Reddit mentions of Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual: Completely Revised and Updated

When I bought our first home, I didn't know shit. Like at all. Didn't have any tools, didn't have any interest in them, etc. But the cost of hiring is often so expensive that you quickly learn and I started enjoying it when I realized that manual things around the house can easily be seen as an intellectual challenge. "How am I going to do this?". That helps because some people see manual labor as dumb stuff but it isn't.

I have this book from Reader's digest. I find that it is useful because browsing through it, I see a lot of stuff that I could do that I did not know about. Afterwards, I look on youtube and on forums to get a better opinion. The book is mainly to get ideas. I love it.

Know your limits... some things are scary at first (plumbing, electricity), and may remain scary. I don't touch electricity. I don't like it and I'd rather not burn the house down by making a mistake. An electrician is expensive, but so be it.

Depending on your relationship with your folks/friends, you might ask someone to show you how to do something. But you have to do it yourself to learn. People are often happy to show they can do something. For me though, I prefer to go at it alone, which leads me to the next point...

Take your time when doing anything. Do it at your own rhythm. I like to do it by myself because i take the time to think about it.

As far as starting, have you tried to patch holes in drywall (if you have any I guess lol). Or changing a rotten wood plank on your deck.

And finally, a little piece of advice, try to start your new and first-time project early during business hours. Ie, don't start changing a faucet at 5PM if the home depot closes at 6PM. You never know what you might need in a hurry (hint : I had no water for an evening).

Hope this helps.

The Reader's Digest "Complete Do It Yourself" book is pretty handy to have. link to amazon.

Good illustrations and covers a huge amount of material for your home.

EDIT: This is the one I have and not only is it really helpful but also very informative when making new purchases. I buy this as a gift for whenever my friends get a house.

If you've never done anything before, you need to start with the basics:

https://www.amazon.com/Do-Yourself-Housebuilding-Complete-Handbook/dp/0806904240

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Do-Yourself-Manual-Completely/dp/0762105798

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Repair-Improvement-Updated/dp/158011783X

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Maintenance-Dummies-James-Carey/dp/047043063X

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Book-Home-How/dp/0760354766

There are more, but that selection covers virtually everything you'd run into.

I've been doing my own home maintenance and repair for about forty years, and I think these Readers Digest books -- here and here -- are very good. I've used them through multiple editions, and I bought them for my son-in-law when they bought their first house.

Some specialized topics (like gas fireplaces) receive only the most superficial treatment, but that's inevitable in books like these. One thing you'll learn is when to try something yourself and when to call someone. For instance, I've hooked up gas stoves and dryers, but when it comes to working with the gas lines themselves, I'd rather pay someone who knows what he's doing. And so far I haven't asphyxiated anyone or blown anything up.

Anyway, those are the books I've recommended to quite a few people. Good luck.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Do-It-Yourself-Manual-Completely-Revised/dp/0762105798/ref=pd_sim_b_1
A book like this is a great starting point. it will give you a good idea of what you would be getting into before you start a project. I would suggest a book like this then if you decided you wanted tile a bathroom get book specific for laying tile, then look at videos on you tube and try and learn as much as you can. this next part is important, just go for it. decide what you want to do and do it. best way to learn things is to actually do them.

Home Maintenance For Dummies https://www.amazon.com/dp/047043063X/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_LcfGub1W6ZA4A

Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual: Completely Revised and Updated https://www.amazon.com/dp/0762105798/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_3efGub0KSG133

1. Buy a plunger for each bathroom, and if you have an old garbage disposal in your kitchen, grab one for the kitchen too.
   
   
2. Track down a copy of this, this, or something really similar. They're step-by-step instructions for most basic home repair projects, with lots of pictures, cutaways, and diagrams. You can search for YouTube vids for additional help, but having a physical reference book tends to make life a little easier.
   
   My folks always called repair people when things went wrong, so I didn't learn a lot of the basics. I inherited a weird collection of these old Reader's Digest how-to manuals from my grandparents, and they got me out of a lot of jams. Highly recommend.

I've been lurking on the r/diy and r/homeowners for a long time while I was going through my house hunting. [Settlement is August 21... so exciting].

I don't remember the post but this book came highly recommended from a few other redditors. I just bought it and at first glance it looks fantastic for the initial concept of 'what does this mean and what does it entail.

This might help: /r/anxiety

But seriously, it'll all be good, dude. I just closed on my first house two weeks ago. The inspection should've covered you on anything major. Your homeowners insurance will be there to protect you from bigger issues. And anything else that goes wrong will be small and fixable. My house is 80+ years old and I'm finding little things here and there that need fixing/tune ups. There are so many resources out there to help you. I bought this book. It's old, but still relevant and can teach you about how things work in your house. Highly recommend. And anything you're not comfortable fixing yourself, ask around for recommendations on local handymen.

I absolutely LOVE the Reader's Diegest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual. It's old, but there are a lot of good things in there

The most recent copy you can find of one of the main line DIY home improvement books. Often on sale at places like Lowes and Home Depot. I've always found Readers Digest hard cover editions very good because of their careful illustrations and focus on work within a handyman's skill range. Note that some publishers including Readers Digest also publish maintenance manuals so be sure you are getting the right one. Get the most recent edition for exposure to current top grade techniques and materials. Here's an example: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Do-Yourself-Manual-Completely/dp/0762105798

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Do-It-Yourself-Manual-Completely-Revised/dp/0762105798

I'm not an expert in this stuff by any means, but I think the above book is an excellent intro into exploring single topics in more detail. Gives enough info to know where and when to dig deeper.

Get yourself a good DIY Home Repair book. I'm already pretty good at home repairs but this book is awesome and I actually own it: Reader's Digest Complete DIY Home Repair

Once you get a general understanding of what you're doing you'll know what your limits are and you'll be more confident taking on more difficult projects. I will give you one bit of advice from personal experience; when dealing with electrical it is ALWAYS a good idea to go check the breaker once more and be absolutely sure it is OFF before you shock the hell out of yourself.

Readers Digest has always made a pretty decent all-in-one DIY book. I have a copy from when I first started doing projects.. helped alot. Now everything is on the internet.

Two days ago I was on a plant walk with my class. We were using a book called Newcomb's Wildflower Guide to ID plants. The first time we did a group ID, everyone had it wrong but I found the right page by myself. The second time, once again I keyed out the plant by myself while everyone else did it as a group. Once again, I got to a different plant than everyone else and I said to the guy next to me, "They're all wrong." He looked at the page I had open and said, "No, that's not it." He pointed me to the actual plant, the one that the rest of the class had arrived at.

Why on earth did I do that? Sometimes I'm a cocky bastard :/

I want this thing. Whether you get it used or new (and used is great) you'll have some left over for someone else :)

My dad got me this to learn how to fix things, I love it.