Choosing the perfect repair manual

19.06.2008 05:01 Home - Source: Home Envy

Here's an ethical dilemma:
When you're at a party and you're introduced to someone who's got a plug of dark green vegetable matter wedged in their front teeth, do you say anything, or do you just freeze and stare?

I'm asking because when I visit friends and notice that their roof shingles are all wizened up, and there's a giant brown stain on their living room ceiling and I smell the pong of dry rot, I wonder if I should say anything. If they don't know they've got a problem, why should I wreck the dinner party with bad news?

But if you know how to save a house, don't you have a responsibility to act? I think you do. I think you should say the unthinkable. But first, wait until the party is in full swing. Then wink at the host. This creates interest, giving you an opportunity to say, "Looks like you need a roof job!"

If it's a noisy party, this sentence may be misconstrued, so repeat it loudly several times until everyone else has put down their forks and the room has grown eerily quiet.

If this kind of confrontation doesn't match your social style, you can just leave a home repair manual on your friends' doorstep, having flagged the appropriate chapter with a little note that says, "WHY YOUR HOUSE SMELLS FUNNY". Oh sure, they'll be put off at first, but no more than that time you put the urine-detector pellets in the pool during their 8-year-old's birthday party.

In most cases, the only obstacle between a homeowner and a well-maintained dwelling, is a decent home repair manual. At roughly $30, it's an investment few of us should pass up. The trick is to get the right manual(s).

Here are a few of my favourites, rated according to personality type:

Fastidious

For those who really care about getting it right, go with the Black and Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair (Creative Publishing International, 1999). You can splurge on the companion volume - Complete Photo Guide to Home Improvement (once the repairs are done). These manuals are stuffed with helpful advice, charts, diagnostics and maintenance schedules. The precise colour photos leave no room for misinterpretation, and you'll admire the attractive plaid-clad handypersons. Note the beautifully manicured female hand models in the plumbing section, offering the subtle message that women can do stinky plumbing just as well as any ham-handed guy.

Gender-conscious

For women (and men who like to dress up as women when they perform home repairs) there are several gender-specific manuals written by earnest female authors. One of the latest is Dare to Repair (Harper Collins, 2002), the cover of which features a cranky-looking female riveter. Inside, the illustrations feature someone who must be the cranky riveter's downtrodden Mum, gloomily plunging toilets and replacing oven bulbs. This book is well-written and full of great instructions and female-centric anecdotes (plus the butt-ugly illustrations just to make the point that women doing plumbing don't have to be glamorous).

Adventuresome

For those who like to improvise past all hope of success, there are two great books for your consideration. Both offer lots of hints, without killing your enthusiasm with too much detail. My favourite is Ortho's Home Repair Problem Solver (Ortho Books, 1995), which covers all areas of home maintenance including foundations, window and door problems, plumbing, electrical, telephones, heating, air conditioning, appliances and even mysterious odours. Another great manual that's concise and loaded with excellent info on everything from insulating water pipes to cleaning the heads on a VCR, is Charlie Wing's Big Book of Small Household Repairs (Readers Digest, 1999). Tidily illustrated and succinct, this manual gives you enormous license to ad lib repairs in your own fascinating style.

Ex-pat

For anyone who's spent any time in Britain and misses the flamboyant lingo of the English DIY movement, I recommend Collins Complete DIY Manual (Harper Collins, 2001). In this worthy tome you can find stoves referred to as 'cookers' and calculate the typical running cost for a heated towel rail. Pure pleasure, and far from dodgy on content.

Tip

• Choose a manual that was published in the last decade. Technologies keep changing and older volumes don't include the latest techniques, adhesives and materials. On the other hand, an outdated manual is a great excuse for a botched repair. Your call.

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