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 Location:  Home » Books » Bob Vila » If It's Broke, Fix It!November 22, 2008  
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If It's Broke, Fix It!
If It's Broke, Fix It!
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Buy New: $49.34
Buy New/Used from $5.94

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(based on 4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 254654
Category: Book

Authors: Dan Ramsey, Judy Ramsey
Publisher: Alpha
Studio: Alpha
Manufacturer: Alpha
Label: Alpha
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.2

ISBN: 1592571034
Dewey Decimal Number: 643.60288
EAN: 9781592571031
ASIN: 1592571034

Publication Date: January 6, 2004
Release Date: January 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Similar Items:

  • Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual: Completely Revised and Updated
  • New Fix-It-Yourself Manual: How to Repair, Clean, and Maintain Anything and Everything In and Around Your Home
  • The Home Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Household Maintenance (Owners Manual)
  • The Sewing Machine Guide: Tips on Choosing, Buying, and Refurbishing

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
A complete single-volume reference on how to fix just about everything in and around the house. With more than 400 pages and 300 illustrations, this comprehensive book covers the most common quick fixes to just about everything imaginable-and does so with easy-to-follow instructions. From cell phones to zippers to plumbing to chainsaws and everything in between, if there's a quick-fix to be made, it's covered in this book. Also includes expert advice on:

? What's worth fixing and what's not
? Where to find the best materials and what tools to use
? Fixing everyday consumer products
? Fixing plumbing, carpeting, and tile floors
? Fix-its for living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, garages, laundry rooms, and outdoor items
? The best books and magazines for cross reference
? Retailers, experts, warranties, charities, service centers, and repair shops



Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Nice Book   March 7, 2006
  0 out of 1 found this review helpful

The pictures are in color and very easy to understand. This is a good book to have for emergencies.


3 out of 5 stars A broad overview   September 5, 2004
  6 out of 7 found this review helpful

As an avid do-it-herselfer, I was intrigued by the title of this book. In an age of sealed assemblies, planned obsolescence, and cheaply built consumer goods, repairing things rather than replacing them has indeed become rarer (and often impossible or prohibitively expensive). The philosophy of this book, then, is admirable: to provide people the help they need to try their own repairs.

Unfortunately, this book offers too few details on too many topics. It offers two to three pages of general remarks on each of hundreds of items. Masonry, motors, dolls, and drywall require drastically different repair techniques, while bicycles and sewing machines typically fill entire books for a reason. In three pages, I might learn to oil a chain or clean out a tangled bobbin case, but then, I would have tried that first, anyway. While this book might help to troubleshoot certain basic problems, I think that a beginner might benefit from more step-by-step detail, and an experienced fixer-of-things would find that most of the information could be easily discerned with careful examination and a bit of common sense.

If this book inspires folks to try fixing things, great! It might make a good general reference to get started. However, I'd prefer a book that focused a little more closely on a topic I needed.



5 out of 5 stars Bob Vila told me   January 7, 2004
  10 out of 10 found this review helpful

If you want to see what's inside, BobVila.com has about 50 of the Fix-It Guides from this book including some of the photos and repairs. I got there through FixItClub.com.


5 out of 5 stars Loads of tips and photos   January 7, 2004
  11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Many of the fix-it-yourself books seem to miss the mark with lengthy detail for a simple job or few hands-on photos. The Ramsey's latest book is right on target. It includes a brief description of how specific household things are supposed to work, tell you what typically goes wrong, then offers numbered and illustrated instructions for fixing more than 160 household things. It also includes tips on how to fix everything else around the house using basic tools, materials, and some common sense. Even if you're going to go out and buy a new one anyway it's a fun read!

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