Why is my curtain pole sagging in the middle?
The weight lined curtains actually apply, why the centre bracket is not optional, and which pole materials bow permanently and which recover.
beginner45 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
Why is my grout patchy and different shades?
Uneven grout colour is nearly always uneven water content while it cured — from mixing, from sponging, or from joints of different depths.
beginner40 min5 min readWhy is my hand plane tearing chunks out of the wood?
Tear-out is a grain-direction problem before it is anything else. How to read the grain, and the five adjustments that deal with timber where no direction works.
intermediate20 min4 min readWhy is the bay window the dampest part of my house?
Why bays collect every fabric weakness at once — a small flat roof, thin walls, a cantilevered floor and exposure on three sides — and which of those to check first.
intermediate45 min4 min readWhy should I not use plasterboard screws for everything?
They are cheap, they are in every toolbox and they are the wrong screw for most jobs — the three properties that make them good at one thing and bad at the rest.
beginner8 min2 min readWhy will my pull-out kitchen tap hose not retract?
The weight that pulls the hose back, the four things that stop it doing so, and how to get the spray head off when it will not seat.
beginner30 min4 min readHow do I dispose of flood-damaged belongings?
What goes and what stays after a flood is mostly decided by whether it can be cleaned through and dried. Recording it before it goes is what gets it paid for.
beginner3 hr6 min readHow do I fix plasterboard where the board edge does not land on a stud?
An unsupported board joint cracks however often it is filled — the answer is a noggin behind it, and the details that make the joint disappear afterwards.
intermediate1 hr5 min readHow do I take up an old patio and get rid of the slabs?
Breaking a patio out with the least handling, what to keep as hardcore, and the realistic disposal routes and their costs.
intermediate8 hr5 min readWhy are my wall tiles sliding down the wall?
Slip is a race between the adhesive's grab and the tile's weight, and four things tip it the wrong way — bed too thick, tile too heavy, no support, or a non-absorbent substrate.
intermediate30 min4 min readWhy do my greenhouse panes keep slipping out?
Why panes creep down a slope, whether the fault is clips, glazing bars or a frame that is out of square, and what fixes each.
intermediate2 hr6 min readWhy have my new paving slabs gone dark and blotchy?
Telling picture framing from iron staining from a wet bed, and which of the four causes of blotchy paving will fade on its own.
beginner30 min5 min readAre dummy alarm boxes and fake cameras worth putting up?
The narrow case where a dummy device helps, the ways they give themselves away, and the cheaper real measures that beat them.
beginner20 min4 min readAre glued-up pine panels any good for shelves and worktops?
The finger-jointed pine and hardwood panels every DIY shed sells — what they are, how they behave over a span and in a heated house, and where they beat both timber and sheet material.
beginner9 min4 min readAre reclaimed bricks worth using?
Where a reclaimed brick is genuinely the right answer, the wastage and durability questions to ask before buying, and how to clean old mortar off without destroying the face.
beginner15 min4 min readCan I chase a cable into a wall myself?
The safe zone rules that govern where a cable may run, the depth and protection requirements, what chasing does to a wall structurally, and where an electrician has to be involved.
intermediate1 hr5 min readCan I render over painted brick or over old render?
Two backgrounds that render will not stick to on its own, the tests that tell you whether the surface is sound enough to work with, and the three ways to give it a key.
intermediate12 min4 min readCan I use reclaimed timber, and what should I check first?
Reclaimed timber is often better quality than anything on sale new — but it needs checking for metal, decay, insect activity and old coatings before it goes near a blade.
intermediate45 min5 min readHow accurate does a measurement actually need to be?
Tolerance is a design decision, not a measure of care. How to work out what a particular job will forgive, why a joint is stricter than a wall, and where chasing precision actively makes the result worse.
beginner15 min4 min readHow close to the edge of a brick can I put a fixing?
Why a fixing needs a complete cone of sound material behind it, what happens when an edge or a neighbouring anchor removes part of that cone, and what to do when the distance is not available.
intermediate12 min3 min readHow do I cut acrylic or polycarbonate sheet without cracking it?
Acrylic cracks and polycarbonate does not, which changes the method entirely. Score-and-snap for thin acrylic, the right blade for thick, and why heat is the real enemy.
intermediate25 min4 min readHow do I cut and fit kitchen cornice and pelmet?
Which is which, why the mitres are the whole job, and the order of cutting that stops you eating a three-metre length one wrong cut at a time.
intermediate2 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I dispose of leftover adhesive, sealant and filler?
What can go in the household bin once it is hardened, what has to go to the recycling centre as hazardous waste, and the two things that must never go in either.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I fit a weather bar and drip to an external timber door?
What each of the three pieces at the bottom of an external door actually does, in which order water meets them, and why a weather bar fitted the wrong way round makes the problem worse.
intermediate1 hr4 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.