doing this kind of thing.

Good luck and happy fixing! You'll do great on that sink the next time!!!