Before you drive that first nail, this is the guide youneed--thousands of hints, tips, and professional tricks of thetrade

Authoritative, detailed, and fully illustrated, Rules of Thumb forHome Building, Improvement, and Repair gives you all the insideinformation you need to make your home improvement project gofaster and easier. For this all-in-one volume, do-it-yourselfexperts Gene and Katie Hamilton, founders of the online serviceHouseNet, have distilled the best professional home repair andremodeling information.

Rules of Thumb will help you avoid the costly headaches that canresult from using the wrong materials, amounts, or measurements.Here in plain English are all the technical standards andspecifications for lumber, fasteners and adhesives, carpentry,plumbing, electrical wiring, painting, walls, ceilings and floors,doors and windows, weatherizing and climate control, exteriors,asphalt, concrete, masonry, and more. Plus, you'll discovertime-tested procedures that get you the results you want everytime.

Whatever project you're about to begin, Rules of Thumb for HomeBuilding, Improvement, and Repair is the first place to look forprofessional advice.

Acclaimed do-it-yourself experts Gene and Katie Hamilton are theauthors of many successful books and magazine articles onremodeling and repair. In addition to their nationally syndicatednewspaper column, "Do It Yourself--Or Not?" they are the creatorsof HouseNet, an online home improvement service on America Online(keyword: housenet) and on the Internet (www.housenet.com). Theyhave been on the Today show, Dateline, and CNN and have beenwritten about in Newsweek and other national publications. TheHamiltons live in Maryland.

Katie Hamilton and Gene Hamilton are the authors of Rules of Thumb for Home Building, Improvement, and Repair, published by Wiley.