Home Improvement Guide Blog

Are you confused by all the advice you hear and see daily on how to “go green”? Do you want to incorporate earth-friendly practices into your life, but you don’t know where to start? Don’t stress! Green guru Sophie Uliano has sorted through all the eco-info out there and put everything you need to know about living a green lifestyle right at your fingertips. In Gorgeously Green, Sophie offers a simple eight-step program that is an easy and fun way to begin living an earth-friendly life. Each chapter covers topics from beauty to fitness, shopping to your kitchen — even your transportation. Whether it’s finding the right lipstick, making dinner, buying gifts, or picking out a hot new outfit, finally, there is a book that tackles your daily eco-challenges with a take-charge plan. Just consider Sophie your go-to girl with all the eco-solutions. Find out how to:

• Green your entire beauty regime
• Detoxify your home
• Indulge in guilt-free shopping
• Adopt a home fitness routine
• Prepare eco-licious treats
• Give your kitchen a green makeover
• Become more aware of your impact on the earth

The book’s dozens and dozens of eco-friendly tips, products, and practices combine to form a treasure trove of practical advice for every possible way to become stylishly green. Your questions about dressing, makeup, eating, shopping, cleaning, travel, and more are all answered right here.

Adopting a green lifestyle is among the most positive, forward-thinking, and personally fulfilling choices that anyone can make — and Gorgeously Green shows that it doesn’t have to be tedious, time-consuming, or glamourless!

Author: Sophie Uliano
Kindle Edition:  336 pages Kindle Book
Company: HarperCollins e-books  (2008-04-08) (2008-04-08)
List Price: $13.95
Amazon Price: $9.99

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More than 1 million viewers in Canada watch Mike Holmes’ television show, Holmes on Homes, every week. Thousands more see him at his personal appearances and visit his website, looking for advice on renos-gone-wrong. Mike Holmes is Canada’s most trusted contractor, a crusader with a mission to expose botched renovations - and now the author of a bestselling book. Mike has taken his professional expertise and tell-it-like-it-is style and turned it into the guide no homeowner should be without. Make It Right walks readers through a renovation from start to finish, from the process of finding a reliable contractor to understanding the legalities of renovation. Mike explains the inner workings of a house, covers the most popular reno projects and describes the most common pitfalls. Packed with informative sidebars, checklists, diagrams and photographs, all showing what to expect from contractors and tradespeople, and how to keep every reno running on time and on budget, Make It Right is the book you need to read before you plan a renovation. Be smart. Take charge. Get it right the first time. About the AuthorMike Holmes is the star of the incredibly popular Holmes on Homes program, where, in every episode, he and his trusty renovation crew fix renovation disasters. Mike has more than two decades of construction experience and was schooled by his father, a master plumber, in all aspects of construction and renovation. With a passion for doing things the right way the first time and a deep-seated respect for construction professionals, Mike has worked on hundreds of home and commercial renovation projects, earning a reputation for outstanding craftsmanship and a willingness to stand behind his work.

Author: Mike Holmes
Paperback: 
Company:   (2007)
List Price: 
Amazon Price: $27.95

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Finding the perfect house is never easy. Rebuilding one from a crumbling pile—to say nothing of making it into a home—is even harder.

With their infant son in tow, David Giffels and his wife comb the environs of Akron, Ohio, in search of just the right house for their burgeoning family. Running through David’s head the whole time are the lyrics of a Replacements song, “. . . Look me in the eye, then tell me that I’m satisfied,” and it gives all the more purpose to their quest. But nothing seems right . . . until they spot a beautiful, decaying Gilded Age mansion. A former rubber industry executive’s domain, the once grand residence lacks functional plumbing and electricity, leaks rain like a cartoon shack, and is infested with all manner of wildlife. But for a young man at a coming-of-age crossroads—”suspended between a perpetual youth and an inevitable adulthood”—the challenge is exactly the allure.

All the Way Home follows Giffels’s funny, poignant, and confounding journey as he and his wife and a colorful collection of helpers turn a money pit into a house that will complete their family. Nothing could prepare them for a home restoration epic that includes evicting squatters (both four- and two-legged), battling an invading wisteria vine, hunting a ghost, and discovering thousands of dollars in hidden Depression-era cash. But the story’s heart lies deeper, in an unexpected series of personal hardships that call into question what “home” really means, and what it means to grow up.

Written with the humor and insight of Bill Bryson and John Grogan, All the Way Home is the engaging tale of a young father’s struggle to restore a house and find his way . . . without losing himself.

