I read a lot of books on real estate, and most are only marginally useful. Many are by experienced writers who don’t truly understand the topic but get published anyway. Others are by knowledgeable authors, but their lack of writing skills makes their books hard to use or difficult to read.

This week I’m happy to report on the new book “About the House With Henri de Marne: How to Maintain, Repair, Upgrade and Enjoy Your Home” (Upper Access, $16.95). De Marne’s book would make a good gift, especially for a first-time buyer.

It’s a manual that covers an array of household tasks and gives a great overview of the physical elements of a house.

It starts with the foundation and basement, giving tips for preventing mold and mildew through moisture control. Foundation repairs are covered as well as ideas for preventing foundation settlement problems.

The author moves on to roofs and siding, giving good advice on venting an attic to maximize roof-shingle life.

As an example of how thorough this book is, he even covers the obsolete asbestos shingle, which is no longer in production, but remains on many homes.

In the siding chapter, de Marne covers many materials, including stucco. While many buyers have been told to avoid synthetic stucco homes because of past problems, this book gives the popular siding material a fair examination, pointing out that properly installed and flashed synthetic stucco is durable and effective.

The section on windows gives good information on how to control moisture problems and cold- air leaks but seems to have a Northern outlook, with references to snow and ice.

In the plumbing section, electric and HVAC are examined. Using a question and answer format, the author covers everything from “on-demand” water heaters (he says they are still too expensive) to septic tanks.

In the electrical section, I learned that any house with circuit breakers needs to have them “exercised” by flipping the breakers on and off a dozen times at least once a year to keep them operating properly and free of debris, and that the same goes for ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets in bathrooms and kitchens.

While the book’s details on oil-fired furnaces is unlikely to help many Georgians, its information about natural gas heating systems and electric central air conditioning is likely to come in handy.

The author notes that kitchens and baths, if attractive, are the areas most likely to make a house sell quickly.

Tips and shortcuts to spruce them up are included. For example, the author recommends cleaning tough stains in a stainless steel sink with WD-40 lubricant. I tried it, and it works.

The section on bathrooms includes information on excess moisture, a problem especially common in older homes, and how to deal with it.

The author rounds out the book with chapters on interior surfaces and insulation and gives appropriate importance to energy conservation, stressing the resulting savings in utility costs.

The most unusual part of the book is the chapter “Critters, Pests and Other Nuisances,” which covers how to beat problems caused by ants, termites, wasps, yellow jackets, squirrels, chipmunks, birds and bats.

De Marne also covers strategies for keeping your home critter-free. At first, I missed his advice on controlling spiders but in a reread learned that he suggests Formula 409 as a pesticide. I can hardly wait to find our next spider so I can give this a try.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give “About the House” a solid 9. It carries a list price of $16.95, but I found it at several online book stores for less than $12.

Source:

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/homefinder/stories/2007/05/27/hfjadams0527a.html