Friends just bought a house–1st time homeowners–and I want to give them something to guide them on home maintenance and preventive maintenance.
Can ya’ll recommend a good book?
(What I’d really love to find is a class on this taught by a knowledgeable tradesman, but that doesn’t seem to be offered around here.)
Thanks for your help,
Leigh
Replies
Are yur friends lineal or lateral thinkers???
Have any skills at all??? Tools???
How's their attitude???
Just maintenence, hosehold repairs or progressive improvements...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Are yur friends lineal or lateral thinkers???
Both: a graphics artist married to an accountant
Have any skills at all??? Tools???
Not really any skills, and just basic assortment of tools
How's their attitude???
Thrilled to have a house, not afraid to do what's required, pretty ignorant of what that might be.
Just maintenence, hosehold repairs or progressive improvements...
Maintenance primarily and how to tell when it's needed (and why). Filter changing, roof maintenance, painting, etc. Things they might not think of that need to be done, basic maintenance schedules (you know, like there is for a car).
Leigh
Let me rummage thru the collection and get an ISBN# for ya..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Try "The Everything Fixit Book" ISBN 1-59337-046-6...
But....
I came across a couple of the old Reader's Digest fixit books..
For everything in the house... ISBN 0-89577-378-3 and the house it's self ISBN 0-89577-871-8..
I'd go with the Reader's Digest books... All fixit and maintenence and no projects..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Edited 8/19/2004 9:48 am ET by IMERC
Thanks, IMERC! I appreciate your help.
I'll check these out and see which will be best for them.
Leigh
Yur welcome...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
I've actually found the Home Depot books to be above average -- fewer wrong things per page than most, and reasonably practical advice.
But a lot depends on the "level" of the reader.
Also, if you really want a class, check with your local community colleges. They often have "practical" adult ed classes and may have something in this area.
I looked at the local Adult Ed classes, but didn't see anything. I'll check in their town (about 30 miles away) and see if there's anything there.
Leigh
In my area those kind of classes are more often given by the public school adult ed programs.
Also the county extension office.
What a wonderful thoughtful person you are......
It depends on the age of the house. If it is an older house (30+ years) my gold standard is the old yellow Reader's Digest book (you can find them in 2nd hand bookstores or online.) The newer books are all written for modern housing materials (sheetrock, pvc piping, etc.)
It has taken me 25 years to come up with my own Maintenance schedule. I took a 5-8 lined index card and listed all the basic stuff (furnance filter, gutter cleaning, refrigerator coils, vingegar washing machine to clean hoses, Holly tone to my shrubs, etc.) and then drew vertical lines to log dates. I have this taped inside my kitchen cabinet. It gives me a quick reference and dates I last did something. This is great when you have a rainy weekend and want to knock off one or two maintenance items...
Each house is different, seasons change (or not), homeowner skills vary and grow at their own rate.
Why not make a gift of spending a couple of hours going through and around their house to help them compile their own personal lists of maintenance needs. Get them one all around basic book. I still think the Reader's Digest is the most complete. Their companion Fix-it yourself manual is also a good companion book. I've given these as gifts many times and as one person told me, her husband an engineer, that those books stopped a lot of fights.
New homeowners have the most trouble with: selecting the best tool (not just what the salespeople tell them will work), learning how to use the tool (I had a co-worker who had me come to his workshop to learn how to use a small Mikita circular saw that I could handle, and a saber/jigsaw - practiced on scrap wood.) This really works best one-on-one.
The problem with some adult ed classes is they are using higher end tools (like woodworking - I don't have big industrial saws in my basement!)
I also wish that there were tradespeople winding down that could make great extra $$ by offering personal instruction to homeowners for using tools and teaching them to repair simple jobs - fix the problem and teach at the same time. True Handyman are harder and harder to find and the good ones are booked far in advance.
its easy, if broken, fix it.
No, if it's broken, and the wife's been complaining about it for 3 months, fix it.
>>(What I'd really love to find is a class on this taught by a knowledgeable tradesman, but that doesn't seem to be offered around here.)
Hmmmmm. (Ka ching!)
1. Where is "around here?"
2. Where would you look for a course like that? Local Adult ed ? Community college?
Anybody know a good template for a combined business plan and course curriculum? {G}
"It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)
Around here is central Arkansas. You interested? (G)
Seriously, though, I think it would be an excellent idea for someone who is at a later point in their career and looking to slow down a little or someone just starting out.
Good way to get your name out there--similar to martial arts instructors teaching self-defense classes.
Also, it would be a good indoor winter job for folks in cold climates, too (G).
Leigh
Oh, forgot to mention where--our local Adult Ed consortium offers evening and weekend classes at area high schools in everything from welding to conversational German to retirement planning. That would be the right niche, I think.
Leigh
That is amazingly thoughtful! Is this an old, old house (there is a reason I ask)?
I used to dabble in instructional design and have had to review a few maintenance books lately.
The Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair can be purchased used on Amazon and is pretty complete, with a seasonal maintenance guide in the back. The photos and instructions make maintenance and cleaning pretty straightforward, as well as small repairs and diagnosing problems so you know when to bring in the experts.
Old houses benefit additionally from Ogden Nash's Renovating Old Homes. I know your friends aren't renovating, but the basics on how old homes work can be really helpful for understanding plumbing, heating, etc. specific to older houses.
Freebies: Demesne has a "monthly" list of home maintenance list online...though it will not tell you how to do these things. And there are a few (not many though) maintenance related "how to's" at Easy2.
Those are some resources I like.
Thanks for the recommendations. I like the idea of maintenance checklists they can use (the accountant will really go for that!).
I wanted to do something for them since it's their first house, but they didn't really need any more "stuff. " Since one has lived only in apartments and the other in rentals, I thought something like this might be helpful.
I know I wish I'd had something like that when I bought MY house! I was clueless. (You mean the furnace has a FILTER? And it needs changing????)
Since then I've learned about plumbing (what I can do and when to call in the pro) and a myriad of other things I didn't know I needed to know. Fortunately, my DH (who didn't come with the house, LOL) is very knowledgable, and has taken over the majority of the home maintenance since we got married.
Their house isn't an old one--it was built in the early 80's, I think, but many of the systems are original to the house. New furnace and A/C, though, thank goodness for that.
Leigh