Autumn jobs on a 1930s semi: gutters, airbricks and boiler pressure
One Saturday, a ladder and a list. The autumn jobs we do on the house before the weather …
A £96 extractor fan that should have gone in years ago
Nine years of a fanless bathroom and a mould corner I fought every winter. The fan, the fitting …
Our broadband went up £3 a month: what the contract actually said
The email said £31 from April. I dug out the contract to check, did the sums for the …
The condensation diary: three weeks of hygrometer readings
Two £8 hygrometers, three weeks of morning readings and a notebook. What our bedrooms really measure in January, …
Keeping a 1930s semi warm for Christmas without touching the thermostat
The thermostat stays on 19. Bled radiators, a £12 draught strip, thick curtains and the cold spots I …
The boiler service I nearly skipped, and what I see at work every November
I book boiler services for a living and still almost let ours slide. What the engineer checked, what …
A hosepipe ban, a water butt and six tomato plants
The hosepipe ban arrived the week the tomatoes started to fruit. A £42 water butt, the washing-up bowl …
Getting the back garden ready for summer for £74
A wobbly fence panel, a rotary line that had seen better days and six tomato plants. What we …
Switching to full fibre: install day and £33 a month back
Our old cable deal had crept up to £61.50 a month. Full fibre finally reached our road, so …