Home Repair Book/Manual

buffalo ny: read in between her lines: she actually wants a better bathroom first; phone the plumber to fix it, so you get the credit for the repairs and he gets the blame for future malfunctions. :) your showerhead is too slow get a new 10gpm off ebay. your toilet refill time is too long, replace the fill valve and fluidmaster.com shows you how. install fluidmaster's flusher fixer for the flush you need. your exhaust fan is missing or too noisy, get the low sones of noise model and spend a couple hundred on the fan itself. your throne tv is missing or broken, get a new one. and while you are at it, the toilet seat is old and loose! :)

Well thanks for your advice but the bathroom we have is fine, she wants another one. There is no way I am paying a contractor to do it, I'll take the rap for my mistakes because they will be minor and few. I did home improvements when I was in college 20 years ago, I just want to do everything to code and not half assed.

If you live near any public library, it probably has a couple of shelves on this topic. Publishers of good homeowners' manuals include Readers Digest and tool makers e.g. Black & Decker.

The Reader's Digest Complete Do-it-yourself Manual ISBN 0-89577-010-5

Available at the Reader's Digest website:

You already have a couple of dead tree recommendations. Personally, when I want to know something, I ask Google.