Fix-It Books : Home Repair: Whether you want to renovate your entire house or just understand enough to hire repair people, the right guide is an indispensable tool.

When George Loew bought his 1910 Craftsman-style house in Pasadena two years ago, he knew that it was going to need some serious renovating.

He headed straight for the nearest bookstore.

“I’m a pretty handy guy,” said Loew, 40, a Los Angeles schoolteacher, “but some of the work was just a little daunting--things like putting in a full ceiling in one bedroom.

“I’m always telling my students to look at reference books when they need to find something out. And,” said Loew with a smile, “I figured that good advice is good advice--even if it comes from myself.”

Using one of the many fix-it books on the market as a starting point, Loew successfully put in that ceiling, redid a bathroom from top to bottom, repaired and repainted many of the rooms in the house and is well on his way to completely restoring his three-bedroom, one-bath period piece.

Fix-it books are an indispensable tool for the homeowner. Even if you never plan on fixing a leaky faucet yourself--never mind re-roofing the abode on weekends--every homeowner can use these guides for self-defense against unscrupulous repair people.

The average homeowner would do well to buy a fix-it reference book well before starting any project, even before buying any tools. A good fix-it book will explain which tools are used for what jobs, offering a guide to what a homeowner really needs in his toolbox.

A fix-it guide should contain step-by-step explanations that start at the most basic step, illustrations that explicate as well as supplement the text and a good plan of attack for each problem--all written cleanly in language that avoids technical jargon.

One problem with these books is that they often offer only one solution to a problem. If your house has been modified or is just different, and the project doesn’t quite match up with the book, you may be at a quick dead end.

Another problem: They often seriously underestimate the amount of work required to do a job.

“Fix-it books,” said A. Thomas Horsfall, director of Owner Builder Services in Alhambra, a resource center and school for homeowners and contractors, “in general don’t have enough warnings, enough information on how to size up a job.”

Aimed at a national audience, they may give advice that does not match up with the building code for the city you live in. “All too often, fix-it books ‘zone-in’ on too small an area,” Horsfall said. “They don’t tell you enough about problems that are peculiar to California--our problems with hard-water and plumbing for example.”

And remember, a fix-it book can only do so much for you. Do yourself a favor and cultivate a relationship with the staff at a good hardware store.

“A book can provide a good overview, get a homeowner thinking about different aspects of the job,” said Dan Schiffman of Pasadena Plumbing & Hardware. “But the value of a face-to-face explanation from a guy who has explained the ins and outs of replacing that pipe or changing that fixture to 1,000 other customers can’t be overestimated.”

Primary references; a compendium of general home-repair guides:

“Popular Mechanics Home How-To” (Hearst Books, $29.95, 512 pages) is a solid primer on everything from abrasives to wallpapering. “Home How-To” is nothing if not thorough--it even uses the inside cover for a shop guide to wood screws, nails and pipe fittings. It is laid out well, with literally thousands of excellent illustrations, including charts, step-by-step drawings and photographs. The advice covers repairs as well as home improvement projects and is aimed at all skill levels.

The “Time-Life Complete Home Repair Manual” (Prentice Hall, $24.95, 479 pages) is a distillation of the enormously successful “Time-Life Home Repair and Improvement” series, a collection of do-it-yourself books that have sold more than 25 million copies. It is a hit-or-miss affair--perhaps a result of taking a little from this book, a little from that--with equal space devoted to stripping wallpaper and fixing furniture casters. The illustrations are good and larger than most, and there is a nicely done tool guide, complete with photographs of each device.

The “Readers Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual” (Reader’s Digest Assn., $21.95, 600 pages) is the granddaddy of fix-it books, in print since 1973. Not surprisingly, it is the yardstick by which other books are measured. It is thorough (more than 50 pages on tools, for example) and includes sections on subjects other books slight. (“Reader’s” chapter on planning includes information on financing the project as well as the expected discussion on estimating costs and hiring contractors.) Well-illustrated, with many excellent step-by-step panels.

“The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Home Maintenance” by John McGowan and Roger DuBern (Hearst Books, $22.95, 240 pages) defines its target audience as the “novice do-it-yourselfer” and does a fairly good job within that limited scope. Large chunks of space are devoted to glitz--achieving optimal effects with lighting, etc.--and some repairs are given short shrift. But the book does manage to cover most everything that a “novice do-it-yourselfer” might want to tackle.

“The Simon and Schuster Complete Guide to Home Repair and Maintenance,” by Bernard Gladstone (Simon & Schuster, $12.95, paperback, 431 pages), is somewhat different from the above books in that its primary strength--and emphasis--is on the writing, as might well be expected from an author who gets a large book-cover credit as the “Home Improvement Editor of the New York Times.” It is very well-written, and it is a thorough guide to its target area: the countless repair and maintenance tasks every homeowner is faced with. The illustrations are a mixed bag of stock photographs and fairly good drawings, and are not nearly as complete as the drawings.

Supplementary references, for when you get the itch to tackle big projects or just want to read about a subject in more detail:

“The Well-Built House,” by Jim Locke (Houghton Mifflin, $8.95 paperback, 276 pages) is not a fix-it book, but is invaluable for anyone contemplating serious repair/renovation on their house. A guide to new house construction, it is simply the best book of its kind. “House” contains everything you need to know about building a house, from the planning through the final clean up. One caveat: though very well-written, “House” is short on illustrations.

“The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores” by Tom Philbin and Steve Ettlinger (Macmillan Publishing Co., $24.95, 432 pages) could easily be subtitled “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Thingamajigs . . . and More.” It is complete, with listings of each item that include other names for the product, along with a description of it, uses, tips on usage and buying tips. The illustrations are detailed and there is an excellent, cross-referenced index.

Sunset (Sunset-Lane Publishing) and Ortho (Ortho Books) specialty books are similar and widely available at bookstores, building supply stores, even supermarkets. They are an inexpensive addition (usually around $7) to the homeowner’s tool kit and often offer more detailed information than can be found in the general books listed above. If you have a big-enough job, you might want to get one of these. The categories are very specific: plumbing, flooring, etc.

“The Complete House Inspection Book,” by Don Fredriksson (Fawcett Columbine, $9.95, 137 pages) is a fairly good diagnostic guide--so you can figure out exactly what the problems are before you start the work. Aimed at real estate investors, the better sections of this book nonetheless can help neophytes know what to look for, where to look and how to make sensible judgments about what you find.

“Renovation--a Complete Guide,” by Michael Litchfield (John Wiley & Sons, $42, 571 pages) is large, packed full of information--and pricey. It is also the only book on this list that may be hard to find. Is it worth the trouble and money? Yes. After all, if you are going to spend thousands restoring that neglected Craftsman, then what’s another $42? “Renovation” is very detailed, with hundreds of good illustrations.

Photo styling by ROBIN TUCKER