Author: David Giffels
Hardcover:  320 pages
Company: William Morrow  (2008-06-01) (2008-05-27)
ISBN: 0061362867
List Price: $25.95
Amazon Price: $9.75
Used Price: $10.50

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Originally published in 1909, “Handy Farm Devices” is more than an engaging trip down memory lane. For any small farmer or homesteader, the techniques and devices described in detail are just as useful, durable, and fully functional today as they were 75 years ago. You will learn to build a portable chicken coop, a stone boat (for moving stone), a lightweight orchard ladder, gates that don’t sag, and a handy wood splitter, as well as rudimentary farm structures, well houses, bee hives, a baby’s cradle, a cheese press and much more. The charming, turn-of-the-century language and useful and inspirational quotes from Shakespeare, the Bible, Bacon, Longfellow and many others make this book a delight to read. –Mark A. Hetts

Author: Rolfe Cobleigh
Paperback:  290 pages
Company: The Lyons Press  (1996-02-01)
ISBN: 1558214321
List Price: $12.95
Amazon Price: $7.51
Used Price: $7.67

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The wind power industry has been transformed in the 1990s by dramatic breakthroughs in efficiency, economy, and adaptability. Wind Energy Basics is the most up-to-date source available of information about small wind systems. The book includes the unique “standard small wind turbine rating” developed by the author, which is designed to help readers wade through conflicting performance claims by manufacturers in the U.S. and overseas. Also included is detailed information on planning, siting, and installing a wind system, and on integrating wind power with solar for more cost-effective and reliable off-the-grid applications.

In addition, Gipe provides a discussion of “net metering” and intertie possibilities, explaining how homeowners in many states can now sell their excess electricity back to the utility company.

Wind Energy Basics is an excellent introduction to wind power for educational programs concerned with state-of-the-art renewable energy options, and will be indispensable for those considering today’s generation of quiet, efficient, and reliable “micro” wind turbines.

Wind Energy Basics describes a new class of small wind turbines, dubbed micro turbines, which are so small that they can be purchased for less than $1000 and carried in your hands.

The debut of micro wind turbines brings the technology within reach of almost everyone. These inexpensive machines, when coupled with readily available photovoltaic panels (solar cells), have revolutionized living in remote homes off-the-utility grid. And the increasing popularity of micro wind turbines has opened up new applications previously considered off-limits to wind energy, such as charging electric fences and powering remote telephone call boxes, once the sole domain of solar cells.

Micro wind turbines have been around for decades for use on sailboats, but they have gained increasing prominence in the 1990s as their broader potential for off-the-grid applications on land has become more widely known. While micro wind turbines have yet to reach the status of widely available consumer commodities such as personal computers, the day may not be far off. The use of wind power is “exploding,” say Karen and Richard Perez in their foreword. “There are currently over 150,000 small-scale RE (renewable energy) systems in America and they are growing by 30% yearly. The small-scale use of wind power is growing at twice that amount–over 60% per year,” according to the Perezes, the editors of Home Power magazine.

Southwest Windpower awakened latent consumer interest in micro wind turbines with the introduction of its sleek Air 303. Since launching the 300-watt turbine in 1995, Southwest Windpower has shipped 18,000 of the popular and inexpensive machines.

“What Americans, and folks all over the world, are finding out,” the Perezes say, “is that wind power is an excellent and cost-effective alternative” to extending electric utility lines, and fossil-fueled backup generators.

Wind Energy Basics explains how it is possible—in some states—for homeowners to run their kilowatt-hour meter backwards with a small wind turbine.

This book confronts the common but controversial practice of “power rating” that may mislead consumers about the potential of some small wind turbines. Known for his frank style, Gipe quickly cuts through technological jargon and the hype surrounding power ratings.

“Nothing tells you more about a wind turbine’s potential than rotor diameter—nothing. The wind turbine with the bigger rotor will almost invariably generate more electricity than a turbine with a smaller rotor, regardless of their generator ratings,” he says.

Gipe also comes down hard on roof-top mounting. “Don’t bother,” he warns. “It’s not worth the trouble.” He also minces few words on mounting wind turbines in trees. “Sometimes wind energy isn’t the right choice,” Gipe says. “If you live in a forest of tall trees and you can’t afford a tower tall enough to clear the trees, then wind energy isn’t for you.”

