No comments about Smart Guide: Stairs & Railings (Smart Guide).

2 comments about Exterior Home Improvement Costs: The Practical Pricing Guide for Homeowners & Contractors (Exterior Home Improvement Costs).

1. Very good book with actual price estimates from the people who know best, RS Means (we use their database at work (Facilities area) for estimating.



2. I saw this book in the store and decided to see if I could get it cheaper on Amazon. When I pulled up the page, the cover was the same as the one in the store. I didn't know it was an old eddition with outdated figures until it arrived in the mail. I went back to the page I bought it on and then noticed the disclaimer for the pictures being from the newer eddition. The newer book has different projects and more current prices.

1 comments about Popular Mechanics 500 Simple Home Repair Solutions (Popular Mechanics).

1. I bought this book for my husband to help him do some home repairs around our house built in 1860. The book is filled with great tips, step by step instructions and pictures of the projects along the way.

No comments about 136 Best Ways to Save on Your Home Energy.

1 comments about Garage Conversions: Planning, Managing and Completing Your Conversion.

1. I ordered this for my son-in-law because he plans on converting his garage. I thought it would include a lot of pictures showing different styles of walling off the garage door to convert it into living space. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The book is for someone who knows what he/she wants and needs to know the details of doing a conversion. I should have looked at the description of the book before I ordered it.

No comments about How Old Is This House?: A Skeleton Key to Dating and Identifying Three Centuries of American Houses.

4 comments about $mart Power: An Urban Guide to Renewable Energy and Efficiency.

1. In my 30 years' professional experience in remote wind and solar power, I've seen good books, bad books, and obsolete books so I appreciate this one! It's up-to-date for 2005, and will remain useful for years to come. The author gets his priorities straight, putting high emphasis on conservation and efficiency, which is the key to making renewable energy economical. This book will be useful for both homeowners and professionals who need a practical introduction and hands-on guidance.



2. This book is for the novice. Do not buy if you have purchased - Renewable Energy Handbook for Homeowners: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Making (and Selling) Your Own Power from the Sun, Wind and Water... they are almost identical.



3. This is a great introduction to energy efficiency and urban renewable energy sources. The author provides down to earth descriptions of a smörgåsbord of generation and conservation methods in a form that is easy to understand and apply, from the simple wood stove to (at least for me) complex topic of wind turbines and solar electricity generation.
   
   After reading this book most people are going to be able to take some measures to save power (from better insulation to selecting more efficient electrical devices). I was converted to the concept of energy efficiency before reading this book (at least to the point of buying a hybrid and ensuring my house is well insulated) - this book has provided me with a few more ideas to investigate and implement.
   
   Enough details are provided to understand the basics of power generation and the components that would be required. There is an easy to understand description of dc/ac conversion and battery management. However, building and implementing a power generation system is clearly very involved.
   
   While this book provides a start in this area; more practical and technical skills than any one book could provide would be required to do this effectively and safely.
   
   Well worth the cover price.
   
   If you do go ahead with a project, make sure to research any tax savings - these can provide the added incentive to implement a project or make a better purchase (e.g. solar electricity, hybrid - for now - 2006).



4. Smart Power- A fairly smart buy (but not the best)
   William H. Kemp would probably have sold more copies of this very well done volume if he had called it Smart Power: A Primer on Energy Independence. Drilling ANWR and using the resulting oil as our sole source (a bad choice on a good day) would result in about a 500 day supply for the U.S., so Kemp's message is urgently important. Nonetheless, he has done an excellent job of compiling information regarding energy efficiency, covering everything from renewable energy for space heating and cooling, biofuels and energy efficient transportation, photovoltaics and wind power, to the use of fossil fueled backup power and integrating the whole.
   Particularly useful are his appendices, especially his resource guide (most useful to tracking down where one gets the bits and pieces to achieve energy independence). This is a solid, all-in-one-place resource for achieving greater energy independence and examining (an essential component of economic stability and national security, elements the author doesn't touch on There are only two complaint that keeps this from being rated as a 5 star resource. There are occasional (and thankfully rare) outrageous statements like oil prices in the U.S. are virtually untaxed, when in reality federal and state governments derive many billions of dollars of tax revenue from gasoline, diesel and oil sales annually, and that a quart of bottled H2O cost more than a quart of oil (the example he provided was totally off, with the synthetic oil cited costing about four times as much per quart as the drinking water mentioned).
   The other reason this volume doesn't deserve a 5 star rating is that Kemp's later volume The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-Grid and Sustainable Living beats this book both for its more in-depth examination of the parts, as well as some of the updates found in the more recent tome. Apart from that, this book only has 416 pages, versus 567 pages in The Renewable Energy Handbook. This reader's recommendation? Cut to the chase and get the newer book--they even have the same list price!

5 comments about Castles in the Air: The Restoration Adventures of Two Young Optimists and a Crumbling Old Mansion.

1. for any fan of history or even just histoprical fiction, this is a fantasy come true .... the purchase of a Tudor castle in Wales to live in ... and the realities of accomplishing such a feat and renovation in today's age. Not only are the author and her husband brave hardy souls, but he is an artist and she is gifted with words - this is truly a great book to read!



2. I purchased this book because I had visited Gwydir castle and thought I might enjoy learning more about it's restoration. I was amazed to find a great book about pursuing your dreams.



