Lou Manfredini's House Smarts: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Buying, Maintaining, and Living Comfortably in Your Home

by Lou Manfredini

Book Overview

Lou Manfredini, aka Mr. Fix-It, is the trusted friend every homeowner wishes he or she had--someone who knows houses. In his fun, friendly, fully illustrated guide for both inexperienced and seasoned homeowners, he takes you through your entire house and around the yard, showing you how it all works and what to do when it doesn't. The result: You'll have a clear understanding of the systems that make up your house and gain the expert knowledge to proceed with any job, big or small--whether you're hiring a contractor or doing it yourself. Discover - How your house works: an anatomy lesson - The wonders of water--where it comes from and where it goes - Getting wired--the magic of electricity - Windows--ways to bring in the sunshine and keep out the drafts - The joys of being floored--good floor construction and maintenance - Wall power--it's not what's on them but what's in them that counts - Decorating secrets the pros don't like to share Plus Lou Manfredini's sixty-minute home inspection, an essential tool list, and an ABC glossary of terms: from air duct to weather stripping

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345449894
• ISBN13: 9780345449894
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Filled with info...

His books are serious, straight-forward, and offer tons of tid-bits of information, most of which wasn't over my head. Even if you aren't able to do some of the projects you want to, you will understand what is going on and get some money saving tips throughout. I have the entire series and it's well worth it, though I got all mine used, so it was only about $20 and worth it!

Excellent book

After just purchasing a house and finding some things that needed fixed, I went to the library to borrow some books on home repair. Most of the books concentrate on how to fix specific things like unclogging a sink or installing light fixture wiring. House Smarts gives much more broad lessons, rather than specifics. This is the first book to read, even before buying a house. I have bought the book for myself as well as two of my buddies. Lou educates the reader in a casual, funny and relatable way.

Great overview

After we bought our first home, I bought a whole bunch of books so I could tackle various projects. There are books from Readers Digest, Home Depot and Black & Decker and others on my shelf now. They are all wonderful, but I wish I had bought this book first. You'll find a great introduction of the various parts and workings of your home, and how to best use and maintain them. This book helps you decide which project makes sense and which one to do first. Then when it comes to do the work, you may need a more detailed book specific to your project, or perhaps you decide to hire a contractor. Either way, this is a great book to start, and each time I am thinking about a project I turn to this book first. One word of caution: There is another book available from the same author ("Mr. Fixit introduces you to your home") that appears to be identical to this one, at least judging from the table of contents. So if you already own one, you may not need the other. I bought this one, since it was published more recently.