Free House Jobs to Do Instead of Paying a Tradesman
- Tradesman markups are massive. A dripping tap costs £80-120 to fix by a plumber. An adjustable wrench and a £2 washer kit do the same job in 15 minutes.
- Five jobs, under £50 total. Hanging shelves, filling holes, re-sealing baths, bleeding radiators, and fixing taps. All need basic tools you will use again and again.
- Every job takes under 30 minutes. The longest is re-caulking a bath at about 20 minutes. Bleeding a radiator takes 5 minutes per radiator.
- You save £250-450 on the first round. A tradesman would charge £300-500 for these five jobs combined. The tools cost under £50 once.
Suggested reading: Top 5 Free DIY Jobs on a Budget · How to Hang Shelves on Plasterboard · Best Cordless Drills UK
A leaking tap, a wobbly shelf, a cold radiator. These are the kind of jobs that make you reach for the phone and call a tradesman. But here is the thing, most of them take under 30 minutes, cost nothing in labour if you do them yourself, and need tools that cost less than the tradesman's callout fee.
We compared the typical UK tradesman charges for these five common jobs against the actual time and tool cost of doing them yourself. The numbers are not even close. Every job below is genuinely doable by a complete beginner, with no special training and no risk of making things worse.
For a broader list of budget-friendly tasks, see our guide to free DIY jobs you can do around the house on a budget.
1. Hanging Shelves on Plasterboard
Tradesman cost: £50-100 (plus shelf)
Your cost: £8-15 in fixings
Every UK home has plasterboard walls, and every shelf needs to go on one eventually. A handyman will charge £50-100 to hang a single shelf, mostly because they know most people are scared of drilling into walls. The reality is that with the right fixings, the job takes about 15 minutes.
The key is matching the fixing to the weight. Light shelves up to 10kg per bracket work with universal plugs like the Fischer DuoPower, which expand inside the hollow wall and hold firm. For anything heavier, use Gripit fixings or screw directly into a timber stud if you can find one with a stud finder.
Use a spirit level to make sure the bracket is straight, drill with a standard HSS bit (not masonry, unless you hit brick behind dot-and-dab), and you are done. We wrote a full step-by-step guide on how to hang shelves on plasterboard if you want the detail.
2. Filling Holes and Cracks in Walls
Tradesman cost: £40-80 (per room)
Your cost: £8-12 for filler and a filling knife
Moved a picture hook? Pulled out a rawl plug? Got hairline cracks from settling? A decorator will charge £40-80 per room to fill and smooth these, mostly because they are doing it alongside a bigger paint job. On its own, filling a hole takes about 5 minutes.
Buy a tub of lightweight filler (Polycell or similar, about £5) and a filling knife or flexible blade (about £5-8). Dampen the hole slightly, press filler in with the knife, scrape level, let it dry for 2-4 hours, then sand smooth with fine sandpaper. Two coats for deeper holes.
One thing to remember: do not overfill. It is easier to add a second thin coat than to sand back a thick one. For cracks, push filler in with the knife edge rather than just skimming over the top. The filler needs to sit inside the crack, not just cover it.
3. Sealing Around Baths and Sinks
Tradesman cost: £60-100
Your cost: £10-15 for sealant and a caulk gun
Old, black, or peeling sealant around a bath or sink is not just ugly. It lets water seep behind the tiles and into the wall, where it causes rot and mould that costs hundreds to fix. A plumber or handyman will charge £60-100 to re-caulk. You can do it yourself in about 20 minutes.
Step one: cut out the old sealant with a craft knife or sealant removal tool. Pull it out cleanly. Step two: clean the area with white spirit and let it dry completely. Step three: apply bathroom silicone sealant in a steady bead using a caulk gun. Step four: smooth with a wet finger or a profiling tool, and leave it for 24 hours before getting it wet.
The most common mistake is not removing the old sealant first. New sealant on top of old sealant does not bond properly and will peel away within months. Take the extra 5 minutes to strip it out first.
4. Bleeding a Radiator
Tradesman cost: £50-80 (plus callout)
Your cost: £3 for a bleed key
If your radiator is cold at the top but warm at the bottom, it has air trapped inside. That air stops hot water from circulating properly, which means the radiator is not heating the room efficiently and your boiler is working harder than it needs to. Bleeding a radiator fixes this in about 5 minutes, and it can save you up to £100 a year on heating bills.
You need a radiator bleed key (about £3 from any hardware shop), a cloth or small container to catch drips, and access to the bleed valve, which is the small square fitting at the top corner of the radiator. Turn off the heating, wait 10 minutes for the radiators to cool slightly, insert the key, turn anti-clockwise until you hear hissing (that is the air escaping), then close it as soon as water appears.
Start with the radiator furthest from the boiler and work your way back. Check the boiler pressure gauge afterwards. If it has dropped below 1 bar, you may need to top up the system via the filling loop.
5. Fixing a Dripping Tap
Tradesman cost: £80-120
Your cost: £15-20 for a wrench and washer kit
A dripping tap wastes up to 5,500 litres of water a year, which adds about £20-30 to your water bill. A plumber will charge £80-120 to fix it, mostly because they assume you do not know how. The actual fix takes about 15 minutes once you have the right tools.
Turn off the water supply (usually a small valve under the sink or on the pipe feeding the tap). Turn the tap on to drain any remaining water. Use an adjustable wrench to undo the tap head, lift out the valve mechanism, and check the washer at the bottom. If it is worn, cracked, or compressed flat, replace it with a new one from a washer kit (about £2-5 for a mixed pack).
Reassemble in reverse order, turn the water back on, and check for leaks. If the tap still drips after a washer change, the valve seat may be worn, which needs a seat dressing tool. But in most cases, the washer is the culprit.
Products You Will Need
All five jobs above can be done with a small toolkit that costs under £50 total. Here are the essentials:
- Wall plugs and fixings for shelves and hanging: Fischer DuoPower Wall Plugs
- Adjustable wrench for taps and plumbing: available from most hardware shops for £10-15
- Spirit level for shelves and straight lines: OX Pro Spirit Level Set
- Screwdriver set for handles, hinges, and fixings: Teng Tools 11 Piece Screwdriver Set
- Stud finder for locating fixings behind walls: PTUI 8-in-1 Stud Finder
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Alex Chen writes about tools, tech and DIY projects for MakerUK, from home servers to 3D printing.
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Last reviewed: September 7, 2026 · Evidence-based content · Contains affiliate links