Guides and how-tos
The reference material behind the apps: how the sums work, what the inspection actually requires, when the part is due. Written to stand on its own, whether or not you ever install anything.
- Money & Planning 9
- Home & DIY 7
- Electrical & Trades 4
- Makers & Hobbies 4
- Records & Compliance 4
- Vehicles 4
- Baking & Food 2
- Pets & Animals 2
- Trades & Job Sites 2
- Health & Wellness 1
Latest
Backflow Preventer Types: RP, DC, PVB and SVB Explained
What each backflow assembly does, which hazard it is approved for, where code will and will not let you put it, and the readings a tester writes on the report.
Backflow Test Report Log 9 min read More guides
How to Stack Public Holidays Into Longer Breaks
Public holidays are not worth the same. Fixed-date ones create long breaks, floating Mondays barely help. Here is the arithmetic and where the leverage sits.
HolidayStack 8 min read 
The Month-by-Month Home Maintenance Checklist
Most home maintenance lists fail because they are sorted by season. Sort by which clock each job runs on instead, then work through the twelve months.
HomeKeep 8 min read 
Proof of Work for Subcontractors: Documenting a Job So You Get Paid
Photos prove the work happened. They don't prove you were entitled to be paid for it. What a main contractor accepts, and the records that end an argument.
SiteProof 10 min read 
Documenting a Car Restoration So It Survives the Sale
A finished restoration hides its own quality. What to photograph before the paint goes on, how to log receipts and parts, and why the honest list of what you skipped sells the car.
CarRestore 8 min read 
Backyard Chicken Care for Beginners: A Straight Answer to Every First-Year Question
Coop space, predator-proofing, what to feed at which age, why hens stop laying in autumn, and the mite problem nobody warns you about before you buy the birds.
ChickKeep 10 min read 
Funding the Bridge Years Before You Can Touch Your Pension
Retire at 48 and your pension may stay locked until 57. How to size the gap, decide which pot to draw first, and avoid the ordering mistake that costs most.
FireCalc 9 min read 
Do I Need Primer? When to Prime and How Much to Buy
Primer does three different jobs, and only some surfaces need any of them. How to tell whether yours does, and how to work out the quantity without guessing.
PaintCalc 7 min read 
Bonsai Care for Beginners: Watering, Light and Pruning
Most first bonsai die from one of two causes. Here is how to judge watering properly, which species can live indoors, and what to leave alone in year one.
BonsaiLog 8 min read 
PAT Testing Explained: Pass Criteria and Retest Intervals
PAT testing is not required by law, has no fixed annual interval and needs no sticker. What the tests actually measure, the readings that pass, and how to set intervals.
PAT Testing Log & Cert 9 min read 
Home Inventory for Insurance: What to Document and How
After a loss the burden of proof is yours. Here is what to record per item, why purchase dates matter as much as values, and the sub-limits an inventory exposes.
HomeStock 7 min read 
Sourdough Starter: How to Feed It and Keep It Alive
Feeding ratios, why the float test misleads people, fridge storage that actually works, and how to bring a neglected starter back in about three days.
BreadMath 8 min read New guides go out a few times a month. There is an RSS feed if you would rather not check back.