How do I ventilate a bathroom with no window and no fan?
Managing moisture in an internal bathroom without extraction, what genuinely helps in the short term, and why a fan is the only real answer.
beginner30 min3 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
How do I work out how much concrete, mortar and sand a job needs?
Turning a job into a volume, a volume into materials, and materials into bags — including the yield trap that makes people order half of what they need.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I work with MDF properly?
Sealing the edges, fixing without splitting, and why MDF fails in bathrooms.
beginner40 min3 min readHow does a cavity wall actually keep water out?
The outer leaf is expected to let water through. The cavity, the ties, the trays and the weep holes are a drainage system, and nearly every damp problem in a cavity wall is that system being bridged or blocked.
intermediate10 min5 min readHow high and how wide should a curtain pole go?
The four clearances that decide where a pole goes — height above the window, width past it, drop below it and projection from the wall — and what each one is actually for.
beginner15 min4 min readHow many packs of flooring do I need, and how much waste should I allow?
Turning a room into an order in the units the shop sells in, with an honest waste allowance for the pattern, the room shape and the offcuts you will not be able to use.
beginner25 min3 min readIs a 12V drill enough, or do I need an 18V one?
The smaller platform is not a toy and the larger one is not automatically better — what each size actually runs out of, and which jobs expose the difference.
beginner12 min3 min readIs a cheap appliance a false economy?
Sometimes, and it depends on which appliance and how hard you will work it. Where the manufacturer cuts cost, which categories punish it, and the specific point above which extra money stops buying durability.
beginner20 min5 min readIs a dehumidifier worth it?
When a dehumidifier genuinely helps, which type suits a cold house, and what it costs to run against what it saves.
beginner20 min2 min readIs my heating system full of sludge, and how would I know?
The five symptoms that together prove a system is silted up, the bleed-water test that settles it in five minutes, and what each finding means for what needs doing.
beginner30 min5 min readIs my leaning garden wall dangerous?
Reading the warning signs on a garden or boundary wall, the difference between an old lean and an active one, and when this stops being a DIY question.
beginner30 min4 min readMy ceiling has been soaked — will it dry out or does it need replacing?
What to do in the first hour, how to tell plasterboard that will recover from plasterboard that will not, and the tests that decide between drying out, patching and taking the ceiling down.
intermediate1 hr5 min readShould I repair or replace my windows?
What actually wears out on a uPVC, timber or aluminium window, which of those things is a cheap part rather than a new window, and the realistic lifespans to judge against.
beginner25 min4 min readShould the radiator in the same room as the thermostat have a TRV?
Why two thermostats controlling one room fight each other, what happens to the rest of the house, and the conventional answer.
beginner15 min3 min readThe wall is a mess after stripping wallpaper — what do I do now?
Gouges, torn board paper, adhesive residue and patches of old size — the four things a stripped wall throws up, in the order they have to be dealt with before anything is painted.
beginner3 hr5 min readWhat are house foundations and what do they actually do?
A foundation is the part that turns the weight of a building into a pressure the ground can carry without moving. What that means in practice, and why almost every foundation problem is really a ground problem.
beginner9 min5 min readWhat do the colours and coatings on drill bits mean?
Black, gold, bronze and bright silver bits sit next to each other at four different prices — what is actually different, and which difference you will ever notice.
beginner12 min4 min readWhat is different about tiling over underfloor heating?
The floor moves as it heats and cools, so the adhesive, the grout and the movement joints all have to tolerate that. Ordinary materials in an ordinary layout crack.
advanced30 min3 min readWhat is the difference between compression, push-fit and soldered joints?
How each joint seals, what each needs to work, and which one a householder should reach for in which situation.
beginner20 min4 min readWhat is the difference between primer, undercoat and topcoat?
The distinct job each one does, when you can skip one, and why all-in-one products are not always the shortcut they appear.
beginner15 min3 min readWhat is the difference between screws, nails and bolts?
Which fastener suits which job, what the numbers on a screw box mean, and when a fixing needs a bolt rather than a screw.
beginner15 min3 min readWhat is the tide mark on my damp wall telling me?
Reading the height, shape, edge and salt fringe of a damp mark, and what each of those four pieces of evidence rules in or out.
intermediate40 min4 min readWhat should I do when a flood warning is issued for my area?
A flood warning means flooding is expected, usually within hours. There is a fixed order to the preparation, and the last item on the list is always be ready to leave.
beginner1 hr 30 min6 min readWhat size extractor fan does a bathroom need?
The extraction rate a bathroom actually needs, how duct length eats into it, and why the number on the box is a laboratory figure.
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.