Sheetrock & Shellac: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Art and Science of Home Improvement

By David Owen

Book Overview

David Owen, author of The Walls Around Us, recounts his projects -- from catching the home improvement bug while watching workmen replacing a leaky roof to his first tentative foray into DIY. As his skill grows, so does his confidence: replacing a broken light switch turns into wiring an entire room, making bookcases is followed by building an office. Soon he takes the big leap from renovation to building a new house -- a weekend cabin a mere six miles from his home -- from the ground up. The experience launches Owen's enthralling and hilarious discourse on everything from kitchen countertop materials to the complete history of concrete and a near disastrous mishap involving a tree, a roof, and a chainsaw

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743251202
• ISBN13: 9780743251204
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.7" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A very "real" book

I just finished reading and enjoyed tremendously. I felt his introspections were right on. My husband & I have been building and remodeling a house for over twenty years. We've enjoyed ourselves and raised seven great kids. My father told me before he died that he use to worry we would never get the house finished, but that he came to see that the planing & the doing were what made life worthwhile. This book should be published as an audiobook. LM

Fun and Interesting

Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in home improvement. I might suggest buying a used copy or hitting up your local library instead of buying it new, though, as this is more of an informative memoir than a reference book.

Not so geeky!

I have to admit that I've had a crush on Norm Abrams since I first saw him on an episode of "This Old House" years ago. My heart a-flutter, tuning in to his show, "The New Yankee Workshop," was a guilty pleasure. It wasn't too much of a surprise to my husband, therefore, to see that my summer reading included "Sheetrock & Shellac." I told him it was because I wanted to sound like I knew what I was talking about if I ever got the chance to meet my home improvement idol. This book did not disappoint. David Owen does a fine job of explaining some of the brass tacks of do-it-yourself projects familiar to any owner of an older home. He digresses a bit in the area of plumbing, but his approach, self-deprecating and often laugh-out-loud funny, was inspiring. Have I taken a sledgehammer to a wall yet? No, but now I think I could.

Owen Makes You Want to Do It

Geesh, by the time I was midway through this I was ready to renovate my bathroom on my own until I came to my senses. Still, this is an engaging, informative, and witty book full of exquisite writing. I loved it.

Should be titled: Interesting and Beautifully Written

I have been a DIYer for 25 years and found nearly every page of Owen's book engaging. Too, I learned a tremendous amount, a bonus I frankly wasn't expecting. Owen is a gifted writer who understands the poetry of things, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves home improvement or who wants to understand how the structures we live in work.