The Home Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Household Maintenance

Owner’s/Instruction Manuals #5

by Dan Ramsey, Paul Kepple (Illustrator), Jude Buffum (Illustrator)

Quirk Owner's Manuals have taught readers how to "repair" and "maintain" babies, toddlers, dogs, and cats. Now we're tackling the biggest and most complicated "appliance" of all your home!

Through step-by-step instructions and techy schematic diagrams, The Home Owner's Manual explores hundreds of frequently asked questions: How can I drain the sludge out of my water heater? What makes my radiators "hiss" at night? Is there any easy way to unstop a toilet? How can I fill a crack in my wall? And when should I seek professional help?

You'll also find advice on inspecting a new home, moving in, redecorating, emergency maintenance, and much more. With plenty of helpful illustrations to guide you along, The Home Owner's Manual makes household maintenance a breeze.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Dan Ramsey has authored more than 100 books, hundreds of magazine and online consumer guides, and numerous technical documents explaining complex topics in simple terms. Topics include writing skills, home repair, home businesses, aviation, and RV travel. Dan's latest books are the three-part Working Writer Series beginning with WORKING WRITER TIPS: HOW TO WRITE ANYTHING BETTER, FASTER, EASIER. It's FREE on Amazon Kindle. (Reviews appreciated!)

Reviews

[Brice Karickhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you don’t own a house: useless. If you aren’t a big reader: boring. If you aren’t a cheap-o DIYer: stressful. If you are all of those things: a good read.

[Dustin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I loved the baby and toddler books, why not the home-owners book?!

Well, the baby and toddler books did a much better job (IMHO) of providing a good, broad overview with plenty of detail. This book barely scratches the surface, and the information it leaves out is maddeningly important. I probably should have read this when we first bought the house, or before that. However, having already read quite a few other in-depth home-ownership books, this one is a bit of a let-down. Also, not enough humor to keep it interesting, but the jokes are pretty good...when they show up. :S

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good starter book to home improvements. There are some helpful tips, but mostly the book is about empowering new home owners. It's important to believe that nothing in a house is rocket science and that with patience and the right tools, anyone can keep a house in good working order.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is from 2006 and American, so keep in mind that it might not be up to date or relevant.
Overall a decent book about the basics of home ownership. It explains different types of homes, the process of buying one, maintenance required, and how to repair, decorate and upgrade. My fellow autistic people might appreciate how it's written, but I think most would find it a bit funny. I have several other books from this series, so I bought this to celebrate buying our first apartment. We'll see if I ever actually use it, haha.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. As a first time home owner, there was a lot I needed to know. I haven't read this cover to cover but the parts I read were helpful. Although our first home issue (a running toilet) doesn't seem to be covered in it. I can't put it on the read shelf since I didn't read the whole thing but will probably refer to it from time to time.

[mwr · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the size of the book I got very little information. A few vocabulary words, a schedule for maintenance tasks, and a couple of how to's for basic repairs. There's a lot of filler, I guess designed to make these jobs seem more approachable.

[J Crossley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book for the first-time home owner. It talks about the different systems in your home, how to maintenance the different systems, and how to keep your home running smoothly.