Fixing the things that break — taps, handles, holes, hinges.
553 guides in Home & DIY
The five causes of a wobbling flat-pack unit in diagnostic order, how to tell them apart in two minutes, and which ones can still be cured once the thing is built.
The filter, the isolating valve and the diaphragm — the three things that slow a fill valve, and how to tell which one you have.
The honest answer on repairing swollen chipboard, the four routes water takes into a worktop at the sink, and how to seal every one of them so it does not happen again.
Pitting and flaking are surface failures with different causes, and telling them apart decides whether a coating will hold or simply lift again with the surface underneath it.
A leak where the spout meets the body is a different fault from a dripping spout — what the O-rings do, and how to replace them.
A machine that will not fill has a short list of causes and three of them are behind the machine rather than inside it — the tap, the hose and a gauze filter the size of a coin that almost nobody knows exists.
A gap that will not close is almost always a thread gripping both pieces instead of one — the mechanism, the recovery, and the three less common causes.
Swollen MDF has broken internally and does not shrink back. Small edge damage can be disguised; a swollen panel is replaced, not repaired.
Stopping a shower that drips after it is switched off, including mixer cartridges and thermostatic valves.
The nosing takes the most wear and the most impact of any part of a stair, so it works loose first. What it is made of decides how it is refixed.
Finding the chamber, using a stop tap key on a valve with no handle, and where responsibility for the pipe changes from the water company to you.
There is no universal error code list, because every manufacturer uses its own — but codes group into six families by what the machine was trying to do, and that grouping is the same everywhere.
The three measurements that decide whether a handle fits, the split-spindle question that catches everyone out, and what the security grade on the packet actually buys.
Where the water is coming from tells you what has failed. The outside-the-casing observations that turn a boiler leak into a short engineer's visit.
Finding the adjusters behind their plugs, working out which end needs raising, and setting a heavy sliding sash so it runs freely and still locks at both ends.
Where the level should sit relative to the overflow, and how to adjust each of the three common float designs.
A leak that only appears at high water level is almost always the overflow, not the waste — how to find it and what to replace.
Why the olive is doing all the work, the one quarter turn that usually cures a weep, and how to redo a joint that will not seal.
Finding whether the door has dropped, the frame has moved or the strike plate is misaligned — and fixing each.
The checks that solve most fridge cooling problems — airflow, door seal, coils and thermostat — before calling an engineer.
The junction crack that always comes back, why rigid filler cannot work there, and the two repairs that do.
How to hang pictures at the right height, get them level first time, and space a group of frames so it looks deliberate.
Mounting a television safely — finding structure, choosing the right bracket, and getting the height right.
Boarding over a tired, damaged or textured plasterboard wall instead of stripping it — when it is the right answer, how to find the studs through two layers, and what it costs you in room dimension and detailing.
Material properties, comparisons and suitability — paints, fillers, sealants, timber, tile, insulation.