Does Plumber’s Putty Expire? Understanding the Shelf Life
I’ve been a City & Guilds Level 3 plumber for 12 years and have bedded somewhere north of 1,400 basket strainers, bath wastes, and shower trays. I keep a …
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How to Remove Old Plumber’s Putty: A Step-by-Step Guide
I once pulled a sink drain out of a 1978 bungalow and found a lump of plumbers putty that had hardened into something between coal and ceramic. It didn’t j…
Residential Water Pressure Standards: What You Need to Know
The shower curtain clung to my leg like wet tissue paper—not from steam, but from silence. No rush. No roar. Just a trickle, slow and stubborn, as if the w…
The Ultimate Guide to Toilet Types: One-Piece vs Two-Piece
I’m crouched on a 1970s avocado-green bathroom floor in Crouch End, torch between my teeth, trying to rock a one-piece toilet sideways so the wax seal will…
Troubleshooting Common Toilet Problems: A DIY Guide
Twenty-seven drips per minute. That’s what I heard when I opened the bathroom door at 3 a.m. in a semi-detached in Bury. Not a leak. Not a faulty valve. Th…
The Ultimate Guide to Toilet Installation: A Step-by-Step Guide
Twenty-three millimetres—that’s the exact gap I stared at last Tuesday when a brand-new Vitra S50 pan refused to sit flush against a newly tiled wall in a …
The Ultimate Guide to Installing a Washing Machine
Three hours into what should have been a 45-minute job, I was lying on my stomach in a Belfast kitchen, arm buried behind a Zanussi ZWC1301, fishing out th…
Washing Machine Venting: A Guide for Homeowners
Twenty-seven centimetres. That’s the exact gap I measured between the back of a Miele WDB020 washing machine and the wall in a terraced house in Bristol—ju…
Best Water Pressure for a House: A Comprehensive Guide
3 bar feels like a power-washer when you’re trying to rinse shampoo, yet 1 bar makes the electric shower gasp like a landed fish. I discovered this the har…
How to Increase Water Pressure in Your House
“Your shower head is dribbling out 1.8 gallons per minute when the spec sheet promises 2.5—multiply that shortfall by every tap in the house and you’re pay…