Find your stop tap before you need it
For most households: find the valve that shuts the water, test it twice a year, label it, and know which parts of the problem are yours and which belong to the water company.
Advice & guides
Advice & guides
Practical reader guides from the workshop: preparing booking notes, reading job sheets, comparing quotes line by line, seasonal checks and clear checklists you can follow at home before any plumber arrives.
10 guides 4 drawers
Every guide
10 guides · 21/09/2026 to 21/09/2026
Boiler breakdown: the first hour
For the hour after the boiler stops: what to check yourself, what not to touch, and the faults that should never wait for morning.
Bleeding radiators in the right order
For the annual autumn ritual: radiators cold at the top, gurgling on start-up, and the difference between air in the system and sludge at the bottom.
Steps to prevent a leaky tap
For the tap that drips at 2 a.m.: what is actually worn, why tightening harder makes it worse, and the maintenance that keeps good brass working.
Boiler losing pressure: what the dial is telling you
For anyone whose combi needs topping up every week: reading the dial cold, refilling without overfilling, and telling a nuisance from a leak.
General maintenance for your water heater
For every house with hot water: which of the three UK systems you have, the checks each one wants, and the one system whose servicing is treated as specialist work.
Choosing the right plumber for your job
For anyone about to let a stranger loose on their water and gas: the registers to check, the paperwork to insist on, and the paying habits that keep a small job small.
Choosing the right bathroom sink
For anyone standing in a showroom holding a tape measure: the five shapes of basin, the tap-hole maths, the waste that must match the overflow, and what the wall has to say about it.
Thaw frozen pipes without cracking the run
For the first hard frost of the season: a tap that runs dry, a pipe gone quiet in the loft, and the difference between thawing a pipe and bursting one.
Tips for cleaning your drains
For the slow-draining basin, the shower that pools, and the kitchen sink that gave up: gentle first, chemical last, and the habits that keep the pipe clear between.