Worldwide, wind energy is booming. Not since the heyday of the American farm windmill has wind energy grown at such a dramatic pace. By the new millennium, more than 40,000 medium-size wind turbines will be in operation worldwide, mostly in California, Europe, and India. These commercial wind turbines, including those found in California’s giant wind power plants, will produce 20 terawatt-hours (20,000 million kilowatt-hours) of wind-generated electricity annually—enough to meet the needs of more than three million energy-hungry Californians, or twice that number of more energy-conscious Europeans.

The commercial success of medium-size wind turbines, or wind farm machines, is only part of the story. Small wind turbines have found their role expanding as well. Whether it’s on the contemporary homestead of Ed Wulf in California’s Tehachapi Mountains, in the Chilean village of Puaucho overlooking the Pacific Ocean, or on the Scoraig peninsula of Scotland’s wind-swept west coast, small wind turbines are making an important difference. While their contributions may be small in absolute terms, small wind turbines make a big difference in the daily lives of people in remote areas around the globe. Small wind turbines may produce only a few tens of kilowatt-hours per month, but this electricity goes much further and provides as much, if not more, value to those who depend upon it as does the generation of their bigger brethren.

Today there are more than 50 manufacturers of small wind turbines worldwide, and they produce more than 100 different models. Altogether manufacturers in western countries have built about 60,000 small wind turbines during the last two decades. And tens of thousands more have been manufactured in China for use by nomads on the Mongolian steppes.

Wind Energy Basics is richly illustrated with photographs of small wind turbines, from those on the Patagonian steppes at the tip of South America to those on the wind-swept shores of Denmark.

The book contains information on most major small wind turbines on the international market. It also provides photographs of common wind turbine applications, including their use for wind power plants, vacation homes, third world villages, farms, water pumping, and so on.

Engineers will like the “exploded views” of popular micro and mini wind turbines such as the Ampair 100, Southwest Windpower’s Air 303, and Bergey Windpower’s BWC 850 and BWC 1500.

The book also introduces the “griphoist” to American readers. This amazing tool, coupled with new lightweight wind turbine towers that have recently become available, has the potential to transform the installation of micro turbines. With the “griphoist”, two people can safely raise a micro wind turbine on a specially designed tower without resorting to cumbersome electric winches.

The appendix to Wind Energy Basics includes detailed product specifications for most popular micro and mini wind turbines, as well as sources for wind pumps (farm windmills), used wind turbines, anemometers, inverters, trade associations, and mail-order catalogs that sell wind turbines.

Author: Paul Gipe
Paperback:  122 pages
Company: Chelsea Green Publishing Company  (1999-04)
ISBN: 1890132071
List Price: $25.00
Amazon Price: $15.39
Used Price: $15.09

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The classic visual guide to the basics of building construction, now with the most current information

For nearly three decades, Building Construction Illustrated has offered an outstanding introduction to the principles of building construction. This new edition of the revered classic remains as relevant as ever-providing the latest information in Francis D.K. Ching’s signature style. Its rich and comprehensive approach clearly presents all of the basic concepts underlying building construction and equips readers with useful guidelines for approaching virtually any new materials or techniques they may encounter.

Laying out the material and structural choices available, it provides a full under-standing of how these choices affect a building’s form and dimensions. Complete with more than 1,000 illustrations, the book moves through each of the key stages of the design process, from site selection to building components, mechanical systems, and finishes.
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Illustrated throughout with clear and accurate drawings that present the state of the art in construction processes and materials
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Updated and revised to include the latest knowledge on sustainability, incorporation of building systems, and use of new materials
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Archetypal drawings offer clear inspiration for designers and drafters
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Reflects the most current building codes and CSI Master Format numbering scheme

With its comprehensive and lucid presentation of everything from foundations and floor systems to finish work, Building Construction Illustrated, Fourth Edition equips students and professionals in all areas of architecture and construction with useful guidelines for approaching virtually any new materials or techniques they may encounter in building planning, design, and construction.

