How do I clean and service a barbecue?
The annual gas service most people skip, why wire brushes are the wrong tool, and the checks that matter before the first cook.
beginner1 hr 30 min4 min read
Maintenance
The jobs that stop problems happening in the first place.
353 guides in Home & DIY
How do I drain an outside tap for winter?
The five-minute autumn job that prevents a split pipe inside the wall, and what to do if there is no isolating valve.
beginner15 min3 min readHow do I find out if my house is listed or in a conservation area?
The six designations that change what you may do to a property, where each of them is recorded, and how to check all of them in one afternoon for nothing.
beginner45 min3 min readHow do I improve air quality indoors?
Ventilation before purification, the sources worth removing, and where an air purifier genuinely helps and where it does not.
beginner45 min5 min readHow do I service an extractor fan?
Beyond cleaning: the duct, the shutter, the bearings and the run-on timer — the parts that make a fan weak rather than dirty.
beginner1 hr4 min readHow do I store batteries safely at home?
Keeping terminals apart, the temperature that actually matters, and what to do with a swollen lithium battery.
beginner25 min5 min readHow hot is too hot inside a house?
There is no single legal limit for a home, but there are the thresholds that matter — for sleep, for vulnerable people, and for knowing when a house is genuinely underperforming rather than merely warm.
beginner10 min5 min readIs a video doorbell legal if it films the pavement?
The short legal answer, what changes the moment your camera sees past the boundary, and the four things you then have to do.
beginner30 min5 min readWhat are the layers of a floor, and which one is causing my problem?
A floor is a stack of layers, and nearly every fault you can see in the top one was made in a layer below it. How to read the stack and find the layer that is actually at fault.
beginner15 min3 min readWhat is a competent person scheme, and which trades can certify their own work?
How registered trades certify their own work instead of applying to building control, which trades that covers, and the documents you should end up holding.
beginner25 min3 min readWhich flooring can I use in a bathroom?
The bathroom question is not what looks good, it is what happens at the joints when water gets there. What each material actually does when wet, and the edge detail that matters more than the material.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy is my mortar crumbling, and does it need repointing?
Some surface erosion is normal weathering. Mortar that can be raked out easily, or that is failing faster than the brick, is telling you something about the mix or about water.
intermediate30 min3 min readCan I fit a bathroom extractor fan myself?
What a householder may safely do around a bathroom fan, why the electrical side is notifiable, and how to make the electrician's job cheaper.
intermediate20 min3 min readDo I need permission to cut down or prune a tree in my garden?
Preservation orders, conservation area notices, felling licences and the checks that take one phone call — before a tree becomes an offence rather than a job.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I choose the right bulb fitting and brightness?
Reading lumens rather than watts, the colour temperature that suits each room, and identifying the fitting you actually have.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I fit an outside tap?
Choosing where to take the supply from, the double check valve the regulations require, and drilling through the wall without hitting anything.
intermediate3 hr4 min readHow do I get artex or a textured coating tested for asbestos?
Why a test is the only way to know, the difference between a DIY sample kit and a surveyor, what a UKAS laboratory result actually tells you, and what each outcome means for the work you were planning.
beginner30 min5 min readHow do I lay decking boards?
Setting the joists, the board gap that matters, the fixing pattern and the fall — the four decisions that decide whether a deck lasts.
intermediate10 hr4 min readHow do I move around a loft without putting a foot through the ceiling?
Everything in a loft rests on knowing exactly where the joists are, and insulation is specifically designed to hide them.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I set up a new appliance properly the first time?
The order that matters on installation day, the four things that cause almost every early failure, and the five minutes of admin that make the next ten years easier.
beginner1 hr7 min readHow do I stop a fence blowing down in high wind?
Why a solid fence catches more wind than you would think, and the changes to posts, panels and permeability that keep one standing.
beginner1 hr 30 min3 min readHow do I stop hard water damaging my appliances?
Scale forms on heating elements and shortens the life of everything that heats water. What to do per appliance, why dishwasher salt is not optional in a hard water area, and what the various inhibitors are actually worth.
beginner30 min7 min readHow do I tell if my door lock cylinder is snap-resistant?
Reading the markings on the cylinder you already have, checking how far it stands proud, and deciding whether it needs replacing.
beginner15 min4 min readWhat do microwave power levels actually do?
A power level is a duty cycle, not a dimmer. The magnetron is either on at full power or off, and that single fact explains everything about how the settings behave.
beginner10 min4 min read
Going deeper: MaterialWorld
Material properties, comparisons and suitability — paints, fillers, sealants, timber, tile, insulation.