Books for the Home Improvement Do-it-yourselfer

First order of business when it comes to do it your self home improvement, get a book. My reference for the past 20 years has been the Ortho Home Improvement Encyclopedia. There are others, however, Ortho has great illustrations. Home Depot has a comprehensive book, however I've not really used it, just perused it. Same for the Lowes. For those of us who want to get right down to putting it together, good illustrations are a must. Text alone will give you a headache and give you nothing to reference it to. Familiarize yourself with the primary steps of building. Maybe get a few magazines specific to the project you have in mind, kitchen, bath, decks etc. Because ... you need a plan.

You also need to study building methods. Just consider there will be a test on the materials, because there will be. Your building inspector will be the examiner!

Tools and Materials

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