Plumber's
Reference
Plumbers Handbook, by Howard Massey; Craftsman Book
Co., Carlsbad, Calif,; 1985; $16.75, paperback.
A handbook should be concise,
portable, and focused. Although the
Plumbers Handbook is quite portable—
weighing a mere 1 1/4 pounds—it's too
big to tuck into your breast pocket
while working. It's also concise—too
concise in most cases to make it very
useful as an everyday trade reference.
There is a great deal of useful
information packed into this
"handbook's" pages but it suffers from
poor organization, sloppy editing, lack
of photos, and failure to adequately
cover the basics. Plumbers Handbook
does offer tables of trap/drain sizes,
recommended fall per foot, maximum
fixture sizes, vent sizes and lengths,
and instructions on properly
backfilling under cast iron hubs.
There's