Outside Tap and Garden Jobs to Sort Before Summer

The first warm weekend in May fills our diary faster than any other week of the year. Here's what people are booking — and which ones you can knock off yourself.

Worth booking us for

• Outside tap installs — needs a self-cutting valve onto the rising main and a frost-proof bib tap.
• Garden gate sagging or scraping — usually a new hinge and a tightened post.
• Decking screws backing out — a refix and a coat of treatment buys another five years.
• Shed door not closing — almost always a dropped frame, not the door itself.

DIY-able in an afternoon

• Oiling garden furniture — one coat of teak oil, two if it's silvered.
• Jet-washing patio slabs — keep the lance moving so you don't striate the stone.
• Re-staining a fence — pick a dry week and do it in the morning so it cures before evening dew.

Bundle two or three of the booking jobs together and we can usually clear them in a single half-day. May and June book up fast — earlier the better.