Home Repair Basics: The Visual Guide for New Homeowners

A visual guide for the first year of owning (or renting) a house in the United States. Fifty-two one-page repair sheets, each one drawn: the five shutoffs everybody should be able to find in the dark, the starter tool kit and what each tool is actually for, walls and paint, the plumbing you can handle, a careful chapter on electricity, heating and cooling, doors, windows and appliances, the outside of the house, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and a seasonal checklist. Every page that touches electricity, gas or structure carries a plain stop line: the exact condition under which you put the tool down and call a licensed pro. It is not a code manual, not a certification and not a substitute for an electrician, a plumber or an HVAC contractor. It closes with one page on the first five minutes of a burst pipe, no power, no heat, water in the basement and a smell of gas.