About Porch & Plot
We write about the small repairs and maintenance jobs that are cheaper to do than to hire out — and we say plainly when a job is not one of them.
What we cover
Draughts, damp, heating that works everywhere except one room, gutters, fences, lawns, and the sort of problem that has an obvious explanation and a real one. Most of our articles start with something going wrong in an ordinary house, because that is how people arrive at the question.
How the guides are written
Every guide aims to be followable by someone standing in front of the problem. That means specifics: the size of the part, the name of the material, roughly what it costs, and the order to do things in. Where we give a price it is a US retail estimate at time of writing, and prices move.
We do not cite studies we have not read or quote experts we have not spoken to. Where an article draws on personal experience, it says so.
When we tell you to stop
Gas appliances, mains electrical work, anything structural, suspected asbestos, and work at height are not DIY jobs, and we do not present them as such. Several of our guides end by telling you to put the tools down and call a licensed trade — that is the correct answer often enough that we would be doing you a disservice to leave it out.
Bylines
Our articles are published under a small set of staff bylines. These are pen names for the editorial desk rather than named individuals, which is a common arrangement for reference writing and one we would rather state than imply otherwise.
Images
Photographs are used under Creative Commons licences, credited beneath each image with the photographer and the licence. Where we could not find a suitable licensed photograph, no photograph is used.
Advertising
This site is funded by advertising. Advertisements are selected by third-party networks, not by us, and their presence is not an endorsement. Advertising has no influence on what we cover or what we recommend.
Who publishes this
Porch & Plot is published by Worth a Shot, LLC, a limited liability company registered in Delaware, United States.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, we would rather know. Corrections take priority over everything else in the inbox.