The main screen has five major sections-Guided Tours is a good place to start. This section deals with an in-depth discussion of 12 specific topics. One of these, Home Health and Safety, has information on asbestos, air pollutants, and other topics. The House Systems section includes short animations of such things as the framing, electrical and plumbing systems, and the most often used heating and ventilation options. While these lack real detail, they're meant to give you a framework to understand the more specific projects that follow.
The section you'll probably use the most is Maintenance and Repair. This is where the remaining two sections, Tools and Materials, are integrated around specific projects. This section covers topics in an outline format with increasing levels of detail. For instance, ant control is discussed under Insects which is under House Exterior. A section on how to work with a contractor includes six typical contract forms you can print and fill out for your projects.
As another example, you might want to repair wood siding. Different sections of this disc are cross-referenced so you can jump from a discussion of siding repair to a picture of the tools used in the job. Click on one of these, and you'll get information on how to use it. Going to the Materials section from here shows pictures of the glues and nails you would use, and more information is behind each picture. Hit the back button and return to the text and a step-by-step animation for making a repair in split wood siding. Each repair is rated in terms of the time expected to do it and the level of skill needed.
By keeping a running outline to the left of the text and pictures, each section allows you to search quickly for the exact topic and detail needed. At any point you can access a simple built-in word processor available in the lower left corner. It works with any one of four different lists-a shopping list, a list of reminders (these are already filled out with standard home maintenance items on a month by month basis), bookmarks for adding notes to a specific topic, and a Home Diary for keeping notes on the progress of your project.
The entire disc is linked together by a powerful Find feature available at the bottom of each screen. You can search for topics, words, or a specific type of media such as an animation or chart on a specific subject. There are also specific calculators in an Estimating section for determining quantities of lumber, paint, concrete and other materials needed for your project. These items can then be added to the shopping list if desired. The excellent help system is well written and will allow almost anyone learn to navigate this program quickly and easily. A troubleshooting section has information on optimizing Windows 95 for your specific system. Other CD-ROM publishers take note: this feature eliminates much frustration from purchasers with older equipment.
This disc is the first home repair title that might actually get used more than its older, dog-eared and much loved paper counterpart. Happy hammering!
John Raabe is a home designer and energy consultant currently developing a Design Kit for homeowners wanting to build an earth-responsive new house. You may e-mail jraabe@whidbey.com to obtain more information..
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