Guides
Home improvement guides
Practical, reviewed advice for planning repairs and projects, choosing the right pro and knowing what to ask before you hire.
All guides
494 guides
- Guide
Rendering guide
Stucco is the American word. In Britain the same finish is called render, the textured versions are pebbledash and roughcast, and in Scotland the traditional form is harling.
13 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Cladding guide
Exterior cladding is any finish fixed over the structural wall rather than applied to it as a wet coat: timber weatherboarding and shiplap, fibre cement and composite planks, tile and slate hanging, metal and profiled…
12 min read21 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Trim guide
Exterior trim is everything applied to the outside of a British house that is neither the wall nor the covering: bargeboards and their finials, window and door architraves and mouldings, porch posts and brackets,…
11 min read21 September 2026 - Guide
Chimney Repair guide
A chimney stack is the most exposed masonry on a British house. It stands clear of the roof with weather on all four faces, it has no covering to protect it, and on a Victorian or Edwardian terrace it may carry several…
13 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Chimney Cleaning guide
Chimney sweeping is the maintenance that keeps a solid fuel or wood-burning appliance safe to use. Soot and tar build up on the inside of a flue, restrict it, and eventually catch fire; a restricted flue also spills…
12 min read21 September 2026 - Guide
Masonry guide
Masonry in Britain means brick, block and stone, and the trade splits roughly along the age of the building. Anything built before the First World War is likely to be solid walled and bedded in lime mortar, with the…
12 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Brick Repair guide
Brick repair is the narrower end of masonry: putting right the units and joints of an existing wall rather than rebuilding it.
11 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Repointing guide
In Britain this work is called repointing, and tuck pointing is something narrower: a decorative technique in which a coloured mortar is finished with a thin raised ribbon of lime putty, trimmed with a tool called a…
13 min read21 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Caulking guide
Exterior caulking is the sealing of designed joints on the outside of a building: the perimeter of a window or door frame where it meets masonry, the junction between a frame and a cill, movement joints in render and…
11 min read21 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Waterproofing guide
Exterior waterproofing above ground is about keeping wind-driven rain out of a wall that is already meant to be resisting it, and about not making things worse in the attempt.
12 min read21 September 2026 - Guide
HVAC Contractors guide
Ask a British household about HVAC and the conversation turns almost immediately to heating. Most homes here are warmed by a gas boiler feeding radiators, hot water comes either from that same appliance or from a…
12 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Central Heating Installation guide
Furnace is an American word, and searching for furnace installation in Britain turns up very little that matches the way homes here are actually heated.
11 min read14 September 2026
Ready to get started?
Tell us what you need and we’ll help you find local pros who serve your area.