Apartment maintenance book

I google a lot of stuff..get some tools...18v drill is key..hacksaw. masonry drill bits for going through tile and cement. replacing door knobs and lock cylinders are good starters.

You may want to look into a Home Depot book called Home Improvement 1-2-3. I'm not sure if there is anything written just for apartment dwellers, so you may get books with information above & beyond what you actually need.

Thank you both. I have the tools, and I'll look for the 1-2-3 book. I did find some stuff for houses in my search, and while there is some overlap, there was a huge amount of stuff that wouldn't apply to apartments. I would say well over half of the book was about boilers, sprinklers, etc. Someone should write a guide to owning/maintaining an apartment.

Online: http://www.familyhandyman.com/

Works for the XX crowd too.

downtown3, six years ago, when I ran the real estate section at the Post, I nearly launched a column like what you're describing.

I would say the best resource is other people who are handy -- many of whom can be found behind the counter at hardware stores or specialty stores. (By "hardware store" I do not mean "Home Depot" -- last time I needed to buy a saddle they had no idea what I was talking about).

Find a good local store like Pearl Paint, Artie's Hardware, Bella Tile, etc., and every time you need to do a project go in and talk over the technical points of the job as though you were asking how to make Thanksgiving dinner. By and large, you'll tap into a nice network of people who are very very helpful.

Also, YouTube is a godsend for "watching" other people do stuff.

The forums on the DIYnetwork website are amazing. If you're unsure of something just post a question and an expert will give you a response, usually within an hour or so. You can ask follow-up questions, if necessary. Totally agree about Home Depot—completely incompetent (e.g. workers that don't know that a 2x4 is in fact only a 1 3/4 x 3 3/4). Local hardware/specialty folks are helpful IF you've established a rapport with them and your questions are not so elementary they know they'll spend two hours trying to explain something to you.