What should I do about a wasp nest?
When a nest can simply be left alone, why aerosol treatment goes wrong, and what a professional treatment actually involves.
beginner20 min5 min read
Home & DIY
Practical answers for repairs, cleaning, decorating and the household problems that turn up whether you planned for them or not. Written so you can start with what you already own.
2,154 guides
What should I do if I think someone has broken into my home?
The first ten minutes in order, whether you are outside looking at a forced door or inside hearing a noise — and what not to touch afterwards.
beginner20 min5 min readWhat should be in a first-night box?
The one box that decides whether the first evening is manageable, and what people consistently forget to put in it.
beginner30 min4 min readWhich glue works on which material?
Six adhesives that cover almost everything, and why the surface matters more than the glue.
beginner15 min2 min readWhich wood should I use for a job?
Softwood or hardwood, treated or untreated, and the sizing convention that catches everyone out.
beginner20 min2 min readWhy can I hear my neighbours talking through the wall?
Airborne noise gets through a wall in three ways — through it, around it and through the holes in it — and identifying which one dominates decides whether anything you do will work.
beginner30 min5 min readWhy did my tiles stop sticking to the adhesive?
Combed adhesive skins over surprisingly fast. A tile pressed into a skinned bed touches the ridges and bonds to almost nothing, and it looks perfectly fine until it comes off.
intermediate20 min2 min readWhy do my upstairs radiators get hot but the downstairs ones stay cold?
Balancing, pump speed and circulation — why heat naturally favours upstairs, and the order to work through it.
beginner1 hr3 min readWhy does my toilet keep blocking?
Repeated blockage is a symptom — what goes down, a weak flush, or something wrong with the drain itself.
beginner30 min2 min readWhy does my toilet keep running?
Telling a leaking flush valve from an overfilling inlet, the dye test that identifies it in minutes, and what each fix involves.
beginner1 hr3 min readWhy is my fridge making a noise, and what do the noises mean?
Most fridge noises are the appliance working correctly — gurgling, cracking, ticking and a low hum are all normal. The ones that matter are rattling, buzzing that changes with the door, and a loud click every few minutes.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy is my gloss paint peeling off?
Gloss peels because it never stuck, and there are only four reasons it did not. Which one applies decides whether you can patch the area or have to take the whole piece back.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy is my microwave not heating the food?
Separating no heat at all from uneven heat in one test, and the honest verdict on repair economics when it is the magnetron.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy is there black mould on the wall behind my wardrobe?
Why the coldest square metre in a bedroom is behind the furniture on the external wall, and the changes that raise that surface temperature enough to stop mould returning.
beginner45 min4 min readWhy is water running down the wall behind my gutter?
Water getting behind the gutter is soaking the fascia and the wall rather than draining away, and it is nearly always a detail at the roof edge rather than a gutter fault.
intermediate30 min3 min readWhy will my circuit breaker not reset?
The ordered half-split method that finds why a breaker keeps dropping, and the point at which the answer is that the fault is in the wiring and not in anything you can unplug.
beginner25 min5 min readCan I lay new flooring over old tiles?
Usually yes, and it is often the better option — but only if the tiles are sound, the height increase works and the grout lines are dealt with.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I clean a burnt pan?
Removing burnt-on food from stainless steel, non-stick and enamel pans without ruining the surface.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I prepare a house for winter?
An autumn checklist for a warmer, drier house and fewer winter emergencies — heating, water, gutters, draughts and outside work.
beginner5 hr2 min readHow do I unblock a shower drain?
How to clear a slow shower drain, which is almost always hair, and how to stop it happening again.
beginner30 min2 min readMy gas hob will not light — what can I safely check myself?
Three bounded owner checks — burner cap seating, blocked ports and a contaminated ignition electrode — and a clear statement of where owner work stops.
beginner15 min5 min readWhy does my tumble dryer take so long to dry a load?
Drying time is set by airflow and by how wet the load arrived, and almost every dryer that has got slower over months has got slower for the same reason: lint somewhere the owner has not looked.
beginner40 min6 min readWhy is my hot water only lukewarm?
Warm-but-not-hot water is a different fault from no hot water at all. The checks that separate a control problem from a cylinder problem from a blending problem.
beginner30 min5 min readWhy must loft insulation stop short at the eaves?
A cold loft is ventilated from the eaves. Stuffing insulation into that gap blocks the airflow that keeps the roof dry, and trades a small heat saving for a condensation problem.
beginner20 min3 min read
Going deeper: MaterialWorld
Material properties, comparisons and suitability — paints, fillers, sealants, timber, tile, insulation.
MaterialWorld is in development — GuideHQ covers the practical answers in the meantime.