What do I do if I cannot reach under the pan to fit a toilet seat?
How a top-fix fitting works, when you have no choice but to use one, and why top-fix seats loosen more than bottom-fix ones and what to do about it.
beginner25 min4 min read
Repairs
Fixing the things that break — taps, handles, holes, hinges.
553 guides in Home & DIY
Why do fixings pull out of old soft brick?
What makes Victorian and handmade brick different, why expansion plugs crush it, and the fixings and depths that hold in it.
intermediate30 min3 min readWhy do my screws keep snapping when I drive them in?
Torque, material and metallurgy — the four causes of sheared screws, including why brass and plasterboard screws snap where a normal screw survives.
beginner12 min3 min readWhy does my composite door stick in hot weather?
Why dark composite and uPVC doors bow in sun, what is worth adjusting and what will only cause problems in winter.
beginner30 min3 min readWhy does my floor tile sound hollow?
What a hollow ring actually means, why it is not always a problem, and how to re-bed a debonded tile without breaking the ones around it.
intermediate2 hr4 min readWhy does my plaster go off before I can get it on the wall?
Contaminated buckets, warm water, old stock and mixing too much are the four reasons a bag that should give you an hour gives you fifteen minutes — and only one of them is the plaster's fault.
intermediate20 min4 min readWhy has my floor sanding left ripples and dips?
Drum marks, chatter ripples and dished patches all come from the machine rather than the abrasive. What each pattern tells you, and the honest options once they are in the timber.
advanced4 hr3 min readWhy has my oak gone black or blue?
Tannin in oak reacts with iron to produce a black-blue stain. Where the iron comes from, how to remove the stain, and how to stop it happening again.
intermediate45 min4 min readWhy has my wired doorbell stopped working?
The four-part chain a wired doorbell depends on, tested in the order that finds the fault fastest, and where the extra-low voltage work stops and mains work begins.
beginner30 min5 min readWhy has the soft close stopped working on my cupboards and drawers?
Whether the damper has failed, been switched off, or is simply being overwhelmed — and how to adjust the damping rather than replace the hinge.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy is my composite door cracking, blistering or peeling?
Telling a surface fault from a delamination, why dark doors on south-facing walls fail first, and how to make a warranty claim that is actually accepted.
beginner25 min4 min readWhy will my night latch not hold the door shut?
The snib that has been left in the wrong position, the staple that has moved, the worn latch spring and the connecting bar that has slipped — in the order to check them.
beginner25 min4 min readHow do I replace a window handle?
Replacing a broken or stiff uPVC window handle, including how to measure for the right spindle length.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I take old wall tiles off without destroying the plaster?
Accepting up front that the plaster usually comes off with the tiles, the method that limits the damage, and what to do with the wall afterwards.
intermediate4 hr5 min readWhat does door handing mean, and which way should my door open?
The convention British suppliers use, how to describe your own doorway so a handed part arrives right, and which hardware is genuinely handed and which is not.
beginner12 min3 min readWhy has my up-and-over garage door become heavy to lift?
How the counterbalance works, what a heavy door is telling you, and the checks you can safely make before calling an engineer.
intermediate1 hr6 min readCan I hang something from a plasterboard ceiling?
Ceiling fixings carry their load in the worst possible direction. What the board alone will genuinely take, how to find the joists, and what needs a different approach entirely.
intermediate30 min4 min readCan I repair a cracked shower tray?
Which cracks are repairable and which are the visible symptom of a support failure, the fibreglass-and-filler repair that genuinely holds, and when replacement is the only honest answer.
intermediate1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I adjust sliding wardrobe doors so the gaps are even?
The two adjusters on a sliding door carriage, which one to turn for a tapered gap, and the order that stops you chasing your tail.
beginner45 min3 min readHow do I box in pipes, and can I box in a boiler?
Building a framework that stays put, allowing for pipe movement and access, and the ventilation and servicing rules that decide what may be enclosed at all.
intermediate3 hr5 min readHow do I change an oven bulb?
An oven lamp is a specific high-temperature part with a glass cover that is usually the hard bit — how to get it out without breaking anything, and which bulb to buy.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I change the maximum temperature on my shower?
What the red override button and the splined collar actually do, how to reset the stop on a thermostatic valve, and the temperature you should be setting it to.
intermediate25 min4 min readHow do I fit a ground anchor for a bike or a mower?
Choosing an anchor that matches the chain, getting the fixing into something that will actually hold, and the mistakes that leave an anchor stronger than its own fixings.
intermediate2 hr4 min readHow do I fit a kitchen sink waste and strainer?
Getting the washer stack the right way round, why the sealant goes under the flange and not on the thread, and connecting an overflow that actually works.
beginner1 hr5 min read
Going deeper: MaterialWorld
Material properties, comparisons and suitability — paints, fillers, sealants, timber, tile, insulation.