Which masking tape should I use on fresh paint or a delicate surface?
Tack level, backing type and the number of days it can stay on are three separate specifications, and buying by colour gets all three wrong.
beginner10 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
Which router bit do I need for what I want to do?
Eight bits that cover almost all home routing, what shape each produces, and why a bearing changes how a bit is used rather than what it cuts.
beginner15 min4 min readWhich saw blade TPI do I need for the material I am cutting?
The three-teeth-in-the-cut rule, what TPI actually controls, and the right tooth count for timber, sheet, laminate and metal.
beginner12 min4 min readWhich shower tray should I buy — acrylic, stone resin or low profile?
How tray materials differ on rigidity, warmth, noise and what has to go underneath them, and why the height of the tray decides more than the material does.
beginner20 min4 min readWhich timber lasts outdoors without being treated?
The species with genuine natural durability, the sapwood caveat that ruins most of them, and why the detailing matters more than the timber you pick.
beginner10 min4 min readWhich type of plasterboard do I need?
Standard, moisture-resistant, fire-resistant, acoustic and impact boards — what the colours mean and which rooms genuinely require which.
beginner15 min4 min readWhich way round do the washers go in a plastic waste trap?
The tapered washer that everybody fits upside down, why the joint then drips no matter how hard it is tightened, and the four rules that make a plastic waste joint seal every time.
beginner20 min4 min readWho arranges skips, scaffolding and site facilities?
The licences that are needed on the highway, who is normally responsible for what, and the costs that quietly sit outside a quote.
beginner20 min3 min readWhy are gaps opening between my laminate boards?
Telling seasonal shrinkage from creeping boards from failed locking joints, and the pull bar technique that closes them again.
beginner2 hr4 min readWhy did my exterior varnish flake and peel off?
Clear finishes outdoors fail from underneath, because UV destroys the wood surface through the film. Why varnish is a demanding choice outside, and what to do instead.
intermediate2 hr5 min readWhy does decorators' caulk crack along my ceiling line?
Bead depth, movement and paint film — the three reasons a caulked line splits, and how to lay a bead that survives a winter.
beginner30 min4 min readWhy does my RCD trip when it rains?
Why moisture ingress shows up as RCD tripping rather than anything else, the outdoor items to suspect in order, and how to prove it is one of them without opening anything.
beginner30 min5 min readWhy does my chipboard upstairs floor creak and dip?
Chipboard flooring is a sheet deck, not a board floor, and it fails in its own particular ways — lost fixings, unsupported joints, swelling at the edges and a missing noggin under a sheet edge.
intermediate1 hr 30 min3 min readWhy does my kettle switch off before it boils?
Nearly always scale, an underfilled element or a lid that is not shutting — three causes with three simple checks, and the point at which a kettle is finished.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy does my shower tray creak and flex when I stand on it?
Why a tray moves under load, what that movement does to the silicone and the tiles above it, and the difference between a support problem and a floor problem.
intermediate1 hr3 min readWhy does my tumble dryer smell?
Work out first whether the smell is damp, chemical or burning, because one of those three is a safety problem and the other two are cleaning jobs in different places.
beginner40 min5 min readWhy does the fan keep running after I turn the oven off?
It is almost always the cooling fan behaving exactly as designed — and the short list of cases where it is not.
beginner5 min3 min readWhy does water come in under my sliding patio door?
Why a sliding threshold is designed to let water in and drain it out again, how to find and clear the drainage that has stopped working, and the four other routes water takes.
beginner45 min3 min readWhy is my circular saw burning and scorching the wood?
Six causes, in the order to check them: a blunt or resinous blade, too many teeth for the depth, a slow feed, a blade out of parallel with the guide, a bent plate, and a kerf closing on the blade.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy is my dishwasher tablet not dissolving?
An undissolved tablet means the dispenser never opened, the water never got hot enough, or the spray never reached it — and the dispenser flap is by far the most common of the three.
beginner15 min3 min readWhy is my fridge water dispenser or ice maker not working?
Filter, supply, freeze-up and the ice maker's own switches — four causes covering nearly every case, and an overdue filter is the most common by a wide margin.
beginner45 min5 min readWhy is my tilt and turn window hanging off at the top?
The mis-operation that releases the top corner, the four-step recovery that resets it, and how to check nothing was bent in the process.
intermediate20 min3 min readWhy is there condensation inside my double glazing?
What misting between the panes means, whether it can be repaired, and what the alternatives cost.
beginner20 min2 min readWhy will my LED lights not dim all the way down?
The dead zone at the bottom of an LED dimming range, the stepping and dropout that go with it, and the ordered checks that fix most cases without replacing anything.
beginner20 min4 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.