How do I remove oil and rust stains from a patio?
Matching the treatment to the stain — oil, rust, tannin, paint and efflorescence all behave differently — and what genuinely cannot be removed.
beginner1 hr 30 min3 min read
Household Problems
Damp, draughts, smells, noise and the other slow annoyances.
284 guides in Home & DIY
Is it safe to plug one extension lead into another?
What actually goes wrong when leads are chained, why the fuse does not save you, and the two legitimate ways to get power further away.
beginner8 min4 min readIs my cracked render causing the damp inside?
Why a cracked render is worse than no render at all, how to tell sound render from render that has lost its bond, and what to do when a patch repair will not hold.
intermediate45 min4 min readIs the ground level too high against my house wall?
Why 150mm of clearance below the damp proof course matters, how paving and soil creep up over the years, and how to dig a wall back out without causing a new problem.
beginner3 hr4 min readWhat can I do if a neighbour's camera points at my garden?
What your neighbour's obligations actually are once their camera sees your property, the order of escalation, and the point at which it stops being a data-protection matter.
beginner45 min4 min readWhat is dew point, and why does mould grow before any water appears?
The one piece of physics that explains all condensation damp — where the temperature line meets the dew point line — and the two levers it leaves you.
intermediate30 min4 min readWhat should I do if my chimney catches fire?
A roaring sound from the chimney, sparks from the pot and dense smoke are a chimney fire. It is a 999 call first and always, and everything else is what you do while waiting.
beginner10 min5 min readWhy does my RCD trip when it rains?
Why moisture ingress shows up as RCD tripping rather than anything else, the outdoor items to suspect in order, and how to prove it is one of them without opening anything.
beginner30 min5 min readWhy does my tumble dryer smell?
Work out first whether the smell is damp, chemical or burning, because one of those three is a safety problem and the other two are cleaning jobs in different places.
beginner40 min5 min readWhy is my dishwasher tablet not dissolving?
An undissolved tablet means the dispenser never opened, the water never got hot enough, or the spray never reached it — and the dispenser flap is by far the most common of the three.
beginner15 min3 min readWhy is there condensation inside my double glazing?
What misting between the panes means, whether it can be repaired, and what the alternatives cost.
beginner20 min2 min readWhy will my LED lights not dim all the way down?
The dead zone at the bottom of an LED dimming range, the stepping and dropout that go with it, and the ordered checks that fix most cases without replacing anything.
beginner20 min4 min readCan I put a brighter bulb in my light fitting?
What a fitting's maximum wattage actually limits, why LED changes the arithmetic completely, and how to get more light without exceeding it.
beginner10 min5 min readHow do I deal with carpet beetles?
It is the larvae that do the damage, and they live where the vacuum does not reach.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I deal with damp in a cellar or basement?
Telling groundwater from condensation, what tanking really involves, and the cheap measures that work first.
intermediate2 hr4 min readHow do I use less plastic at home?
Practical swaps that actually reduce plastic use, and an honest note on which ones make a real difference and which are mostly symbolic.
beginner1 hr3 min readHow much water does a household actually put into the air each day?
The everyday activities that evaporate litres of water into a house, ranked by how much they contribute, and why shrinking the input is usually cheaper than enlarging the output.
beginner25 min4 min readWhat do the old red and black wire colours mean in UK wiring?
The old and new UK cable colours, the overlap period that produced mixed installations, and the black-and-blue trap in lighting circuits that catches people out.
beginner10 min4 min readWhat does a damp meter actually measure, and can I trust the reading?
Why a pin meter on plaster is measuring conductivity rather than water, the surfaces that read soaking wet when they are bone dry, and how to use one so it tells you something true.
intermediate25 min4 min readWhat is underpinning, and when does a house actually need it?
What underpinning physically is, the main methods, why it is a last resort rather than a first response, and why partial underpinning can cause the problem it was meant to solve.
advanced10 min5 min readWhat should I do if I think I have bats in my roof?
How to tell bats from rodents or birds, what the legal protection actually stops you doing, and the free advice route that exists precisely for householders.
beginner30 min5 min readWhat should I do if my home is uninhabitable after damage?
The order of the first few days after major damage: safety, then insurance, then somewhere to live, then drying. Doing them out of order is what costs money and months.
beginner2 hr6 min readWhy am I getting condensation in summer?
Summer condensation forms on cold surfaces from warm humid air — the exact opposite of the winter pattern — which is why the usual advice to ventilate can make it worse rather than better.
beginner12 min4 min readWhy are there dark lines along the edges of my carpet?
A hard-edged dark band against the skirting, under a door or around a fitted unit is filtration soiling — the carpet acting as an air filter — and cleaning alone will not hold it.
beginner1 hr3 min read
Going deeper: MaterialWorld
Material properties, comparisons and suitability — paints, fillers, sealants, timber, tile, insulation.