100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know: How to Save Money, Solve Problems and Improve Your Home

by Editors of Family Handyman Magazine (Editor)

The Family Handyman’s 100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know gives you the knowledge you need to be a better homeowner. You’ll make informed decisions, avoid frustrations and save thousands over the life of your home.

The Family Handyman’s 100 Things Every Homeowner Must Know gives you the knowledge you need to be a better homeowner. You’ll make informed decisions, avoid frustrations and save thousands over the life of your home. Here’s just a small sample of what’s inside:
The smartest thing you can do before going on vacation
Push a button and save $100
Be ready for any natural disaster
Make burglars bypass your house
The most effective way to cut heating and cooling costs
Clever shortcuts for home maintenance—indoors and out
Keep mice, ants and other invaders out of your house
Boost curb appeal without remodeling
What to do when the power goes out
The most common—and costly—homeowner mistakes
Eliminate noises, odors and other household irritations
Grow the best lawn on the block
Secret weapons pros use for easy, instant repairs
Make appliances last years longer
The key to drip-free faucets
Make your mower start right up—every time
Cures for damp basements
Exterminate mold and mildew
Pick a paint color you’ll love
Get faster downloads and better TV quality
Stop peeling paint

Plus, incredibly easy repairs for appliances, plumbing, flooring, walls, furniture and more!

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Self Help, Home Improvement, How To, Collections

1017 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 6, 2015

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good tips, but either way to basic - just a "headline" with no substance, or way beyond my willingness to tackle (they don't need to worry about me falling off my roof). It IS from the Family Handyman, to be fair.

[Connor Magary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuts

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great information - probably a book best to purchase for at-home use!

consult for flooring and painting tips. also, questions to ask your roofer


Pop Sugar’s 2015 Reading Challenge - A book with a number in the title

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currently taking steps to purchasing a home, and I never like to go into anything blind or ignorant. I don't like too many surprises and while I didn't expect to become an expert on homeownership after one single book, this book in particular makes me very informed about the fundamentals of homeownership and the maintenance involved in it. Like everything, knowing is half the battle, and this book made me very aware of so many little details I've overlooked as a kid and as a tenant. I didn't know 80% of everything I learned in this book because 1. I never cared to learn it and 2. Everything I needed to be repaired was taken care of by someone else. This book is about responsibly maintaining your home, and at a cost-efficient manner where you eliminate or minimize the need for professionals who charge. The terminology, the methodology, the reasoning and the science between carefully taking care of a home are all in this book and by no means am I an expert on painting, piping, insulation, landscaping or any other subsection of homeownership, at least now I know what to look for and why. I recommend this book to ANYONE because of its usefulness for all things around and in the home!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent tips!

[Heidi J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had gotten something like this the year we bought our house! There were so many helpful tips and reminders and suggestions for fixing problems. Some of them I already knew-- after a decade of owning a home I've had to cope with a slew of maintenance stuff already--but there were enough new-to-me topics to make this book easily worth my time and money. (It came in handy right off the bat, in fact, helping us to decide whether to call a repair guy for our broken water heater or buy another one.) For serious DIYers and people with extensive maintenance experience it might be a waste of time, but for new homeowners without such experience (or long-time homeowners who find themselves calling in pros for even little things) it is perfect.

[Alex Caravaggio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was full of money-saving tips and tricks when it comes to owning a home. There were a lot of things I had never even considered before like the purpose of the trap for drains and different types of heating/air conditioning systems. I liked how the advice came across as very genuine like people had made certain mistakes before, and by learning from them we can save a headache or two. I chuckled at two sections - frozen pipes and mice - because I have had problems with both before that this book would have helped me with! I will certainly keep this book within reach whenever dealing with a part of the home I am unfamiliar with!

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a helpful book.

I checked it out from my local library and found some sections to be more helpful than others. There are some great tips about what to look for when buying a house. Some of the descriptions weren't as helpful as I was expecting.

I do like that there's sections about learning from other people's mistakes and things that people have done wrong in a renovation and how you can avoid that mistake. There are some good tips, although I wonder how much if this is relevant in the world of modern condos and wifi enabled appliances.

[Price B Bullock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for fixing existing problems, and how to prevent many others

Five stars for being relatable in many ways, and the knowledge imparted for simple and complex issues.
I like that the author advises that calling in a pro is at times inevitable, although gives advice on saving money for service calls.
Recommended for any homeowners, but also renters to save time and headaches for simple fixes, not to mention if they will be future homeowners.

[Cody O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid book. Gave me tons of tips and tricks. I much better understand my home now. This knowledge has built a foundation that will make my living space more comfortable and less expensive for the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to expanding on it.

If you have an interest in this topic, this book is great and easy to read. It also had a useful quiz at the end.

I read the book on Kindle and plan to return to my highlighted notes in the future to refresh my knowledge.

[LInda L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stuff to know, but not being anything near a handyman/woman, I would bypass most of it. Don't feel that I'm handy enough! Some are great, but as I already said, I would probably either pay someone else to do it or coerce a neighbor/friend to help. Most of it made me feel totally useless.

[Kurt Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will educate the reader on the responsibilities of each component of the house, but it doesn't go much further. A 5 star rating would be accomplished by diving into more detail about maintenance, improvement, and basic repair on many of the topics listed in the book. Some topics could include how to install a wall outlet, how to repair leaks around a window, etc.

[Vinod Kurup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect book to check out from the library. Found a few tips that were useful, but things were either too basic or not detailed enough for me to want to buy it. Still looking for a good book to have at home...

[Noel Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for everyone to go through whether you own a home or not. I knew much of the info in the book from having a Family Handyman magazine subscription for several years but learned a lot that I did not know.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is exactly what it says. It informs you things you should be aware of. Sometimes, it goes in detail on how to fix it. I bought a hard copy of the book, but wished I bought a digital one. I didn’t expect there to be so many pictures. I read it in a few hours.

[Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am only slightly more than halfway through this book. How I wish I had it when I became a homeowner!

[Heidi Hobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've already used this book to fix what I thought was a permanent issue with an exterior door! I checked it out from the library, but will probably purchase a copy to keep.

[Seth Heronemus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good explanations and a good resource.

[Matthew Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful

[Joe Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best literature I’ve read all year

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment. I was hoping for information about garbage disposals. None to be found here.

[Rase McCray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a useful book! I learned so, so, so, so much from this.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an effort to not be one of those wives who relies solely on her handy husband, I wanted to learn about the workings of our house and how to keep its value with improvements this year. So I hopped over to the library and found this beginner's guide to understanding your home.

This book is excellent from cover to cover! If you're already one of those handy people, this is still relevant for a refresher and some new tips. My husband read over a few pages and said, "There's great stuff in here!"

For example, they have a whole section just on cleaning parts of your house properly. I attacked our kitchen today. I scrubbed under the splash guard of our garbage disposal and was horrified at what had built up in there. I never thought to scrub inside of there before and I am so glad I did! The book also has tips to drill screws in straight, keep ants out of your house, organize your yard tools, ways to keep your furniture polished and moisturized, and so much more. I highly recommend this guide for anyone who owns their own home!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted to finish, but I can't keep this book away from the library forever. More useful for a reference guide as things go wrong in the home, versus reading it at once and hoping you'll retain the info later. Still very well done and easy to follow. Maybe not that good as a library book, but good to peruse in the library, then buy for the home collection later.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful with step-by-step instructions and full color photos

[Natala]

work