Lighting Solutions

by Taunton Press

Book Overview

Houses need new lighting, especially when they get new owners. Lighting Solutions focuses on high-impact, low-cost projects for all skill levels and tastes that can be completed in one to three days... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561586692
• ISBN13: 9781561586691
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Taunton Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.2" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Good for Novice, But Needs A Glossary

I thought the projects in this book were great for a beginner, but the instuctions are not quite detailed enough. Photographs, like those contained in this book, ARE what I need because I am a visual learner and a true novice. To me, this book is about basic, uncomplicated projects you can do as a first step in learning about lighting. There are probably better and more detailed books for those who already have a basic understanding of electricity, wiring and such. This book is truly for a novice. For example, when I was glancing at the page headings, there is a section called Routing Cable, my first thought was why is a lighting book talking about Cable. It was not until I got to the end of the step did I realize they were talking about electrical cables. Of course, if I had read through the electrical supplies information on the previous pages, I would have known that. Without the basic information on previous pages, I probably would still be thinking they were talking about Cable for T.V.'s. LOL What I like about these books are the photographs of main steps. This book also contains sections in yellow columns that having the heading of "What Can Go Wrong" and "Do It Right" which contain additional tips. The reason I said it was not detailed enough was because it assumes a certain amount of basic knowledge without explanation. For example, on the section about adding a ceiling box, it says nail to a ceiling joist. What is a joist? It shows a picture of some wood slats in a ceiling, but what is a joist? I know it is some type of beam, but which one is the joist? There is not a glossary that would help with these types of definitions. Some may say if you don't know what a joist is, you shouldn't be doing any of this, but my thought is that this is why we have books and research on the internet. I AM the kind of person who would research online what a joist is and make sure I had an understanding of all the steps and terminology before starting a project, but it would be nice if all this information was contained in this book. I like the illustrations, the detail of the equipment needed and the shopping tips. Overall, I thought this was a good book, just would have been a little better with a glossary. A previous reviewer said "If you can install a ceiling fan based on the instructions in the box then you do not need this book. It just shows you how to connect the wires from the electrical box in the ceiling to your new fixture. Any competent human can do this." I've seen the instructions for some lighting and fan boxes and they would be over my head and difficult to follow without some background or basic knowledge. I do like this book series "do it now, do it fast, do it right" from Taunton, but if you want more details you may want to also check out the Black and Decker books to see which ones might better fit your needs. This one is good for beginners if you don't mind reviewing new terms which may not be explained very well.