DIY Weekends
Tiling a small splashback behind the bathroom sink
19 August 2026A second go at tiling after the kitchen, kept small on purpose. Choosing tiles, setting out, cutting round the pipes and the grout colour we argued about.
Painting the front door, with Maureen supervising
29 July 2026Our front door had been the same faded brown since the 1990s. Sanding, priming, two coats of gloss and a running commentary from next door.
A garden bench from reclaimed timber
24 June 2026Matt built a bench for the top of the garden from offcuts and old joists. The design, the cuts and the £23 we spent on screws and oil.
Hanging shelves on old plaster without hitting a pipe
13 May 2026Our 1930s walls are plaster on brick, with surprises. How we found the pipes and cables, chose the fixings and got a shelf of cookbooks to stay up.
Painting the stairs and landing without trapping ourselves upstairs
8 April 2026The stairwell is the tallest wall in the house and the only way to the bathroom. How we planned the job, the borrowed platform and the alternate-tread trick.
Restoring the hall parquet we found under the carpet
24 January 2026Under the hall carpet was 1930s woodblock flooring and a lot of black adhesive. How we cleaned, fixed and oiled it without sanding.
Re-grouting and re-sealing the bath for £19
2 December 2025Black grout and peeling sealant made our bathroom look older than it is. Two evenings, a grout rake and the sealant trick that finally worked.
Draught-proofing before the heating goes on: £48 of brush strips and sealant
20 September 2025A candle, a free afternoon and a list of gaps. Where the draughts in our house were coming from and the cheap fixes we did before October.
Running an ethernet cable to my box-room office
20 August 2025The wi-fi kept dropping in the back box room where I work. How Matt ran a cable under the landing floorboards for £48, and what speeds I get now.
Uncovering a 1930s tiled fireplace behind a sheet of hardboard
7 August 2025We knew the chimney breast was hiding something. Behind the hardboard was a tiled 1930s fireplace, a lot of soot and a gas pipe capped off long ago.
Sanding the bedroom floorboards with a hire sander in a heatwave
31 July 2025Matt's summer holiday started with a drum sander, 31°C and a lot of dust. What hiring the sander cost, what went wrong and how the floor came out.
Scaffold-board raised beds on a sloping Sheffield garden
17 June 2025Our back garden climbs in steps. Two raised beds from reclaimed scaffold boards, £96 in total, and the levelling that took longer than the building.