How do I use an angle grinder safely?
Matching the disc to the material, controlling kickback, and the guard position that decides where sparks and fragments go.
intermediate45 min4 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 which shower door seal I need and replace it?
Identifying a seal by its profile and the glass thickness rather than by the enclosure brand, and fitting the replacement so it does not walk out again.
beginner30 min4 min readHow does a toilet cistern actually work?
Every part inside a modern cistern, what each one does, and which complaint each one causes — so a vague fault becomes a named part.
beginner15 min4 min readHow long do household appliances actually last?
Realistic UK service lives by appliance type, what actually ends each one, and the maintenance and usage habits that make the difference between the bottom and the top of each range.
beginner20 min6 min readHow long should paint dry between coats?
The difference between touch dry, recoatable and cured, and the conditions that change all three.
beginner15 min3 min readHow much paint do I need?
Calculating coverage properly, allowing for coats and surface type, and avoiding both the second trip and the leftover shelf.
beginner15 min2 min readIs a brushless drill worth the extra money?
What the missing brushes actually change, the two benefits that are real for a home user, and the case where paying more buys you nothing.
beginner10 min3 min readIs a builder's trade association membership worth anything?
What different kinds of membership actually mean, why most of them are not a competence guarantee, and how to check a claim in a minute rather than trusting a logo.
beginner15 min3 min readIs my garage roof asbestos, and what am I allowed to do with it?
Corrugated garage roofs, flat sheets, downpipes and soffits from before 1999. How to recognise likely asbestos cement, why it is treated differently from insulating board, and what the rules actually say.
intermediate10 min5 min readIs the wet patch in my loft a leak or condensation?
The pattern, position and timing tests that separate a roof leak from condensation forming inside the roof space, and what each one needs doing about it.
intermediate45 min4 min readMy floor slopes — should I worry, and can it be levelled?
How to tell a settled historic slope from active movement, how to measure and record it, and the three honest options for living with, disguising or correcting a floor that is out of level.
beginner30 min4 min readMy fuse box has old rewireable fuses — do I need a new consumer unit?
What an old rewireable board does and does not protect you from, whether replacement is legally required, what a new consumer unit involves, and roughly what it costs.
beginner15 min5 min readPowder filler or ready-mixed — which should I use?
One sets by chemical reaction and barely shrinks, the other dries by losing water and always does — which decides the choice far more than convenience.
beginner15 min5 min readShould I buy a bagged or a bagless vacuum cleaner?
The real trade is not filtration quality but where the dust ends up and what you have to do about it — buying bags, or washing filters and breathing a puff of fine dust each time you empty.
beginner15 min5 min readShould I get a water softener?
What a softener does and does not do, where the savings actually come from, and the running costs and plumbing constraints to weigh first.
beginner25 min4 min readShould I seal my concrete floor, and with what?
Sealing reduces dusting and stops the surface absorbing water and salt. Whether it is the right answer depends on what you want the floor to do and whether it is dry enough to accept anything.
beginner30 min2 min readWhat can I fix to the walls in a rented home?
What a tenancy agreement usually means by fixings, what genuinely holds without drilling, and how to make good so a couple of screw holes never becomes a deposit argument.
beginner30 min5 min readWhat do all the numbers on a circular saw blade mean?
Diameter, bore, kerf, tooth count, tooth grind and maximum speed — what each figure on the plate controls, and which ones must match your saw exactly.
beginner10 min4 min readWhat do the noises my washing machine makes mean?
A washing machine noise is only diagnosable alongside the moment it happens, because the same sound at fill, at wash, at drain and at spin means four different things.
beginner25 min6 min readWhat humidity should my house be, and how do I measure it?
The relative humidity bands that matter for a UK home, where and when to take a reading so it means something, and why the room figure understates what is happening in the corners.
beginner20 min4 min readWhat is a bridged damp proof course and how do I tell if mine is bridged?
The five routes by which water gets around an intact damp proof course, why every one of them looks exactly like rising damp, and how to check for each.
beginner45 min5 min readWhat is a lintel, and what types are there?
The thing spanning the top of every opening in a wall, the five kinds you will meet in British houses, why the bearing at each end matters as much as the span, and why the top mark on a concrete lintel is not decoration.
intermediate10 min5 min readWhat is a magnetic filter and do I need one?
What the black sludge in a heating system is, what a magnetic filter does about it, and whether it is worth fitting to yours.
beginner10 min2 min readWhat is a reciprocating saw for and how do I use it?
Where it excels, blade choice by material, and controlling the violent kickback that catches people out.
intermediate30 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.