There are lots of dangerous things you can do in your home, often without realising it and I’ve gone pretty close to the wire with this one. Now I am going to show you how to prevent making the same mistake I recently made and to tell you what steps to take if you think you might have asbestos. Click here or look below to watch the video. Asbestos testing kit How to use it Types of asbestos Disposing of asbestos For a long time I suspected I had asbestos in my Victorian cottage, in the ceiling of my cellar, below the eaves of my garage, and most recently I’ve begun to wonder if ..read more

12 years ago, a team of builders glued a load of standard plasterboard on our kitchen walls without telling me.  I’m going to show you what I found when I ripped this off, whether it was wrong, whether it matters, and what I’m thinking of doing when I put this room back together. Click here to below to watch the video. Project Recap Dangers of Dot and Dab External Insulation Internal Insulation My New Strategy Today’s Toolkit project recap So, a quick recap on why I’m in this mess. I’ve recently knocked out a wall in the kitchen, whacked a steel in the roof, and have du ..read more

This is a practical run through of how I chop up my wood. I’m no lumberjack or tree surgeon - I’m just a DIYer with a lot of wood lying around. I’ll be running through the tools I’ve tried, and what I’ve found to be the best in tackling these various different sizes of log. (Click here or below to watch the YouTube video) At the end of the log store video on my channel (watch here), when I explained how many logs I had lying around, loads of you commented to say that you would be really interested in seeing how I went about splitting up logs. I have a variety of logs to split - from rings from ..read more

Recently I boarded our garage loft, and so in this blog I’m going to outline the steps I’ve taken, the tools I’ve used, and as usual, the mistakes I’ve made, to transform this space from a mouse-infested, chaotic jumble of rubbish, into this. For years, this loft has been a dumping ground of stuff we should have got rid of, and it was with the light suddenly pouring in during the re-roofing last summer that I realised I needed to make more of this space. It’s become more urgent now with building works starting in a couple of weeks on the kitchen and my wife running the marathon this yea ..read more

Back at the end of June, I had this new unvented pressurised water tank installed in place of my old vent and unpressurised system. So I thought I’d explain to you why I decided to make the switch, how easy it was to install this new tank, and what I’ve learnt since the install (including whether I think it was worth it). I will also talk you through a couple of other little bits, like my new Tesla smart immersion heater. Reasons for New System Ease of Installation Was it worth it? WeShop reasons for new system I suppose the first question to ask is why bother ripping out the old sys ..read more

I thought I’d talk you through everything I’ve been through putting up a new TV - because some interesting things have come out of it, in particular: Stud detection Hole cutting with multitool Impact drivers compared with hammer drills The benefits of hole saws Making your own ethernet cables Filling screw holes And I should point out I had no clue how I was going to fix the TV up before I started this project - not knowing what I was going to be anchoring into. I have ended up screwing into studwork because that’s the strongest fixing you can get, but if you’re after a plasterbo ..read more

I’m going to show you everything that I had to do whilst building a sloping gravel path down the back of my house: removing all the brick and debris littered soil; lowering a soil and mains water inspection chamber; building a raised gulley; installing the edgings, the sub-base and blinding layer; gravel grids; and finally the gravel. I’ll explain each steps of the process, the tools and materials I used, the costs of installing the path, and what I’ve learnt.  If I didn’t have a YouTube channel I might not have gone to town like I did (my wife calls it the most over engineered path no-on ..read more

So, my gravel mesh reinforced path is now installed - click here for a link to my video on this - and the next thing I wanted to do was install a hot and cold tap, so I can shower the dog after our winter runs (rather than dousing her in freezing cold water from the hose pipe). I’m going to tell you how I did it, and how my original plan was transformed in the nick of time into something much more professional by some very cool advice from James at Plumberparts, and as usual all the mistakes I made along the way. Master Plan Drilling Render Repair The Plumbing Pipe Deburring Syst ..read more

Back in January, I dug a 65 metre trench to connect up a new car charger from the garage to our house. I also laid a new water pipe in the trench - just in case we ever decided to try and convert the garage. The trench was still open at the bottom of the garden so I thought now would be a good time to make the final connection of the water pipe to the mains - and in the process gravel over the path at the back of the house that gets muddy in the winter.  I thought it would be an easy job. How wrong I was…. I’ll show you the problems with a job like this, where I went wrong, the obstacles ..read more

Two years ago, I did a video (click here to watch) on how to prevent damp, mould and condensation. It’s something I’ve always been pretty evangelical about. In the current energy crisis as we all keep our heating off for as long as possible it’s more important than ever, so I’m going to concentrate on why it’s important to keep moisture as low as possible this winter, and how you can do this even without turning on the heating. The Importance of Moisture Control How Humidity Affects Heating How to Control Moisture Cooking Showers and Baths Drying Clothes Ventilation Other Optio ..read more