This is a practical guide to repairing and maintaining the outside structure of your home. You can advice on tackling a variety of jobs outside your home, shown in over 215 photographs and diagrams. It helps you how to maintain and repair leaking or blocked guttering, drains and roofs. It outlines all the necessary tools and materials you will need, including nails and screws, adhesives, mortar and concrete. It describes how to check that your fences and walls, whether wood or brick, are kept in good condition. It provides information on access equipment, and ladder and electrical safety measures. It shows the efficient way to make repairs to hard surfaces such as concrete paths, drives and patios. Because your home is an investment, it is worth preventing deterioration by ensuring that is protected and maintained against adverse weather conditions. With the help of this handbook, you will learn basic skills, using the right materials and tools, to carry out repair jobs on the outside of your house. All the techniques are shown in clear step-by-step photographs.

Have you recently hired a contractor to do some home improvements, but after careful inspection, you noticed the work was subpar? You are not alone. According to the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the Consumer Federation of America, home improvement contracting was the top complaint category reported by state and local consumer protection agencies during the last decade.
Randal Winter has met some very distraught homeowners over the years. Some of these people have been without kitchens for over two years and some without bathrooms for up to fourteen months. Others are stuck with leaking roofs after spending tens of thousands of dollars for what they thought was going to be a new roof.

This is a pool owners guide to maintaining a pool. Tips, tricks, and techniques you won't find in other guides.

Old Time Gardening and Fishing teaches new people the old way of how to raise vegetables and flowers and fishing. Funny stories and practical know-how knowledge throughout the book will keep the reader on their toes. Surviving the world has never been easier after reading the stories from F.L. Henley.

Are you stressed out from the paper piles on your desk? Do those plastic bowls and lids fall out every time you open a kitchen cupboard? Have you misplaced your car keys again? Get Your Ducks in a Row offers 480 simple solutions for organizing every room in your house from the kitchen to the home office, from the back yard to the garage. Rosalie Nourse also provides tips on time-management, travel, managing daily tasks and surviving Christmas. She shares effective ideas that she refined and implemented in her own home while juggling a busy career and an active family. These real-life tips are fundamental to keeping her household running smoothly. Each idea presented in Get Your Ducks in a Row is numbered for quick reference. The simplified style of each page lets you quickly grasp ideas that you can implement immediately. This everyday guide will help you reduce clutter, get a grip on paper piles and stay organized. With its straightforward solutions to the disarray and clutter around us, this practical book is the ultimate guide to a well-organized home life.

In response to the latest amalgamations of British and European Electrical Wiring Regulations: An Illustrated Explanation of Automatic Disconnection of Supply uses simplified illustrations, to explain how the Automatic Disconnection of Power Supplies to Electrical and Fire Alarm Circuits (or parts there of), should be used to protect the cabling of various circuit configurations from short circuit or overload, in order to create safe and efficient Electrical and Fire Alarm Systems.

IT WORKS Achieving Real Estate Prosperity in a Troubled Economy is more than a book. The IT WORKS Guide includes effective contracts, step-by-step instructions and ready-to-use tools. The IT WORKS Guide will teach you: How to locate and buy investment properties for as little as $4,000. How to completely renovate your property for under $5,000 and use your buyer's money to do it How to generate monthly income from investment properties without the cost or stress of property taxes or maintenance fees. How to triple your investment in as little as 36 months.

A guide to save you money by eliminating the simple stuff before the service tech is called. "My toilet was running all night. I knew it was wasting water. I couldn't afford a plumber because I'm a single mom. After following the simple instructions in the book, I fixed it myself. I saved enough on my water bill to pay for the book and the part. I didn't have to pay a plumber. That was cool." Janice "My refrigerator quit cooling. We bought a new one and put the old one in the garage until we could sell it. After I read the book, I followed the directions on how to clean the coils. In ten minutes it was back running like a top. I just wish we had the book before I spent all that money. Do you know someone who needs a good frig?" Steve Easy fixes and information to help you recognize maintenance issues before they turn into problems.