Author: Francis D. K. Ching
Paperback:  480 pages
Company: Wiley  (2008-03-03)
ISBN: 0470087811
List Price: $49.95
Amazon Price: $27.87
Used Price: $27.87

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Author: Renee Loux
Paperback:  416 pages
Company: Rodale Books  (2008-04-01) (2008-04-01)
ISBN: 1594867925
List Price: $25.00
Amazon Price: $11.49
Used Price: $11.49

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Electric vehicles have many advantages over their gas-powered counterparts. They’re ecologically sound, much cheaper to operate, and require almost no routine maintenance. Drivers can enjoy the clean-running convenience and economy of an electric vehicle for as much as it costs to buy a new car. This illustrated guide explains step by step how to build an inexpensive EV from a kit or convert an existing internal combustion engine. Build Your Own Electric Car begins with an informative history of electric vehicles, current international advances in EV technology, and a look ahead at the future of EV development. Then, author Bob Brant gives a building-block description of each EV component-motor, drive train, controllers, power supplies, chargers, and chassis-and how to put them all together to make a working vehicle. He also gives valuable advice on where to find affordable EV components and systems, how to get the most out of EV driving and ownership, and how to make the best buy, build, and conversion tradeoffs.

Author: Bob Brant
Paperback:  310 pages
Company: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics  (1993-09-01)
ISBN: 0830642315
List Price: $19.95
Amazon Price: $10.40
Used Price: $10.40

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Why is my faucet leaking, my toilet running, or my dishwasher refusing to start? Can I fix it myself? What’s causing the heating system to smell bad or the foundation to crack? Do I need an air filtration system? Is the new “engineered lumber” as good as conventional wood? These are just a few examples of questions homeowners face when repairs are needed, or when a new house or addition is being planned.

There’s no question that it pays to be an informed consumer. Knowledge of your home’s systems helps you control repair and construction costs and make sure the correct elements are being installed or replaced.

This book uncovers the mysteries behind just about every major appliance and building element in your house. Clear, “exploded” drawings show you exactly how these things should be put together and how they function - what to check if they don’t work, and what you can do that might save you having to call in a professional.

The easy-to-understand pictures and explanations on every page get right to the point, helping you understand how things work, what can go wrong, and how to trouble-shoot a problem.

Virtually everything in your house is included:

• Electrical - circuit breakers and grounding, service, outlets, lamps and fixtures.
• Heating and Air conditioning - gas, electrical and oil - ductwork and piping, thermostats, central and window AC units, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and air filtering systems.
• Plumbing - kitchen and bath fixtures, piping, water heaters, traps and vents, septic tanks, pumps and water softener systems - even sprinkler systems and swimming pool filters/heaters.
• Major household appliances - from kitchen to laundry.
• Foundation, framing, doors and windows - including issues like drainage and radon, types of framing and how it supports the house, and all types of doors and windows.

Author: Charlie Wing
Paperback:  152 pages
Company: R.S. Means Company  (2007-06-30)
ISBN: 0876290152
List Price: $21.95
Amazon Price: $13.71
Used Price: $14.85

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These days, more and more people are saying no to “better living through chemistry” and yes to a lifestyle that is less toxic and more environmentally friendly. This trend toward a more natural lifestyle has become something of a crusade for Annie Berthold-Bond, author of Better Basics for the Home. After developing hypersensitivity to even very low concentrations of chemicals, Berthold-Bond was forced to rid her life of as many toxins as possible. “It wasn’t until I had to be away from chemicals that I began to realize how many we lived with. The extent of the contamination is startling–from hair spray and floor wax to dandelion killers and plastic shower curtains and other products that line our hardware stores and supermarket shelves.”

This book represents the culmination of her search for a more sustainable lifestyle. Taking her cue from an earlier time, Berthold-Bond, former editor in chief of Green Alternatives for Health and Environment, offers more than 800 simple and practical alternatives to common household toxins, covering everything from skin care to gardening. And the good news is that adopting her suggestions and formulas isn’t hard at all. “Mixing up face creams or wood stain isn’t much different than cleaning the windows with vinegar, soap, and water instead of using Brand Name X, or making a cake with flour, eggs and milk instead of buying a mix,” see asserts. “With a few simple staples we can clean our houses, wash our hair, rid the dog’s bed of fleas, and do many other things as well.” If you have your doubts, here is her formula for metal polish:

3 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon flour, and enough white distilled vinegar to make a paste. Scoop the paste onto a clean sponge, and polish the metal clean. Rinse with hot water and buff dry.

Sure, these days it’s literally impossible to lead a life that is completely toxin-free. But you can significantly reduce your exposure, and picking up a copy Better Basics for the Home is a great way to get started.

Author: Annie Berthold-Bond
Paperback:  352 pages
Company: Three Rivers Press  (1999-06-01) (1999-06-01)
ISBN: 0609803255
List Price: $18.95
Amazon Price: $9.59
Used Price: $11.70

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