Collins Complete Plumbing and Central Heating - Albert Jackson

Advantages: Lots of Pictures
Disadvantages: Impossible Dream!

...and a 2 foot wide hole above the door leading to the back-extension. I don't know how we missed all these problems when we were looking round, but suffice to say that ours were not practised eyes! I asked for the Collins Complete DIY Manual as a birthday present, as our repairs expenses were getting obscene, and I felt confident that we could tackle some of the tasks alone. And I thought it might be fun too. It duly arrived via Amazon (£9.75) and my H. was bemused to see me so excited over something so potentially disastrous. I'm quite a practical person, and always used to help my dad with the decorating, but my DIY knowledge is patchy and H's is worse. I chose this particular manual because it seemed to be designed for novices like myself, looked very comprehensive in its content, and, vitally, included lots of pictures and diagrams. I... Read review

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Advantages: Detailed with lots of pictures
Disadvantages: Know your limitations

...I moved to a larger house and wanted a really good DIY manual that covered most aspects of house DIY. The Collins book is one of a handful that cover most aspects of DIY/ house construction to varying degrees of complexity., and is reasonably priced around £20 for over 500 pages. The book is well ordered with an excellent index. Each section (usually major items like electrical/plumbing/roofs/decorating etc) begins with an overview so you learn the lingo of the trade. The sections then go into greater detail on specific aspects that should allow you to recognise the constructions/designs you are viewing, diagnose problems, design new features, and then get everything installed properly. There are plenty of pictures to show exactly what they are describing. There is also quite a large section on tools and fixings that are commonly... Read review

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Advantages: Accurate Descriptions and Illustrations
Disadvantages: Small text

...Collins Tree Guide - by Owen Johnson and Illustrated by David More The Most Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Europe What is it? Collins Tree Guide is a book that describes over 1500 trees. This is the largest single-volume ever included in a field guide. The book has a black cover with white and gold text with a solitary tree illustrated in the centre of the cover. The book is stunning and feels like a prized possession in your hand. The cover is very well designed but we all know the saying, never judge a book by the cover! Inside the book you are confronted with the Contents page, followed by a How to Use this Book page and then a detailed Introduction. The book caters for beginners and has a page dedicated to botanical names (Commonly known as Latin or scientific names). Botanical names do... Read review

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