Yearning for change? A more fulfilling and healthier lifestyle? New and exciting opportunities? This informative and inspiring book shows how your own home may have the answers you're looking for. In an easy and approachable style, Feng Shui Expert Melissa Cook draws from personal observations and real-life stories to demystify the ancient practice of feng shui, while making its time-honored principles relevant to modern-day living. Filled with practical, common-sense tips, and abundantly illustrated with color photos, Feng Shui Fabulous is the perfect guide for everyone who wants to live or work in a space that reflects their deepest goals and desires. Melissa brings new understanding to the age-old proverb, "Home is where the heart is."

Today's housing market offers exceptional opportunities and incentives to achieve the American dream. "Your Key to a Successful Home Financing" presents unique resources that will help you understand and simplify the loan process, identify available mortgage programs to meet your goals, and enjoy the advantages of being a homeowner. This book will also prepare you with the essentials for a loan approval and tips on how to improve your credit. I will describe fundamental benefits of using government loans, such as buying with no money down or getting additional funds to repair your home, and options to receive down payment assistance from your city, county or state. I'll show you how to save money by obtaining a seller credit towards closing costs, reduce your interest rate and its cost, and obtain federal and state tax credits. In addition, you will learn ways to buy foreclosures with low down payment. As a mortgage consultant, I strongly believe in full disclosure to my clients; I'll describe important key documents that need to be reviewed before looking for a house and at the closing of your transaction. I was motivated to write this book because I frequently witness loan officers failing to provide existing programs and resources to homebuyers. Ultimately, this lack of expertise or ability can be detrimental at the moment of purchasing your home. Throughout "Your Key to a Successful Home Financing" outstanding online support for homebuyers and homeowners will be listed, and you will discover secrets banks may not necessarily want you to know. Its chapters were designed for readers that don't have time to study vague and lengthy narratives about financing. It provides direct, current and crucial advice to find the most appropriate home loan program to fit your needs, because now it's a great time to take action

After teaching sewing for years Stephnie noticed all her beginning sewing students labored with the same tendencies. She found these tendencies were discouraging the desire to continue sewing. What a sad affair to crush a persons creativity: not to mention denying the pure enjoyment garnered from taking sewing classes. Therefore, she felt compelled to list the tendencies: about 30. Actually this was just the beginning of the list. After identifying the Tendency, Stephnie wrote out a description of what was happening with each tendency calling it: The Problem. The evolution continued with answers and solutions, calling them: To Clarify. Wow Today the number is more like 90 something. Example: many times her students had trouble taking the fabric (with the finished seam) out from under the foot. Stephnie would causally place her hand in front of the sewing machine needle and ask, "Where is your take-up lever?" When the student realized the take-up lever was hiding, Stephnie's next remark was: "Turn the hand wheel like a Waterfall until the take-up lever is at its highest point. Now you can retrieve your fabric." Stephnie provided photos and drawings on the page facing each tendency. This will help you, the reader, understand the text better. The book is mostly about operating and maintaining the sewing and serging machine. However: reading patterns, a harrowing encounter; sewing over pins, not good, and wash your stash, what ever that means. Plus, a virtual plethora of sewing mysteries are unveiled as the author leads you through her tried and true techniques of sewing, cutting and general handling of fabrics, sewing machines, hand sewing (yes you need to do hand sewing), posture is embraced (it is important), etcetera. Stephnie is trained in tailoring, drapery making, costume creating, stuffed toy making, quilting, and pattern alteration through Nancy Zieman's Fitting Finesse. So much fabric: so little time. Study the book, take it with you to a sewing class and have fun

101 Ways To Suck As An HVAC Technician is a look back at years of funny, scary, and stupid stories from the field. From problems planning to finishing, service techs are rarely boring. See how many of these stories you have been involved in, and how you can avoid.

"You can't do that" "You can't do that any more." That was the mantra of the average realtor when this family bought and sold the properties written about in this book. A time like today. This is a book of succinct examples of buying investment residential real estate, by one family, that put them in the financially independent category few achieve, but many talk about. Examples of buying houses, of buying duplexes and apartment buildings. Buying with nothing down. Buying with the banks money. Buying in the down market. Buying a property and getting paid by the seller, to buy it. Buying in a real estate market of declining prices, and of escalating interest rates. Interest rates of 14%, 15% and even as high as 16% on home loans. We are not yet seeing that, and hope we never will again.A market very similar to the market of today. These were also through the years when over building and conversion of the overbuilding made a tight rental market for apartments. Many for rent ads, offered free; toaster ovens, microwaves or even one or more months of free rent. Real estate goes up and it goes down. It is cyclical. Businesses are cyclical. The stock market is cyclical. The bond market is cyclical. Life is a cyclical thing. For people who want to pursue their financial dream of being financially free, this book is the map book through investing in real estate and getting the financial rewards. Reward yourself with this book.