3. I loved every minute of this book as was sorry to reach the end. I hope the author will consider a sequel of subsequent adventures? As an antique collector I'm in awe of this couple's ambition and fortitude in rescuing and restoring the ultimate antique, a wonderful old estate, and sharing this home and tale with the world. Judy Corbett (Welford) tells the colorful story with humour and grace; trials and tribulations, local characters, royalty, unbelievable discoveries, romance, and plain old fashioned luck (or is it fate?). Since reading the book, I have visited north Wales and Gwydir Castle, and both are beautiful beyond words. The resoration of the house and grounds is spot on, perfectly on tune with the age and history. Gwydir Castle and the Welfords are a match made in heaven. If you are thinking of purchasing this book, stop reading the reviews and buy it now! It's definitely part of my "keep" collection.



4. In northern Wales, 11 miles south of Conwy and 4 miles north of Betws-y-coed, across the bridge from the village of Llanrwst, on the floodplain between the River Conwy and the B5106 road, lies Gwydir Castle, the ancestral home of the Wynn family. Largely of 16th century construction, it's actually what remains of a more extensive Tudor courtyard manor house, and is the finest example of such in Wales.
   
   Peter Welford and Judy Corbett, an architectural historian and a bookbinder respectively, pooled their meager life savings and a substantial bank loan to buy the place in the early 1990s. CASTLES IN THE AIR by Corbett is the utterly charming story of the pair's labors to restore Gwydir from its abysmally ruinous condition at purchase to something resembling its former glory.
   
   The book offers a little something for everyone. There are the restoration adventures, of course, and also romance; Peter and Judy subsequently marry in an ancient chapel on a nearby hilltop. There's a fairly convincing supernatural ingredient that involves Peter being the unfortunate focus of animosity coming from the ghost of Lady Margaret Cave, a 17th century mistress of the manor, which resulted in his being struck on the head with a spade. There's hidden treasure, in this case the original carved wooden paneling stripped in totality from the dining room and auctioned off as a single lot in 1921 to (as it turned out) the American millionaire William Randolph Hearst, and later bequeathed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which still had it stored in the original packing crates in a warehouse on the rough side of town. Throughout the narrative runs Judy's dry English wit, such as when she describes the visit by an impeccably dressed representative ("Please, just call me Bill") of The Met, who was so impressed by his first view of the castle that:
   
   "... he didn't look where he was going and stepped into the biggest pile of peacock guano you have ever seen. Peter silently directed him to a patch of rough grass where he endeavoured to remove the vile-smelling substance from the stitching of his fine Italian shoes."
   
   Above all, CASTLES IN THE AIR is the story of the pair's love affair with and dedication to something old, historic, and worth saving in the face of seemingly impossible odds. And it would seem they've succeeded beyond their wildest dreams; the recovery and reinstallation of the Dining Room paneling brought a visit by the Prince of Wales himself, though his shoes did stick to the floor varnished only hours before his arrival.
   
   Judy describes herself and Peter as socially reticent almost to the point of misanthropy. Therefore, the fact that they accept paying B&B guests as well as hire out the ground floor halls out for weddings - see the official Gwydir Castle website - is indication of the financial strain imposed by the ongoing refurbishment of the manor house that continues to this day and into the foreseeable future. The Welford's affection for the ancient pile is evident in Judy's words:
   
   "... to walk in the moon-washed shadows of the yew trees and to see the ancient profile of the house silhouetted against a cloudless sky was to feel oneself suspended out of time, as though in that moment we were living in parenthesis. Sometimes, if the night was cold enough, the trails of yesterday's peacock tails would be cast in frost across the patches of lawn we had managed to scythe the day before ... We would walk down to the bottom of the garden and sit on the massive slate bench ... with the sounds of the night rustling and chirruping around us."
   
   How incredibly rewarding the lives of these two must be!



5. The book ended too soon!!!! I wanna know if they got the second room back...I want to know how the finished product turned out...I want more pictures!!!!! A LOT more pictures!!!!!
   
   What a delightful read. ^__^

5 comments about Decorating Kids' Rooms: Nurseries to Teen Retreats (Better Homes & Gardens).

1. There are not many childrens decorating books out there that it why I am so happy to have found this book. Great childrens decorating book full of bright colorful rooms and soft subtle rooms. I was very inspired by this book when decorating both my daughters bedrooms. I used a lot of the books creative ideas. Five Stars!!!!



2. I had no idea how I wanted to decorate the nursery for my first child, so I quickly turned to several books. This book contains examples of many different decors, with helpful discussions of themes, practicality, and choosing items that will last beyond the nursery stage. The book is an excellent value as it provides a lot of ideas, including instructions for creating some of the ideas shown. It has inspired me to create some of the looks in my own home.



3. The pictures were colorful and the ideas were very creative. The author even tells how to sponge paint, stencil, paint murals, and other challenges. I only wish there had been more info on where to buy what you see in the book and exactly what colors of what brands of paints to use. A wonderful book if you want to stay away from wallpaper!



4. We really enjoyed working with this decorating book. Made the decorating easier. My children picked their own room from the book. Recommend highly!
   Linda B.
   http://www.superhomecenter.com



5. I really liked this book. Wished it was longer. Wished they included more buying or ordering info.

3 comments about F.R. Walker's Remodeling Reference Book: A Guide for Accurate Remodeling Cost Estimates for Construction Professionals and Homeowners.

1. It is easy to follow and full of useful information. Well written and organized, too.



2. This bookl is very helpful to anyone remodeling and reroofing. The absolute cost data rea dated and thus need to be revised in practice but his ratios and productivity figures are excellent.



3. Purchased as a gift - although I was a little disappointed by the size of the book! Very costly for the amount of information within its contents.