Best Home Repair Books for New Homeowners
At Hire Possibilities Home, we want to empower homeowners (or renters!) to be able to fix basic issues around their home so they don't always need to call someone and pay for help. We love to help in person, but there are also many great guidebooks homeowners can purchase and keep around the house for emergencies or when they feel like learning a new skill. I decided I needed one of these books around my home, so I checked out a few of the most popular ones from our local Seattle public library, read them and wrote up a quick review for our customers. None of the links in this article are affiliate links - we are not profiting off of providing this resource to our community!
Beginner's guide to DIY and Home Repair by Jo Behari & Alison Winfield-Chislett
This is for you if: If you are brand new to taking care of your home and want an easy to reference guide.
What I appreciated most:
Helpful quick tips- "DIY Hacks" that were very helpful and taught me a thing or two!
Good foundational knowledge and tasks covered.
Both basic and slightly advanced tasks simplified so the layperson can attempt projects for the first time.
Silly minor gripe - On page 150 I noticed a basset hound sticking its head out of a dog door! :) As someone who has owned several basset hounds, I can't in good conscience recommend installing a dog door for this breed unless there's no possible way for them to escape (they will sometimes even dig to get beyond a fence).
Safe and Sound: Renter-friendly guide to home repair by Mercury Stardust:
This is for you if: Home Repairs or your landlord are daunting and you want to feel like someone is holding your hand and guiding you through the process.
What I appreciated most:
Overall there's a social emotional and inclusive touch you probably won't find in any other book.
Landlords love renters with handy skills who care for their spaces (carefully and with approval); great tips for working with landlords!
Love the root cause approach when working with issues that arise before determining next steps - most of these books are all about how to solve the problem and not necessarily diagnosing it to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Great diagrams; though would have appreciated more photos.
Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair:
This is for you if: You are a visual learner and want to see tasks broken up step by step in great detail. (I think this is what I'll go with for my home manual)
What I appreciated most:
Photos of every step of the process to refer to.
Extremely comprehensive list of tasks that get quite advanced.
Someone learning to be a handy person or in trade school might appreciate this one!
Black & Decker Essential Home Skills Handbook:
This is for you if: You already have some foundational skills and want to level up on the essentials.
What I appreciated most:
This one jumps right in and doesn't waste time!
Very similar to the other Black & Decker guide, but more condensed both in overall size and amount of photos per task.
Bonus- love the yearly maintenance calendar in the back.
While it's great to have handy skills, there's also no shame in calling a professional to help with home repairs! We can’t wait to help you with your Seattle home repairs. If you're interested in learning more about how to take care of your home, be sure to ask our technicians.