Finally, some practical information on what happens after the property has been acquired. Some of the topics covered: [ Cash Flows in Both Directions [ Real Truth Behind No Money Down Deals [ Realities of Property Management Companies [ Value Added Strategies [ Maintenance & Repair - A Constant Challenge [ Vacancies Can Be Expensive [ Exit Strategies - What To Do If Its Not Working [ Landlord Tenant Relationships Special Bonus: Wisdom is shared thru out from Active Successful Investors on Critical Aspects of Owning Investment Real Estate

This book addresses the mysteries surrounding our most common element, water. It is an easy guide to becoming a "water detective," introducing practical everyday tips and water saving tools to help you change your water footprint. The contents will open your awareness to the global water crisis and teach you efficient ways to catch and save water. The format is personal, accessible and adds a light touch using cartoons and colorful pictures. The scope of the book covers water conservation in the home to rain gardens and rain catchments in the landscape. Water: Catch It If You Can is divided into four categories with easy to follow instructions and resources: 1. Why study water? 2. Water Usage and Conservation 3. Water Catchment 4. Slowing and Diverting the Storm Water Runoff. The accompanying pictures and cartoons bring these concepts to life. Here is a simple example of what you will find in this easy to follow guide book: When taking a shower catch the cold water in a bucket while you await the hot water. Use the water that you catch to water your indoor plants. You will be surprised how far a bucket will go There are hundreds of useful tips in Water: Catch It If You Can. Susan is passionate about her subject and has written a book that people of all ages throughout the world will be able to understand and implement on a daily basis. This book undoubtedly will become a useful handbook in your household.

This unprecedented new publication is a great book for anyone who wants to learn about leaking basements and other foundation waterproofing problems and how to successfully solve them. The book is written in straight forward, down-to-earth language. It is well-organized, plus the many useful, full-page illustrations make understanding easy-even for the novice homeowner. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or seasoned professional, this unique handbook is an indispensable tool in successfully achieving permanent solutions to water seepage and structural damage problems, from minor dampness to full-blown basement flooding. The highly informative do-it-yourself section is an education at your fingertips. You can save money by doing the repairs yourself or, if professional services are required, the included pricing information will protect you from paying too much. Here are clear answers to all your questions: Why do basements leak? Can you do the repairs yourself? How do you know when to call a professional? How to choose a contractor? How much should it cost? How you can participate in the repair process and save money? Simple, easy to understand, step-by-step explanations and detailed illustrations. All the information you'll ever need to make your basement a fresh, dry, enjoyable part of your home.

An Illustrated Explanation of Earthed Equipotential Bonding is, as the title suggests, an explanation of why and to some extent how Electrical Safety Earthing should be provided, using simplified illustrations in an attempt to help explain a subject that can appear at first glance to be very complicated.

We will look at the possibilities of what originally caused the defective drywall, try to determine how much culpability China had in creating the problem, the difficulties of bringing suit in international courts against China, and what China does to protect itself from other countries making inroads into their country. We will take you step-by-step through an inspection process. What are your options if your house is deemed infected for remediation? We will tell you of the only sure way to make sure your home is remediated to avoid repeated remediation. Even if the building is not infected, a house that has been certified healthy by a qualified drywall inspector can protect your real estate value and give you solid piece of mind. Some locales are starting to require an inspection and disclosure before being able to sell the properties.

This collection of essays, poems and simple yet powerful exercises is designed to help you address the excess baggage in your home, head, heart and schedule. It invites you to take a closer look at clutter, prepare for change, gather support, get out of your own way, learn to let go, and find new ways to navigate time. Carolyn's fresh perspectives, gentle encouragement, and humor help to decrease the shame attached to clutter. She also provides practical information and useful tools to help you to find your own creative solutions to your clutter dilemmas.