House Beautiful Take Charge of Your Home Renovation: Everything You Need to Know for a Successful Home Renovation or Remodeling

by Susan Boyle Hillstrom

House Beautiful has given its classic home renovation guide a makeover so that home renovators can get the freshest and best ideas on how to manage any home improvement project -- no matter how large.

"Explains how to survive working with remodeling pros in nine easy steps."-- Bridal Guide Magazine.

House Beautiful's unsurpassed guide to home renovation has now received its own freshening up, with a new design and cover, as well as an extensive, updated resource and reference section. With it on hand, homeowners can avoid the many potential pitfalls and unnecessary costs of remodeling. Here is crucial advice on how to interview and hire contractors, designers, and architects; set a budget and negotiate to get the best deal; avoid unscrupulous or sloppy contractors and con artists; troubleshoot and manage the project once construction has started; and get the job done on schedule. Following House Beautiful's smart and sensible guidelines, anyone can think like a contractor and understand how their own behavior can increase the chances of a renovation's success.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2001

Reviews

[Kathleen]

Helpful. Will want to reference when renovations begin. More of a how to deal with contractors than a how to do things yourself book.

[Afton]

This was a useful book, but you have to get past the author's chip on her shoulder. Her husband was a contractor so she starts off really defensively. Then throughout the whole thing she mocks and strongly discourages home owners from trying to do any of the work themselves, just a bad bad idea. And what if you don't have enough money to pay a contractor to do all those things? Or if you would just like to learn, try and save by doing it? Who cares, bad idea, do without.

On the upside, she really did have some good advice if you plan to renovate, I even had to check it out twice to make sure I'd remembered all the important parts.