Referencing Friday (08-21-09 edition)

When Duct Tape Just Isn't Enough by Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics knows: there are two types of people in the world—those able to fix whatever goes bust, and those who beg the first group for help when something goes wrong. But it doesn’t have to be that way, because this easy-to-follow guide will give anyone the basics to tackle those frustrating (and sometimes nerve-wracking) quandaries that crop up around the house: plumbing problems, electrical snafus, appliance failures, computer and electronics breakdowns, pest infestations, and furniture in need of renewal. They range from the serious to the merely annoying, but every one is cause for concern. So, whether the issue is a fast repair for a running toilet or a leaking pipe, or a simple, inexpensive way to keep deer from pillaging the garden, it’s all in here.

My Thoughts
This little book is great for the single woman who is responsible for all those little things that can go wrong around the home. I like the first paragraph of this book:

There are two types of people in the world: those who know what to do when something gets busted and those who are always asking the first group for help. We offer this book as a survival manual to anyone who's in the second group-- after reading it, you may just end up in the first!

The book's chapters are: Tool Tips, Maintenance and Cleaning Clues, Structural Quandries, Electrical Snafus, Perplexing Plumbing, Appliance Failures, Refurbishing Furniture and Yard and Garden Dilemmas.

As the back cover indicates, this book will teach you how to handle clogged gutters, broken windows, frozen door locks, hairline cracks in walls, mysterious leaks, flickering fluorescent lights, and much, much more.




Each chapter has a highlighted "tab" to indicate what it covers. There is a box highlighting the issue, and then the "quick fix", along with illustrations.












Here's a tip I never would have thought of:

You're right in the middle of preparing that big Thanksgiving feast, when your kitchen sink chokes on all of the grease that you've been allowing to go down the drain.

The Quick Fix: Use a heating pad wrapped around the drain trap (or a hair dryer if you're willing to hold it there) until the metal becomes hot. This will melt the grease and allow you to flush it away with a running stream of hot water.

How clever is that?! I'm unlikely to have that problem, as I don't pour grease down my sink, but very clever idea! This book is just full of little tidbits like that!

Before you know it, I'm gonna be a queen of repairs and maintenance!

* Publisher: Hearst Books
* Pub. Date: November 2007
* ISBN-13: 9781588165657
* 216pp